Event-Ready: How Ted Heittola Helps Keep REAL Running
When we visited Ted Heittola at work, he was cleaning Mosaic Stadium ahead of a Saskatchewan Roughriders game.
It’s just one of the many events that keep his team busy. Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) runs REAL District, home to everything from the Queen City Ex to sporting events, trade shows and dinners.
“Every day there’s an event here,” said Thomas Scott, Assistant Manager, Custodial at REAL. “There’s always something going on here that we need to have the buildings cleaned.”
Ted joined REAL’s custodial team in July 2025 through the 4to40 Inclusive Employment Initiative, and he’s become part of the crew that keeps REAL District event-ready.
Run through a collaborative partnership between Creative Options Regina and the University of Regina’s inclusive post-secondary education initiative (IPSE), Campus For All, 4to40 is an inclusive employment initiative that connects employers with job seekers who experience intellectual disabilities. Every role is built around a real business need, with flexible hours (anywhere from four to 40 a week) that work for both employer and employee.
Same as Any New Hire
With 96 custodians on staff, and the only team on site 24/7, REAL has a well-established way of bringing new people on board. Ted started the same way everyone does.
“We put them with a veteran custodian, and we work with them for at least a week straight before they go on their own,” Thomas said. “It’d be just the same as any new hire coming in. We train them the same way.”
Today, Ted’s work includes sweeping, picking up garbage on the concourse, and whatever the team lead assigns. “Once he gets there, he’s on the broom,” Thomas said.
And once Ted starts a job, he sees it through. Thomas remembers one shift when Ted worked right through his coffee break to finish what he’d been assigned.
“He commits himself. He doesn’t stop until he gets it all done,” Thomas said. “I can rely on Ted because I know he’s doing the job. He’s consistent. He’ll just keep working right through it until he gets it finished, and then we get assigned something else, and he starts right on it again.”
That consistency matters in a business that runs on events. “We miss him when he’s not here,” Thomas said.
Simple Changes, Big Difference
Partnering with 4to40 was a priority for Michelle Amyotte-Kupusa, Manager, Human Resources at REAL, from the moment she arrived. She’d worked with the program at previous organizations and wanted to build those partnerships into REAL’s recruitment.
“The partnership has been going really well,” Michelle said. “We’ve hired a few folks, and the candidates have been really great to work with.”
For Michelle, inclusive hiring starts with removing barriers, and most of them are simpler than employers expect. REAL accepts resumés at the front desk for people who aren’t comfortable applying online, and interviews candidates on the spot at career fairs.
The same thinking applies once someone is on the job. “It could be something as simple as the door handle. Let’s bring it down a little bit lower,” she said. “Most accommodations are under $500, and most organizations don’t think about that.”
Support doesn’t end at the hire, either. Michelle’s HR team checks in with both the employee and their manager. “It’s not just, ‘Good luck, hopefully you guys succeed,’” she said. “It’s checking in, making sure that it’s a good experience for the individual, making sure the manager has everything that they need.”
It Goes Both Ways
Being inclusive is part of REAL’s core values, and for Michelle, the benefits go well beyond any one hire. Engaged employees mean better customer service, stronger retention, and a bigger pool of applicants.
“They bring so much to the table, and they will show you how to make your organization a much better place to work,” she said. “You give somebody an opportunity, you will have that employee for a very, very long time.”
Her advice to employers considering it is simple: “Just do it. It’s the right thing to do. Why wouldn’t you?”
“And they teach you as well,” she added. “So it goes both ways.”
Learn More About 4to40
October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM). We’re sharing local stories that show what inclusive employment looks like in practice.
To learn more about inclusive employment and the 4to40 program, visit https://4to40.ca/.
Watch Ted’s story here.
