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This award recognizes Ontarians who have gone above and beyond to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.
 
Recipients can include individual volunteers or organizations that have made outstanding contributions and have demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment in the advocacy and promotion of accessibility and disability issues.
 
To submit a nomination for this award:

1. Visit ontario.ca/honoursandawards.
2. Select the Inclusion Category
3. Click on David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility.
4. Download the PDF form.
5. Read the eligibility criteria and instructions carefully.
6. Fill out the form, then submit it no later than December 3, 2017. Instructions for submitting your nomination package can be found on the website.

If you have any questions, contact the Ontario Honours and Awards Secretariat:
 
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 416-314-7526
Toll-free: 1-877-832-8622
TTY: 416-327-2391

On October 12, 2017, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released a new policy statement explaining the purpose and importance of the duty to accommodate under the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code).

Employers and unions, housing providers and service providers have a legal duty to accommodate the Code-related needs of people who are adversely affected by a requirement, rule or standard. Accommodation is necessary to address barriers in society that would otherwise prevent people from fully taking part in, and contributing to, the community.

See also:

• Duty to accommodate (Policy on ableism and discrimination based on disability, 2016)
• Meeting the accommodation needs of employees on the job (Human Rights at Work)
• How far does the duty to accommodate go? (Fact sheet)
• Human rights and the duty to accommodate (eLearning)

This year, Contact Dance International Film Festival (CDIFF) is happy to announce that it is 90% accessible and particularly geared towards people of all abilities and any level of experience with movement. The festival runs June 28 to July 2, 2017 in Toronto.

Accessibility Services Canada has negotiated a 75% discount on the Welcoming Pass for individuals who identify as a person with a disability. The Welcome Pass includes: bit.ly/2sBCwFo 

To purchase your Welcoming Pass and access the 75% scholarship discount, visit: http://contactdancefilmfest.eventzilla.net and use the code “AccessibilityOntario” in the Checkout.

What is Contact Dance?

Contact dance improvisation is a social dance involving touch, in which momentum between two or more people is used to create and inspire dance movements. The form is similar to martial arts practices such as Aikido that use momentum and rolling point of contact in defensive moves. Contact dancers use these practices, not to defend themselves but to communicate, dance and express. There is no set leader or follower. Each dancer will sometimes follow and sometime lead and interchange these roles seamlessly. The form is egalitarian, requiring a deep “listening” and responding in the moment, to one’s partner, with no pre-set roles. Techniques include rolling point of contact, following momentum, and “listening” with one’s skin surface. Contact dance improvisation is accessible to people with no previous dance training and to people with physical disabilities. See contact dance improvisation in action: bit.ly/2rRKjBL 

Questions about the Accessibility Scholarship or accommodation needs? 
Email [email protected] or call 416 545 1515

More information about the festival – http://contactdancefilmfest.com

Following eight months of consultations held with Canadians from coast to coast, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, released a report on Monday entitled, “Creating new national accessibility legislation: What we learned from Canadians.”
 
Throughout the consultations, the Government of Canada asked a number of important questions, including:

• What should be the goal of the new legislation?
• What accessibility barriers should be included?
• How do we make sure the new legislation is being followed?
• In addition to the new legislation, how should we better promote accessibility?
• How do we ensure that all Canadians are informed on a regular basis if the new legislation is working, or if it needs to be improved?

 
The public consultations on Canada’s first national accessibility law identified high unemployment rates, inaccessible buildings and barriers in transportation as some of the key issues that need to be addressed.
 
Read the key messages laid out in the report.