Canadians will be marking National Accessibility Week from May 31 to June 6 this year. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the sad fact that Ontario failed to meet its commitment through the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) to achieve complete accessibility by 2025.
Accessibility is key to ensuring people with disabilities can thrive. One in four people in Ontario live with disability, and in 2022, six in 10 people with disabilities reported barriers to accessing indoor or outdoor public spaces. The longer AODA compliance is delayed, the longer they will continue to experience barriers to good and equitable health outcomes.
Barriers to accessibility limit social inclusion.
The ability to be socially included, to meaningfully participate in society, is increasingly recognized as a social determinant of health. Making social connections, developing social capital and engaging in the community have all been associated with positive mental and physical health and well-being.
Barriers to social inclusion interact with other social determinants of health.
People with disabilities experience rates of poverty nearly twice as high as non-disabled individuals. Close to one million people with disabilities live in poverty in Ontario and experience the associated stress and health consequences of food and housing insecurity. Evidence shows this poverty gap is getting worse.
It is well known that it is more expensive to live with a disability. Wellesley Institute’s Thriving in the City with a disability framework examined the cost of what it takes to thrive – that is to have good physical, mental health and social well-being – in the GTA. In 2024, this came out to between $74,000 and $116,000 a year, quite different from the current annual Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) amount of less than $17,000 a year. Of note, in 2024, the annual cost of social participation for people with disabilities to thrive was approximately $8,000 to $9,000, essentially half the current rate of ODSP.
It is also well known that people with disabilities die at a younger age and are more likely to experience chronic health conditions compared to the rest of the population. They are also more likely to report mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. These poor health outcomes cannot be explained by an underlying health condition or impairment, but are health inequities driven by unfair societal and health system factors. Recent research by Wellesley Institute and CMHA Toronto has highlighted the unmet service needs of people with physical disabilities who live with mental health conditions, and calls for action.
Policies that promote accessibility are important to help people with disabilities thrive.
It is easy to see how policy decisions which result in high poverty rates for people with disabilities impact health as well as this group’s ability to meaningfully participate in society. This is why it is important to consider that accessibility is about more than making physical structures, such as entrances and washrooms, barrier-free (though accessibility in physical structures is, of course, necessary). While poverty is a barrier to social inclusion, other common accessibility obstacles people with disabilities report include communication (such print and assistive listening technology), “behaviours, misconceptions or assumptions” and obstacles to online participation.
When one-quarter of Ontario lives with disability, inaccessibility in its many forms limits their ability to reach their full health potential.
In 2005, Ontario pledged to be a completely accessible province by January 1, 2025. Its failure to do so contributes to ongoing health inequities for a significant segment of the population.
But just because Ontario did not meet its deadline, does not mean it should be ignored. We call on the government to set clear timelines for ensuring complete accessibility no later than 2030, a five-year extension on the original timeline. We all lose when so many in our province are unable to participate fully – and therefore contribute – to our society.
It’s long past time for Ontario to be completely accessible.