Ontario set a goal 20 years ago to be accessible by 2025. Hamilton group says standards are now outdated

Jan. 1, 2025, was a day "disabled folks across the province have been waiting for for 20 years," says Brad Evoy, executive director of the Hamilton-based Disability Justice Network of Ontario. 

That's the deadline the Ontario government set to fully implement the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which passed in 2005 with a commitment to develop, implement and enforce accessibility standards in the public and private sectors.

But, days after the day passed, Evoy told CBC Hamilton, there remains a "huge chasm" between reality and where Ontarians with disabilities want to be.

He believes living conditions for them are worsening, in part because social assistance isn't keeping up with the high cost of housing. 

"If used as intended, the act could be materially improving people's conditions," said Evoy, who is a disabled person himself. "I think the customer service standards alone would really push some big changes for folks engaging in the commercial and civic aspects of life."

The AODA aims to reduce and remove barriers to accessibility, the province says on its website.

For example, the site reads, a clothing store with a no-return policy that lacks an accessible changing room creates a barrier by excluding some customers from trying on clothes before purchasing them. The law requires organizations to identify barriers like that and remove them. For example, the store could provide an exemption to its return policy. 

The act also asserts someone with disabilities can have a support person with them at all times and can give feedback through accessible means.

Unfortunately, Evoy said, the AODA "notoriously has really weak and absent enforcement provisions," and its standards are outdated.

In 2023, the reviewer appointed to assess the province's implementation of the act found it was a "near certainty" Ontario would not be fully accessible by 2025, adding enforcement did "not exist."

People with disabilities have little to no recourse under the act if an organization fails to meet its standards and are more likely to find remedy through human rights legislation, Evoy said. 

The 2023 review found Ontario had a staff of 20 to 25 to monitor the compliance of over 400,000 organizations, leading to few onsite audits. 

The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility recently told CBC Toronto it uses a collaborative "modern regulatory process" to ensure standards are met.

"I think what we're seeing is a consistent position … that [governments] want to do the bare minimum," Evoy said.