Priority Seating for Passengers with Disabilities in Ontario and Manitoba

The Transportation Standards under the AODA and the Transportation Standard under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) both require organizations to make transportation accessible to passengers with disabilities. Moreover, both standards require many of the same processes and practices to ensure accessibility. However, there are many important differences between the standards. The third review of the AODA recommends that the Ontario government should coordinate with other provinces and the federal government to ensure that accessibility laws are consistent across Canada. Therefore, requirements in the AODA may one day change to align with mandates under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. In this article, we will explore requirements for priority seating for passengers with disabilities in Ontario and Manitoba.

Priority Seating for Passengers with Disabilities in Ontario and Manitoba

The Transportation Standards of the AODA and the Accessible Transportation Standard of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) both require conventional transit companies to have priority seating for passengers with disabilities. Priority seating is seating made available for passengers with disabilities if they need to use it. Each conventional transit vehicle should have at least one (1) priority seat. Moreover, this seating should be located as close to the door as possible. Furthermore, signs should clearly indicate which seats on a vehicle are priority seats.

Non-disabled passengers may sit in priority seats if they are empty. If a non-disabled passenger is using a priority seat when a passenger with a disability boards a vehicle and needs to use the seat, the non-disabled passenger should offer the seat to the passenger with the disability. Signage should alert all passengers to this system. However, conventional transit companies must take other measures to inform the public about the purpose and use of priority seating. Both transportation standards allow each conventional transit company to decide on its own strategy to inform the public.