Accessibility of public places for people with disabilities lagging in Calgary

Calgary, AB – New University of Calgary led research shows that nearly 60 per cent of public spaces mapped in Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa are either inaccessible or partially inaccessible to people with disabilities. Further, the research reveals that of the three cities, Calgary finishes last with only 35 per cent of the buildings mapped deemed accessible. This is compared to 48 per cent accessibility in Vancouver and 53 per cent accessibility in Ottawa. In Calgary, 5,381 locations were mapped.

The research report, Mapping Our Cities for All (MOCA) is released by AccessNow, in collaboration with UCalgary and Spinal Cord Injury Canada. AccessNow is an accessibility technology company which provides a free crowdsourcing mobile app that collects and shares accessibility information for cities across Canada.

The MOCA project, launched at UCalgary, is Canada’s largest accessibility research initiative to date, using geographic data and insights from people with lived experiences of disability to assess the accessibility of Canadian cities. To date, MOCA has assessed over 14,000 consumer-facing, street-level public businesses in Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa, as well as in 17 rural Alberta towns.

The report is aimed at aiding the federal government in meeting the goals of the Accessible Canada Act (ACA). Established in 2019, the ACA aims to create a country free of barriers for disabled people by 2040.

The research is funded by Accessible Standards Canada, AccessNow, Mitacs, and SSHRC.

“There hasn’t been a clear understanding in Canada as to what barriers people with disabilities face.”

Dr. Victoria Fast, PhD, associate professor, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, specialist in urban GIS (Geographic Information Systems), spatial data and mapping.  

Adds Fast: “When the Government of Canada enacted this legislation, they acknowledged: ‘We need a better understanding. We need feedback on the barriers faced by individuals with disabilities.’ It’s our job to help them understand and support them in their goals.”

This understanding is critical to advancing the accessibility landscape in Canada. “Only once we measure access can we improve it,” says Maayan Ziv, founder and CEO of AccessNow. “MOCA was born out of the need for powerful data. By using the collective experiences and perspectives of people with all forms of disabilities, we can drive meaningful progress towards a more inclusive Canada.”

Fast and her then masters students Russell Copley and Rhiannon Scott,  began the MOCA project in 2021 in partnership with AccessNow. The report’s research was conducted by 40 employed people, including those with lived experience of various disabilities, who spent 4,090 hours mapping over 14,000 distinct locations in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, as well as 17 rural Alberta towns. Collecting more than 126,000 data points, mappers from these locations assessed each location’s overall accessibility levels with ratings of Accessible, Partially Accessible, and Not Accessible.

Factors taken into consideration include the accessibility of parking and building entrances, the accessibility of washrooms, and such general categories as lighting, the height of tables, spaciousness, digital menus, and the quality of customer service. The collected data can be viewed on AccessNow’s interactive map.

The report found that the most accessible businesses often tend to be those related to health and personal care, finance, clothing, and sporting goods stores. Among the least accessible are professional, scientific, and technical services, as well as educational services with fewer than 35 per cent of these locations rated as accessible. Troublingly, the educational services sector has the highest proportion of businesses rated as not accessible.

In Calgary, areas in the downtown core are among the least accessible while the neighbourhoods of Kensington and Sunnyside have the best accessibility.

Fast notes that the report highlights areas of attention where each municipality can prioritize their efforts to improve accessibility. “MOCA demonstrates how cities across Canada can make measurable progress towards advancing accessibility by applying insights from the disabled community to shape local-level policy, targeted to where improvements are needed most.”

Fast and Ziv encourage other Canadian cities to join the mapping movement to begin improving their accessibility. This research can easily be replicated in municipalities across Canada by using the AccessNow app.

According to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, more than six million Canadians aged 15 and over – 22 per cent of the population – identify as having a disability.

“Accessibility is a fundamental human right, and we envision a world where everyone can navigate their surroundings with ease and dignity, regardless of their abilities.”

Maayan Ziv, founder and CEO of AccessNow

Adds Ziv: “Together, we can empower individuals with disabilities to participate fully in society by providing critical insights and build a more inclusive future where no one is left behind.”

Media inquiries

Heath McCoy
Senior Communications Specialist
Media, Issues and Outreach
C: 403-607-8461
hjmccoy@ucalgary.ca

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