My legal rights
Under Nova Scotia laws, people with disabilities have important legal rights when it comes to accessing the built environment:
- When it comes to accessing public places, you have the right to have an equal level of access as anyone else, without discrimination because of your disability.
- You have the right to receive accommodations for your disability from the business or organization that is responsible for the public place, up to the point of undue hardship.
- You cannot be denied services or denied access to spaces that are normally available to the public because you are accompanied by a guide dog or service dog.
Duty to Accommodate and Undue Hardship
Physical disabilities, including blindness, are protected under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. Consequently, service providers have a legal duty to accommodate individuals with needs related to their disability. In other words, businesses and organizations must provide you with the support you need to have an equal level of access to public buildings or space as anyone else. However, this duty extends only up until the point of undue hardship.
Undue hardship is a legal concept referring to the point at which an organization has accommodated you as much as is reasonably possible and does not have to accommodate any further. The point of undue hardship is determined by the courts or human rights tribunals.
It is difficult to demonstrate that accommodations would result in undue hardship. To establish this, the organization would have to prove that providing accommodations would:
- Be impossible;
- Create serious health or safety risks; or
- Be so costly as to significantly interfere with the organization’s ability to operate.
In each case, the organization would have to prove that they had considered all reasonable alternatives to accommodate you.
The laws
A person’s right to access the services, facilities, and accommodation in the built environment comes from different sources including:
The Nova Scotia Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on protected characteristics such as physical disability. The term “physical disability” includes (among other things) “blindness or visual impediment” and reliance on a guide dog.
The Human Rights Act covers most built environments in Nova Scotia, however, in cases where discrimination has taken place in a space that is federally regulated, owned or operated, the Canadian Human Rights Act may apply.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to equality and prohibits discrimination by government or public bodies based on disability.
The Blind Persons’ Rights Act authorizes police to lay charges in circumstances where people are denied access to services or facilities because they are accompanied by a guide dog. The Service Dog Act also protects against discrimination based on the use of a service dog.
The Building Code Act regulates the design, construction, and alteration of buildings in Nova Scotia, and sets out requirements for barrier-free building designs.
The Accessibility Act requires the prevention and removal of barriers that people with disabilities may experience in the built environment, among other factors.
Current situation
New buildings are generally required to be built according to universal design principles. The goal of universal design is to make the built environment accessible to everyone. In Nova Scotia, many universal design principles have been adopted by building code regulations. Unfortunately, most buildings are not new. This means the built environment changes slowly. As a result, many places remain inaccessible to people with sight loss.
However, Nova Scotia is taking measures to improve access to the built environment and to prevent and remove barriers over time. The Accessibility Directorate is responsible for administering the Accessibility Act. It aims to make public buildings more accessible by 2030. They have a Built Environment Standards Development Committee, whose work deals with signage, wayfinding, and site selection. While this is a positive step, there is no enforcement element at this point in time.
While there is still work to be done in promoting accessibility, in the meantime, there are ways to address barriers you may face.