TAKE ACTION!
MUNICIPAL LEVEL
Because cities issue building permits, they have a role to play in the creation of accessible housing.
** Accessible Housing Pledge for all Toronto Mayoral Candidates -- the mayoral byelection is June 26. **
Please ask candidates to sign this pledge:
“I will make universal design mandatory in all new housing that the city creates through all City programs, or with any incentives, including tax dollars, land, agreements to defer fees or taxes, or other forms of incentive. … I will be accountable for the outcomes resulting from Toronto’s efforts to make housing accessible through Universal design.”
Printable PDF with full wording of pledge
Urge your municipal councillor to sign the Affordable (and Accessible) Housing Pledge:
I pledge that, as a Member of my municipal Council, I will:
1. Create housing that is affordable
2. Preserve the affordable housing we already have
3. Ensure housing is habitable
4. Direct public investment to homes that are accessible to all
5. Prevent homelessness
6. Make the most of our public infrastructure
7. Fulfill our municipality’s commitment to the right to housing
PDF of Affordable (and Accessible) Housing Pledge for Municipal Councillors
PROVINCIAL LEVEL
We call on every provincial MPP to sign the Accessible Housing Pledge.
Please help by asking your own MPP to sign.
"I pledge that as a Member of the Provincial Parliament of Ontario, I will:
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Ensure that the Government of Ontario implements fully the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its associated Protocol;
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Actively work to change the Ontario Building Code (OBC) to require that 100% of units in every new multi-unit residential building be built according to universal design* principles (UD), so anyone of any age or ability can live there."
WHO HAS SIGNED THE PLEDGE?
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MPP Mike Schreiner, Green Party Leader - Guelph
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MPP Joel Harden, NDP - Ottawa Centre
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MPP Jill Andrew, NDP - Toronto St. Paul’s
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MPP Jessica Bell, NDP - University-Rosedale
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MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon, Liberal - Beaches-East York
FEDERAL LEVEL
Tell your MP in Ottawa that we need
accessible housing now!
Click here to sign our Change.org petition calling for accessible housing in Canada's national building code.
Other ways to help end discrimination in housing:
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The Accessible Housing Network is calling for the Ontario Human Rights Commission to undertake a systemic investigation of housing discrimination against people with disabilities. To initiate this investigation, we have been asked to bring a test case to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. Have you experienced discrimination in housing due to a disability? Please contact us to discuss how we can support each other to end discrimination.
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The Canadian Federation of the Blind is collecting experiences of people with disabilities who believe they may have been discriminated against in seeking housing, particularly in renting a room. The information you provide in this form will be used to demonstrate, at the human rights tribunal, the impact of allowing such discrimination.

Representatives of Older Women's Network and Accessible Housing Network meet with Kristyn Wong-Tam, former Toronto City Councillor and now Ontario MPP, representing Toronto Centre.
Learn More & Take Action:
Submission re Ontario Budget 2023 - Pre-budget Hearing
by Kate Chung
The Need for a Universal Design Standard in Canada's Building Code - Sal Amenta
https://www.seniorsactionontario.com/_files/ugd/50033d_8f2859592b1943d4a6ec1ec83a9b2f2d.pdf
People of all ages need barrier-free homes
One family's story.
See our 2-page tool kit with key messages for use by AHN members and others who are advocating for universal design housing. Click here.
Housing: "No Vacancy for You!"
The international community marks the value of people with disabilities each year on December 3. Canada has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). One of the rights is the right to housing.
Film and Video:
Report on the documentary film CRIP CAMP
How a ragtag group of disabled kids went away for the summer and came home ready to organize a revolution.
Presentations by accessibility specialist Thea Kurdi:
A concise 4-minute call for accessible housing.
Thea Kurdi speaks as a witness for the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (part of the National Housing Strategy) parliamentary committee hearing. June 13, 2022.
Webinar: The Crisis in Accessible Housing. What is Adaptable, Visitable, and Universal Design Housing?
Canadian Legislative Accessibility History and the Built Environment
Books:
“The War on Disabled People” by Ellen Clifford.
For disabled people, the impacts of austerity will be utter catastrophe.
E-book - Essays on Aging in Place:
A Guide for Developing Good Policy and Practices, Especially for People Who Have an Intellectual/Developmental Disability
Reports and Articles:
When talking about affordable housing, don't forget accessibility
Op-ed column by Carol Damioli, in Beach Metro Community News
The Right To Housing Is About Accessibility, Not Just Affordability
by Sal Amenta
Canada’s top real estate development and accessibility leaders form coalition to create a more accessible Canada
https://toronto.uli.org/canadas-top-real-estate-development-and-accessibility-leaders-form-coalition-to-create-a-more-accessible-canada/
“Do our lives count for less?”
by Katherine Scott, CCPA Monitor, Jan/Feb 2021, page 22
People with disabilities were an afterthought in Canada’s COVID-19 response. Their lives and well-being should be integral to public health renewal.
https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2020/12/CCPA%20Monitor%20Jan%20Feb%202021%20WEB.pdf
Thousands of people with disabilities are waiting for an accessible home in B.C.
Long waits are forcing many to live in homes without accessible bathrooms or kitchens, advocate says
Top insider secrets to what's stopping full inclusion in design & how you can help fix them
Text of accessibility expert Thea Kurdi’s TEDx talk
York students apply critical race theory to the need for accessible housing
(Angus Reid Report)
A Quarter of Ontarians Have a Disability: How is This (Not) Changing Housing?
Edmonton: Making Our Houses Lifelong Homes
New report raises critical issues around disability rights in Alberta
CMHC: Cost of Adaptability and Accessibility Features – Existing Modest House
“…including adaptability features in new homes significantly reduces the potential cost of making the homes accessible, compared to making similar renovations to existing homes.”
CMHC: Cost of Accessibility Features in Newly-Constructed Modest Houses
The majority of seniors express a preference for “aging in place”. Adaptable housing could delay or eliminate the need for older residents to relocate. Building a new apartment requires the same space (and thus, cost) whether accessible or not.
Lived experience and social, health and economic effects of inaccessible housing
Report submitted to the Australian Building Codes Board
Long-Term Care Is Not a Solution for Younger Adults with Disabilities
Community Living Ontario has a brief on the longstanding practice in Ontario of using long-term care as a substitute for supporting an overburdened and waitlisted disability support system.
Contact Shawn Pegg at shawn@communitylivingontario.ca to get involved.
Leave No One Behind: The Need for an Inclusive Approach to COVID-19 Recovery in Long Term Care
From the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
Toronto Accessibility Design Guidelines (2021)
Websites and Blogs:
Changing the National Building Code for an Inclusive Canada, July 17, 2018 by Lene Andersen
Petition to Ontario Legislative Assembly calling for Accessible Housing
The Accessible Housing Network requests your support. Please sign and share this petition.
