Recommendations in the Fourth Review of the AODA

Every four years, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario appoints someone to review the AODA. This reviewer spends time meeting with the public, especially people with disabilities, discussing possible improvements the AODA might need. Based on this public feedback, the reviewer writes a report about how effective the AODA and its mandates are. In addition, the reviewer recommends steps the government can take to improve the Act. The reviewer then submits this report to the Minister in charge of the AODA. The fourth review of the AODA was submitted in June 2023, and became public in December 2023.

Recommendations in the Fourth Review of the AODA

Rich Donovan, CEO of The Return on Disability Group, wrote the fourth review of the AODA. Like David Onley, author of the third review of the AODA, Donovan states that Ontarians with disabilities encounter many barriers every day. Moreover, Donovan concurs with Onley’s assessment that the current AODA does not do enough to remove or prevent barriers. In short, Donovan states that the current AODA will not meet its goal of making Ontario fully accessible by 2025.

An Accessibility Crisis

Moreover, this lack of progress on the creation, implementation, and enforcement of AODA standards impacts the well-being and safety of Ontarians with disabilities. Therefore, Donovan recommends that the Ontario government declare this lack of progress on accessibility a crisis. This crisis state should last six (6) months. During this time, the Ontario government should work quickly to implement some of the most important changes needed to improve accessibility in the province. For example, these changes include the development of:

Federal Government Responsibility for Accessibility in the Private Sector

In addition, Donovan states that the province lacks the knowledge and resources to implement and enforce needed accessibility regulations for every organization in Ontario. In contrast, the federal government has the resources to create widespread change. Moreover, the federal government has recently made more progress toward accessibility than the provincial government. For example, the Accessible Canada Act requires federally-regulated employers to have accessibility plans, feedback processes, and progress reports. In short, Ontario should coordinate with the federal government to ensure accessibility. As a result, Donovan recommends that the federal government should take responsibility for accessibility in the private sector. Under this new arrangement, the provincial government could focus on public-sector AODA enforcement.

Tactical Recommendations

Furthermore, Donovan outlines tactical recommendations the province should follow to fulfill its remaining responsibilities in the public sector. Some of these responsibilities involve research, including:

Other recommendations have the goal of changing behaviours or public perceptions of disability, including:

In addition, the review recommends frameworks that the government should create to strengthen the AODA, including:

Finally, the review makes recommendations for constructing and retrofitting buildings:

Based on the outcomes of previous reviews, it seems unlikely that the government will implement many of these valuable strategies for improving the province. If the government does not begin following the recommendations in these mandated reviews, the province may never become accessible. Instead, “the outright discrimination that people with disabilities face every day” will continue forever.