Government Responds to Accessibility Act Review

The Province is taking action to address the recommendations of the first independent review of the Accessibility Act.

“We are committed to building a more equitable and accessible province by 2030,” said Brad Johns, Minister responsible for the Accessibility Act. “It is important to regularly review implementation of the Accessibility Act to make sure it continues to remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities. These recommendations will help us strengthen our approach to this important work.”

Katie Aubrecht, a disability scholar and associate professor at St. Francis Xavier University, led the independent review.

Work is underway in six priority areas to address the recommendations in the review, including:

• accelerating standards development
• increasing involvement of people from diverse backgrounds with disabilities
• improving communications and broadening community engagement
• increasing supports for prescribed public sector bodies – those identified in the act’s general regulations – and other sectors
• monitoring accessibility improvements in healthcare, justice and housing
• strengthening monitoring, accountability and progress reporting

Over the next three years, the government will focus on developing and enacting accessibility standards, supporting public sector organizations to update and implement their accessibility plans, and increasing communications and engagement.

The Province’s response to the Accessibility Act review: https://novascotia.ca/accessibility/docs/government-response-accessibility-act-review-report-en.pdf

Quick Facts:

• the Accessibility Act, passed in April 2017, required an external review within four years of coming into force and every five years after that
• almost 800 people with disabilities, community organizations, municipalities and other stakeholders affected by the legislation were consulted during the review
• significant progress has been made since the Accessibility Act was passed, including work to develop all six standard areas: education, employment, goods and services, the built environment, information and communications, and public transportation
• work is also underway on the development and implementation of the accessibility plan by the government and 107 public sector organizations
• 47 of the 48 recommendations from the independent review were accepted; a proposal to change the Accessibility Advisory Board’s governance model will not be implemented

Additional Resources:

News release – Independent Review of Accessibility Act Released https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2023/05/17/independent-review-accessibility-act-released

Accessibility Act review: https://novascotia.ca/accessibility/act-review/

Access by Design 2030: https://novascotia.ca/accessibility/access-by-design/