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.
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.
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.
In addition, Donovan states that the province lacks the knowledge and resources to implement and enforce needed accessibility regulations for every organization in Ontario. As a result, Donovan recommends that the federal government should take responsibility for accessibility in the private sector. Furthermore, Donovan outlines strategies the province should follow to fulfill its remaining responsibilities in the public sector.
Our next series of articles will explore Donovan’s recommendations in the fourth review of the AODA. We will outline the steps that Donovan recommends to make the AODA better and make Ontario truly accessible.