Silver Spring Studio in Nepean struggles to keep doors open despite 250 regular visitors

A converted greenhouse tucked behind Silver Spring Farm on Robertson Road in Nepean has become a vital community for people with developmental disabilities—but the studio's future is now uncertain.

Silver Spring Studio, which opened more than four years ago, serves roughly 250 individuals 16 and older, offering art and cooking classes in a space that Rosemarie Ferguson, who runs the studio, describes as one of genuine choice. "The studio is a place of choice — customers choose to spend time there — which is special for those who might not have a lot of choice in other areas of their life," Ferguson said.

Ferguson is also a service development consultant for the Ottawa-Carleton Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, the organization that operates the studio. Without any kind of funding or grants and facing barriers to provincial disability supports, she said it is difficult to keep the studio afloat with only herself, two employees, and volunteers.

Ontario's disability support program offers far below what people need to live full lives, according to Alexis Shotwell, a Carleton University professor who studies disability and social theory. "Disabled people are only supposed to want to survive. They're not supposed to want art. Even if you get ODSP, it's laughable," Shotwell said, noting that individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program often receive about $900 a month.

Sixteen per cent of people with disabilities in Canada—about 1.5 million people—lived in poverty in 2023, nearly double the 9.5 per cent rate among non-disabled people, according to a 2025 report by Disability without Poverty. While the Canada Disability Benefit began rolling out in July 2025 at $200 per month, advocates say it remains too little for too few.

Twenty-two of the studio's visitors live on site in one of three group homes operated by OCAPDD: Moffatt House, Campbell House, and Charette House. The organization has served the community since 1953.