OUR MESSAGE

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To all our elected representatives

• Housing is a human right. [United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Special Report]

• The need for accessible affordable housing is a crisis. 

• More than 22% of Canadians have a disability. 

• Anyone can have been born with a disability, and we’re all just a fall, accident or illness away from a disability - temporary or permanent.  

• It is urgent that we change the National and Provincial Building Codes to make universal design mandatory in all new multi-unit residential buildings, both rental and ownership.   

• Universal design will accommodate anyone of any age or ability, going beyond mere accessibility.  

• The cost of building an apartment, whether accessible or not, is the same, when planned from the design stage.  It is renovations to existing housing which are extremely expensive.          

• Accessible housing keeps people out of long term care, saving millions of healthcare dollars.  

• 45% of Canada’s homeless have a physical or mental disability (CHRC). 

• There is no Ontario law requiring that housing be accessible.          

• The AODA does not mention housing.   

• The Ontario Building Code only requires that 15% of new apartments be “visitable”, not accessible enough to live there.  

• Both the AODA and the Ontario Building Code are in contravention of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Ontario Human Rights Code, and United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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In 2002, the Ontario Human Rights Commission made a submission to the Ontario Minister of Housing pointing out that the Human Rights Code takes precedence over all other laws, including the Building Code.  No Ontario government has taken action to bring the Building Code into harmony with the Human Rights Code. Again in 2020, the Chief Commissioner issued a statement repeating that barrier-free housing is a human right.  

Change can begin at the municipal level.  The City of Toronto can make  universal design mandatory in all new housing (rental or ownership)  developed through programs such as Open Doors and Housing Now, and new developments built with any tax dollars or on land made available by the City, or through agreements with developers to waive development fees or taxes.  We are urging that the City take action - and become a model for other municipalities.  

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