accessibility It’s good for business and it’s the law feature C anada has often been criticized for not having an enforced policy for persons with disabilities. This is one area in which we are behind our American neighbours, who passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. While there is still no “Canadians with Disabilities Act,” Ontario has taken the lead as the first province to legislate full accessibility to persons with disabilities by introducing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), 2005. Through a series of accessi -bility laws, the province of Ontario aims to eliminate all barriers to persons with disabilities by 2025. Although Ontario is the only province, so far, to implement accessibility legislation in Canada, the province of Manitoba is not far behind. Manitoba is actively advocating for a fully accessible province and currently has an “Accessibility Advisory Council” in place whose mandate it is to make recommendations to the government on what disabilities leg -islation should include and what strategies should be adopted to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. aCCEssiBility is gooD for BusinEss The business case for accessibility in Canada is compelling. Research shows that Canadians with disabilities have an approximate spending power of $25 billion annually. Currently 15.5 per cent of Canadians have some form of disability and this number is expected to increase to 20 per cent over the next 20 years. There is no question that acces -sibility leads to increased profitability. ComPlianCE is thE law As I stated previously, the AODA was passed by the province of Ontario in 2005. The Act comprises five standards to be implemented between 2008 and 2025. The objective of these standards is to eliminate all barriers to persons with disabilities in Ontario. The standards focus on: • Customer Service – ensure that persons with disabilities receive the same level of customer service to which we are all entitled; • Employment – create equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities; • Information and Communication – businesses must create, provide and receive in -formation and communications in ways that are accessible to persons with dis -abilities; • Transportation – make all forms of public transportation in Ontario fully accessible to persons with disabilities; • Built Environment – make all buildings in Ontario fully accessible to persons with disabilities. www.canadianchiropractor.ca Melissa Magder is the director of diversity, human resources and in-tercultural training at proLearning innovations, a leading Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) training provider for busi-nesses in Ontario. She has a back -ground in human resources and a masters degree in psychology. Her expertise in diversity and inclusion has led to her distinction as a highly sought after AODA expert. Melissa has led several AODA workshops across Ontario, assisted small and large businesses with implementa-tion plans, facilitated AODA we-binars and authored a number of articles for print and web media on the topic of accessibility for persons with disabilities. For more informa-tion, contact her at mmagder@ prolearningonline.com. Melissa Magder, BA, MA CANADIAN CHIROpRACTOR | DECEMBER 2011 • 35
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