Accessibility for
Everyone, Everywhere
Persons with Disabilities represent a significant and growing
part of our population. Currently, more than 1.9 million Ontarians,
3.4 million Canadians and 600 million people around the world have
self-identified as Persons with Disabilities (of course, there are
many others who do not so identify). The barriers to accessibility
also affect multi-millions of family, friends, co-workers and
professionals who have Persons with Disabilities in their lives.
Ontario estimates that the proportion of Persons with Disabilities
will increase to nearly 20 percent of Ontarians who self-identify as
people who have disabilities within two decades. It is not difficult
to make similar estimates for Canada and the world.
As a world class Province, these statistics add a considerable
challenge to service providers who wish to serve both those who
reside in the Province of Ontario as well as people with
disabilities, who have considerable disposable income, who choose to
visit this area.
Additionally, immigration trends have resulted in many parts of
Ontario becoming very cosmopolitan environments with both customers
and service providers hailing from all over the world. It is
imperative that there be understanding and respect for all
differences - be they race, culture, religion, language or any other
diversity. While the main thrust of this learning is around
accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, we will
incorporate learning that will improve sensitivity to people of
different races, cultures, religions, languages, etc.