By: Kat Hamilton
It’s been a busy summer for disability advocates in Ontario, with the provincial government releasing public consultations for three new accessibility standards that are being developed under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The three standards out for consultation are Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education, Postsecondary Education and Healthcare.
It has been considered a large gap in the legislation that we do not have standards for these important topics, so we were extremely pleased to finally see the development of these standards.
CNIB has held virtual consultations with our community members on the three topics, where we gathered feedback that was used for our final reports to the Ontario government, alongside existing research. Thank you to everyone who participated in these consultations.
Read CNIB’s Response to the AODA Health Care Standards
Read CNIB’s Response to the AODA K-12 Education Standards
We are finalizing our response to the AODA Postsecondary Education Standards and will launch that on our website at the end of October. The Ontario government is still accepting public feedback until November 1, 2021. If you would like to provide your feedback directly, please visit the Postsecondary Education Standards consultation page.
Once the deadline has closed for public feedback on all these Standards, each Standards Development Committee will consider the community’s suggestions and submit their final recommendations to Minister Raymond Cho, Minister of Seniors and Accessibility, who will be responsible for approving the Standards, so they become regulations under AODA.