I recently sent an email to some contacts to highlight the positive movement in the accessibility of housing. Here are the things
that I'm aware of, no doubt there's much more. Attachments can be emailed to you if you would like them.
International:
United Nations: The UN
is very clear about their mandate to encourage Universal Design in their New
Urban Agenda 2030 as well as all their work surrounding Habitat III and
Sustainable Development Goals. http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/2015/accessibility-urbandevelopment.pdf
UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Canada ratified the CRPD in 2010 (not the
Optional Protocol but 87 countries have). Article 9 speaks of
Accessibility, which includes housing. (attachment A)
European Student
Design Competition for Accessible Housing
A number of
countries have already moved forward with VisitAbility, or additional
requirements, in their national building codes (so the scope of VisitAbility is
international, not a concept for the future). (attachment B).
LEED v4 for Neighbourhood Development (from the
US Green Building Council) has a section on VisitAbility and Universal
Design (pages 48-49 at http://www.usgbc.org/resources/leed-v4-neighborhood-development-current-version)
International Code Council A117.1
(2009) also has a VisitAbility section on page 105.
Federal:
Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms: section 15 of the Charter forbids disability
discrimination. Seeing as human rights trumps all other legislation, including
building codes, the exposure and risk of litigation is significant if status
quo is maintained by building homes with architectural barriers.
(attachment C)
Prime Minister
Trudeau's Mandate Letter to Minister Carla Qualtrough speaks of inclusion,
greater accessibility and the passage of a Canadians with Disabilities
Act. http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-sport-and-persons-disabilities-mandate-letter
The 2020 National
Building Code is implementing the Canadian Standards Association B651
(Accessibility guidelines that are far more thorough than the current section
3.8). (attachment D)
VisitAbility is also part of Canadian Standards
Association B651 (Treasury Dept already requires CSA B651).
Code Change Request
#964 with the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes recommends
VisitAbility for all new dwellings on grade and for those accessible by an
elevator. It's already been heard by three Committees (Executive, Housing and
Small Buildings, and Use and Egress). A report is due in the Fall from the
Housing and Small Building Committee and the Use and Egress Committee.
(attachment E, see highlighting)
First Nations Resolution #13 for VisitAble Housing
(started in BC, now national). http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/resolutions/aga-2015-resolutions.pdf
Private Member's Bill C-265 had its first reading on May 3, 2016
and proposes "to ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for
Canadians". http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8227674
Provincial:
VisitAbility is
required in 15% of units for Group C Major Occupancy buildings since January 1,
2015. Although the percentage is relatively low, there's still the fact that
Ontario has already legislated it into the Ontario Building Code. It's a
reasonable assumption that the percentage of units required will climb with
future OBC updates as our demographics require it. (attachment F)
Ontario’s Investment in Affordable Housing has
accessibility as one of its key objectives. (attachment G)
The Age-Friendly Community Planning Guide (2015)
discusses Universal Design. (attachment H)
The Ontario Human
Rights Code is also very clear about the right to occupancy of accommodation
(attachment) as well as the Duty to Accommodate (attachment). This is an
on-going right by all Ontarians, again trumping all other legislation, which
includes the Ontario Building Code. (attachment I)
The Accessibility of
Ontarians with Disabilities Act Review is also very clear on page 66 that the
Ontario Human Rights code trumps the AODA (and any limitations that the AODA
may have). (attachment J)
Model homes must also
offer consideration for individuals with disabilities. (attachment K)
Some provinces are
doing quite well with VisitAbility (or other intiatives) already (attachment
L):
Manitoba: Winnipeg’s Bridgwater development
BC: Saanich, Vancouver, Measuring up the North
Municipal:
Affordable housing in
Ottawa already has VisitAbility in newer projects, ahead of the change to OBC
3.8.2.1 (attachment M). They had 10-12% of units being accessible even before
the requirement in the Investment in Affordable Housing.
VisitAbility for
residential housing is also mentioned in the 2015 update of the Ottawa
Accessibility Design Standards, page 194. (attachment N)
The Older Adult Plan
has a 2016 mandate for the Planning and Growth Management department to promote
adaptable, age-friendly homes. (attachment O).
I think it's safe to
say that the evidence that I have presented is quite clear as to which
direction housing is going in...the removal of architectural barriers, whether
it be with the most economical choice of VisitAbility or all the way to
Universal Design. My final attachment is from an Australian document which has
a very strong supporting comment for VisitAbility. (attachment P)
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