AODA Alliance
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update
United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities
Website: www.aodaalliance.org
Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com
Twitter: @aodaalliance
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aodaalliance
CBC and Metroland Report on Tragic and Cruel Consequences of Ontario’s Severe Shortage of Affordable and Disability-Accessible Residential Housing
November 27, 2025
SUMMARY
The crisis shortage of accessible housing in Toronto again got attention from the media again this month. Here are two stunning articles.
First, in a shocking CBC News report set out below, a mother has been forced to seriously consider the wrenching option of placing her child with a disability in a provincial facility when she’d much rather keep her child at home. However, she cannot find accessible housing that she can afford.
Second, the November 19, 2025 Brampton Guardian, one of the Toronto Star’s Metroland publications, includes a guest column written by magnificent and unstoppable accessible housing advocate Kate Chung. It described her horrific experience trying to find accessible housing in Toronto and the harm this shortage causes for everyone.
When we hear the Ford Government proclaim its commitment to expand housing in Ontario, that sadly has too often rung hollow for people with disabilities who are looking for accessible housing.
That’s not all. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, the Ontario Government was required to lead Ontario to become accessible to people with disabilities by 2025, almost a full year ago. That included a duty to lead Ontario to have an accessible built environment, such as residential housing. The Government has failed Ontarians.
Its duties under the AODA did not vanish at the start of 2025. Ontario still desperately needs a comprehensive, strong and effective Built Environment Accessibility Standard to be enacted under the AODA. The current Government belatedly appointed a Design of Public Spaces Standards Development Committee to make recommendations in this area. The Government harmfully violated the AODA by delaying the appointment of that Standards Development Committee for five years after the mandatory deadline.
Making this worse, the Ford Government received the final report of the Design of Public Spaces Standards Development Committee months ago, yet it has not made it public. The Design of Public Spaces Standards Development Committee held its final meeting 10 months ago, on January 28, 2025. At that time, it approved its final report and concluded all of its work according to public records. Government officials from the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility and the Ministry of Housing were present at that meeting.
Under Sections 10 and 11 of the AODA, the Government had a legal duty to make that report public upon receiving it. AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky had to resort to bringing a court application against the Ford Government in mid-2021 when it similarly failed to make public earlier reports of other Standards Development Committees despite being duty-bound to make them public upon receipt.
How You Can Help
- Write Premier Doug Ford. Tell him that Ontario desperately needs a comprehensive plan to dramatically expand the supply of affordable and accessible residential housing for people with disabilities across Ontario. Tell him that Ontario also needs him to enact a strong and effective Residential Housing Accessibility Standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Write him at premier@ontario.ca
- Contact your member of the Ontario Legislature. Tell them to demand that the Ford Government now make public the final report of the Design of Public Spaces Standards Development Committee. It’s time the Ford Government obeyed the AODA, especially since it pledged almost six years ago, in response to the David Onley Independent Review of the AODA, that when it comes to the AODA, it will lead by example. Violating the AODA is not a good example by which Ontarians should be led.
- Check out the second episode of our new podcast entitled “Disability Rights and Wrongs — The David Lepodcast.” Built environment accessibility expert Thea Kurdi gives insights into why new buildings keep being built with disability barriers. Find this podcast on Apple music, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
- Learn about our efforts over 15 years to tear down disability barriers in the built environment by visiting the AODA Alliance website’s built environment web page.
MORE DETAILS
CBC News November 13, 2025
Originally posted at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/kitchener-family-finds-barrier-free-apartment-cannot-afford-it-9.6976447
Kitchener mom ‘terrified’ she will lose her son if she can’t pay for a barrier-free apartment
Rebecca Dooley hoped this new unit would let her care for her son safely at home
Diego Pizarro CBC News
Rebecca Dooley holding her son Noor while sitting on a couch
After five years on the Region of Waterloo’s barrier-free housing waitlist, Rebecca Dooley of Kitchener, Ont., found an apartment suitable for her son Noor, who has a severe genetic disorder and uses a wheel chair. Without financial support, which the region says it is unable to provide, she cannot afford the apartment. Dooley is now faced with possibility of putting her son in a care home. (Diego Pizarro/CBC)
A Kitchener mother who has been on the Region of Region of Waterloo’s barrier-free housing waitlist for five years says she’s finally found a unit, but she can’t afford it.
Rebecca Dooley needs a new and larger unit to help her care of her 11-year-old son, Noor, who lives with the rare genetic disorder Hattersley-Urano syndrome. Noor cannot see or speak, experiences frequent seizures and uses a wheelchair. He is currently 74 pounds and still growing.
He has to be lifted in and out of bed and carried to the bath. Dooley worries that soon, she may no longer be able to manage carrying him and needs a larger unit to accommodate specialized equipment to move him.
“If we don’t have the proper setup for bathing him, an injury almost feels inevitable,” she said.
Barrier-free apartments typically have accommodations like wide doors, a ceiling lift and a roll-in shower. They differ from accessible ones in that they are more geared to people who require a wheelchair.
Rebecca Dooley takes care of her 10-year-old son, Noor, every day. Noor has a rare genetic disorder called Hattersley Urano syndrome. He is non-verbal, has minimal vision and uses a wheelchair. Dooley is worried if she can’t get barrier-free housing soon, he’ll have to move into a group home.
Builder steps in
Faced with a 10-year wait on the region’s waitlist, Dooley decided to find an apartment herself.
She reached out to multiple private builders in the region looking for available units. In June, a builder offered to include a barrier-free unit for her and Noor in a new building he was starting work on.
Dooley says she was overcome with emotion when she received the offer.
“Joy, relief, so much relief,” she said. “I might be able to care for my child for the rest of his life and not have to send him into a home.”
The unit would have cost $1,800 a month; however, the rent is a steep increase from the $246 Dooley currently pays as part of the region’s rent-geared-to-income program.
Dooley asked if the new apartment could qualify for the rent-geared-to-income program, but the region told her it could not.
“I’m terrified of what the future holds for both me and my son,” Dooley said.
Region says its hands are tied
The Region of Waterloo says housing subsidies are only available for buildings that are part of the existing affordable housing catalog.
In an emailed statement, the region said its funding programs are managed through a centralized waitlist and “do not include special support for people in urgent medical or caregiving circumstances.”
The region said it plans to build two new projects that will include 30 accessible units, but did not provide a timeline for when those buildings will be completed.
Currently, there are more than 800 units with some level of accessibility in the region’s housing portfolio. However, Dooley said that only about 10 to 15 of those units would truly meet her and Noor’s needs.
Without financial support, Dooley says she can’t afford to move into the new unit.
She said she has considered fundraising, but that would only offer a short-term solution. The only other option would be placing Noor in a care home, which is something she wants to avoid.
“He is nonverbal. So a lot of what I do for him is intuitive,” Dooley said. “Somebody who doesn’t know him as well would not have that intuitive connection and would struggle to figure out what he needs.”
Problem is systemic
David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, says Dooley’s situation reflects a broken system.
“The challenge that individuals with disabilities and their families face is that they are caught in a spider’s web of conflicting, inconsistent and at times even incoherent social supports,” he said.
Lepofsky says the problem lies with Ontario’s building code.
“The Ontario building code is woefully inadequate. It is absolutely up-to-date for the late 19th century,” he said.
“You can build a building fully complying with the building code and yet have it replete with disability barriers.”
Lepofsky claims the province has the power to change the building code under Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act but has failed to do anything significant. He wants to see the province adopt a universal design that considers the needs of people with disabilities for all new homes.
When asked if the region could do any more to help Dooley and Noor, Lepofsky said instead that it’s the province that needs to make changes.
“When there’s a failure, provincial leadership, it’s great if a municipality can intervene to fix it,” he said. “But we shouldn’t have to lobby hundreds of municipalities to reinvent the accessibility wheel. That is a gross inefficiency in government.”
Dooley has asked her Kitchener Centre MPP Aislinn Clancy. Clancy, who is a member of the opposition at Queen’s Park as a Green party member, says she is advocating as best she can on Dooley’s behalf, but no solution has been found.
“Here we are risking a mom being separated from her child because they don’t have adequate housing. And it’s not uncommon, I’m afraid,” Clancy said.
“My job is to take these stories with me to Queen’s Park so we can advocate for systemic changes so that people don’t have to be faced with these impossible choices.”
CBC News has reached out to the office of Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack for comment on Lepofsky and Clancy’s comment. The office has not yet responded to that request.
Dooley is currently doing everything she can to care for Noor at home, but says without a suitable barrier-free apartment, placing him in a care home may soon be unavoidable.
“I’ve done what I can to keep my son home,” she said. “But this is a stopgap measure. It’s not going to last forever.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diego Pizarro is reporter/editor at CBC Kitchener-Waterloo and an associate producer for CBC Television: The National. You can reach him at diego.pizarro@cbc.ca
Brampton Guardian November 17, 2025
Why can’t I find any accessible housing in Toronto?
I am doing everything I can to keep myself and my 88-year-old husband safe, writes advocate for Accessible Housing Network.
By Kate Chung
Kate Chung is co-chair of the Accessible Housing Network advocacy group and is an outspoken advocate for older adults seeking to find suitable housing to age in place.
A widening gulf between the cost of rent or mortgage payments and the paycheques of Ontario residents is putting shelter out of reach for many. This housing crisis has hit individuals already disadvantaged much harder. To mark National Housing Day on Nov. 22, Shelter from the Storm, a Metroland news series, explores deepening cracks in the foundation and amplifies the voices of those often left out of the conversation.
I‘m 83 years old. I cannot find any accessible housing in Toronto. Why?
I am doing everything I can to keep myself and my 88-year-old husband safe. What if one of us falls and breaks a hip? Will that spell doom for us? I am terrified of being forced into a long-term “care” jail.
Only seniors, people with disabilities and criminals are locked up in Canada.
StatsCan reports that 27 per cent of Canadians age 15 to 65 have disabilities (28 per cent in Ontario). This does not include older adults.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports it costs the same to build a new apartment whether it’s accessible or not.
It’s renovations to existing housing which are expensive.
With all the housing being built now, if even half is accessible it will make a tremendous difference to thousands of people. I’m afraid we are missing a unique opportunity to meet the need. If this new housing is not built using universal design, current and future generations will be doomed to suffer in nonaccessible housing or be will institutionalized against their will.
Builders lament that they can’t sell the condos they have built. However, clearly they’re not building what people need. Older adults are trapped in inaccessible homes because there are no accessible or adaptable apartments available.
I want the right to choose where I live — staying in my current home or a small co-operative home in my neighbourhood. If I need cleaning help, nourishing food, Personal Support Workers, this must be simple to arrange.
The problem is lack of political will. Politicians argue among themselves, passing the buck from one level of government to another. The federal government has actually said that housing is not in their jurisdiction! The provinces say the National Building Code must change first. Municipalities say the provincial Building Code must change before they can take action. This huge roadblock is due to politicians’ lack of empathy.
All new housing of any kind in Canada should be Universal Design (accessible to people of all ages and abilities.)
This is now the law in Australia and Finland. Canada can do it too.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act, the provincial Human Rights Codes, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol all prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. But this is ignored by every level of government.
Ironically, the benefits of having adaptable universal design housing would save every level of government millions of dollars every year.
Fewer falls
Fewer ambulance calls
Fewer ER visits
Fewer hospitalizations
Reduced need for in-home household and PSW support help
Reduced caregiver burnout
Reduced costs for long-term care facilities. (Many people able to remain in their accessible homes.)
Protection of seniors and persons with disabilities from catastrophes like those in long-term care during the pandemic
Improved mental and physical health
Increased employment of people with disabilities
Prevention of costly future renovations
It’s 2025, folks!
Kate Chung is co-founder and past co-chair of the Accessible Housing Network, a non-partisan network of more than 80 Canadian non-profit organizations working to support the human rights of persons with disabilities and end the extreme lack of accessible housing. A grandmother of 5, she sings out for justice with the Toronto Raging Grannies.