2025 Has Arrived! Where is the Barrier-Free Society that the Ontario Legislature Unanimously Promised Ontarians with Disabilities Twenty Years Ago?

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities

Twitter: @aodaalliance

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aodaalliance

2025 Has Arrived! Where is the Barrier-Free Society that the Ontario Legislature Unanimously Promised Ontarians with Disabilities Twenty Years Ago?

SUMMARY

2025 has arrived! After an evening of the typical seasonal festivities, Ontarians woke up this morning to a huge broken legislative promise.

Two decades ago, on May 10, 2005, Ontario’s Legislature unanimously passed the landmark Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Canada’s first comprehensive disability accessibility law. It requires the Ontario Government to lead this province to become accessible to people with all kinds of disabilities by January 1, 2025. Section 1 of the AODA provides:

“Purpose

Recognizing the history of discrimination against persons with disabilities in Ontario, the purpose of this Act is to benefit all Ontarians by,

(a) developing, implementing and enforcing accessibility standards in order to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises on or before January 1, 2025; and

(b) providing for the involvement of persons with disabilities, of the Government of Ontario and of representatives of industries and of various sectors of the economy in the development of the accessibility standards.”

On that momentous day two decades ago, members of the Ontario Legislature of all political stripes rose in unison to give the passage of this once-in-a-generation legislation a resounding standing ovation. Watch the video of that historic moment.

But today, 20 years later, we all awoke to a province that is still replete with many eminently preventable disability barriers.

An article in this morning’s Toronto Star describes some of these. Read that article below.
These recurring disability barriers were amply documented in 2015 in the 2nd AODA Independent Review, in 2019 in the 3^rd AODA Independent Review, and in 2023 in the 4^th AODA Independent Review, each appointed by the Ontario Government.
On November 25, 2024, individuals with disabilities gave wrenching accounts of these disability barriers to Ontario’s four political parties at the community public hearings at Queen’s Park that the AODA Alliance organized. You can view those public hearings online.
The Toronto Star’s Metroland publications across Ontario published some 27 articles last fall in a series entitled “Restricted Access.” Those reports further described these barriers in one Ontario community after the next.

Where did this law come from? It came from Ontario’s grassroots non-partisan campaign for this legislation. It was first led by a coalition that was born 30 years ago last November. The precursor to the AODA Alliance, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, advocated across this province for a decade to win this law’s enactment. After the AODA was passed in 2005, the AODA Alliance led the campaign to get the AODA effectively implemented.

We have made some accessibility gains since the AODA was passed in 2005, for which we should be proud. However, we also warned the Government, the media and the public for many years that Ontario was behind schedule and risked not achieving an accessible Ontario by 2025.

Our warnings were echoed by four successive Government-appointed Independent Reviews of the AODA in language that escalated in its tone of alarm. Year after year, the AODA Alliance offered the Government constructive, practical solutions to get itself on schedule. Minister after minister and premier after premier disregarded our advice. Ontario’s current Premier, Doug Ford, has refused to even meet with us.

Today, 2.9 million Ontarians with disabilities rang in a painful new year in a province that is still full of “soul-crushing barriers” (in the words of the late, lamented David Onley). Do we begin this New Year by giving up and going home? Not a chance!

The AODA did not suddenly vanish from Ontario’s law books last night at midnight. It, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code on which it is built, remain in full force and effect, as do we!

Stay tuned over the next days to see what comes next. As the Toronto Star reports today, we declare that Ontario needs a new approach. It does not replace the AODA. It would make the AODA live up to its true landmark potential. We’ll have much more to say about this shortly. We will call on Ontarians, including Ontarians with disabilities, for their help in making this new approach become a reality.

In the meantime, we wish one and all a happy, safe and barrier-free New Year.

How You Can Help

Write a letter to the editor of the Toronto Star. Keep your letter under 300 words in length. Applaud the Star for this article. Give examples of disability barriers you and your loved ones face in Ontario. Write the Star at lettertoed@thestar.ca
Invite other media to cover this broken legislative promise to Ontarians with disabilities.

Learn about our efforts over the past year by reading the AODA Alliance’s 2024 Year-End Report.

MORE DETAILS

Toronto Star January 1, 2025

Originally posted at https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ontario-set-a-goal-to-be-fully-accessible-by-jan-1-2025-its-nowhere-near/article_559fb834-c706-11ef-973b-a78a833ee8df.html

Province falls short on goal to be fully accessible

‘We’re way behind’: Disability rights advocates call for new approach

Omar Mosleh Toronto Star

In the 2023 review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Rich Donovan declared that the province was in an accessibility crisis.

Donovan, a leading advocate on disability rights, highlighted one example of how the province fails to ensure the safety of people with disabilities: a routine fire drill at a government office.

While most employees made their way down the stairs in orderly fashion, “others – those using wheelchairs and managing vision issues – instead made their way to what was, in essence, a closet,” wrote Donovan, who was appointed to review the act.

“This was what they were told to do in a fire. Sit. Wait. Hope someone comes for you.”

The province set a goal to achieve full accessibility by Jan. 1, 2025 – a target advocates say we’re nowhere near meeting.

“We’re way behind and the government needs to revise its approach,” said David Lepofsky, a retired lawyer who spearheaded the campaign for the AODA, which became law in 2005. “All of those reviews spoke in increasingly scathing language.”

In a statement, the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility said Ontario is “meeting, achieving or exceeding” AODA standards.

But disabled people who spoke to the Star told a different story, citing ongoing challenges and day-to-day barriers with accessibility and enforcement.

To assess where Ontario stands after the 2025 deadline for full accessibility has passed, they also provided a grade for each of the key AODA categories: transportation, customer service, public spaces, communications and employment.

Transportation

B for Wheel-Trans

D for TTC’s conventional system

Louise Bark hates having to ask for help on public transit – and that was before the installation of Plexiglas shields for driver safety on buses and streetcars, which she says makes it even harder.

Bark, who has been using a wheelchair for 20 years, said the physical design of the transit vehicles has improved, but getting assistance, such as having someone secure her wheelchair or lift a seat, has become more difficult, particularly on buses.

“Now it’s way worse. They don’t even come out of their cubby hole. Even when you try to ask them, it’s like they don’t hear you,” she said.

“The outcome is that it is not a pleasant experience to ride transit. You feel kind of humiliated. You feel rather helpless.”

She said her experience on the new streetcars has generally been good, except for at stops where there’s no curb cut, which makes it difficult to board. She also noted that the ramps are too steep.

While the subway system has also improved, she said her chief issue is the elevators at subway stations, which are often out of service or are too small to accommodate the number of people trying to use them.

Fifty-seven out of the TTC’s 70 subway stations currently meet AODA standards. However, the TTC reported in 2023 it would not meet the province’s target of full accessibility by 2025. Six more subway stations are planned to be accessible in 2025, with another six in 2026. As a result of the difficulties Bark faces with conventional transit, she mostly relies on Wheel-Trans, though she said transferring to another city remains a challenge.

Customer Service – F

The AODA requires all organizations, including businesses and public institutions like hospitals, to remove barriers in providing accessible customer support.

Brian Ellison, who uses a wheelchair, said too many businesses have not taken meaningful steps to accommodate disabled people.

More often than not, when he can’t reach a shelf while grocery shopping, it’s fellow customers – not staff – who assist him.

His experiences in hospitals have been particularly challenging. Once when he needed surgery, he gave three months’ notice that he would require a room with an accessible washroom. When he arrived, he was told there were none available on that wing, and his only option was to use a washroom in the hallway.

He said there’s been numerous occasions where he’s had to crawl up onto a bed or examination table, because staff were either too busy or unwilling to help. “It makes me furious. But what else can I do?”

Information and Communications – D-

The AODA’s information and communications standard requires organizations and companies to provide information in accessible formats, such as captions or audio descriptions, with some exceptions. One breakthrough in this area, according to Lepofsky, was the enactment of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which provided clear, comprehensive requirements for website accessibility.

However, Lepofsky, who is blind, had no shortage of examples where the province is still falling behind. He said there are still too many hotels, elevators and transportation options that don’t offer information in braille.

He said, when he travels to the U.S., it’s far more common to find accessibility features in taxis, for example on interactive video devices that speak to customers. He said we’re well behind other countries in accessibility.

“Forty years ago, I got into a taxi in New York City and that information was also on the seat in braille.”

Employment – D

While there have been strides in employers recognizing their legal obligation to accommodate employees with disabilities, the system still relies too much on accommodating individual workers, Lepofsky said, rather than addressing systemic barriers.

A recent report by the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work found that among workers who chose not to request accommodation, 45 per cent said they were uncomfortable asking their employer. For those who did ask, nearly one-quarter said their needs were not met.

Additionally, about one in 10 individuals with disabilities reported being denied employment because of their disability.

Anthony Frisina, who works with the Ontario Disability Coalition and uses a wheelchair, said there’s still too much stigma around hiring and accommodating people with disabilities.

“Companies need to genuinely invest in being equal-opportunity employers, not just say they are,” he said.

Design of public spaces – F

Between e-bikes and scooters, Ellison said Toronto’s streets and sidewalks often feel like a “nightmare.” Impatient drivers making sudden right turns and the general traffic situation in the city have also made crossing streets hazardous, he said.

“Until I get to the ramp in my building, I don’t feel safe,” Ellison said.

The design of public spaces standard primarily applies to outdoor spaces, such as sidewalks, playgrounds and recreational trails. Accessibility in indoor spaces (ramps in restaurants, public washrooms and buttons on doors) and the physical structure of buildings, fall outside of the AODA and are regulated by the Ontario Building Code, with some exceptions, such as service counters and indoor waiting areas.

Bike lanes were one of the most frequent issues raised among people who spoke to the Star. Lepofsky pointed to a bike lane on the same level as the sidewalk on Eglinton Avenue West, which is only separated by white paint.

“If I walk along there, I have no clue that I’m on a bike path,” he said.

“So I am in incredible danger.”

For Bark, bike lanes have sometimes made it difficult for Wheel-Trans buses to pull up to the curb to pick her up.

“When you block people with disabilities from being able to get in and out of buses,” she said, “it’s just putting people in precarious positions.”