From Sunday, May 26th, to Saturday, June 1st, we’re celebrating National AccessAbility Week. This week aims to highlight the significant and innovative contributions of persons with disabilities in Canada, and the accomplishments of people who proactively identify, remove, and prevent barriers to accessibility and disability inclusion in their communities and workplaces.
This year, the theme for National AccessAbility Week is “Forward Together: Accessibility and Inclusion for All,” emphasizing the need for collective efforts to create a barrier-free Canada. Our country’s strength lies in the diversity of its people—all its people—and we can all contribute to this vision.
On Wednesday, May 29th, we also celebrate Red Shirt Day, a day of action first celebrated by the Easter Seals of Ontario. You can participate by wearing red to create a visible display of solidarity for people with disabilities and pledge your commitment to help create a fully accessible and inclusive society. On Sunday, I am proud to be joining the Easter Seals Run/Walk to raise money for children and youth with disabilities in York Region. I have participated in this walk for over 30 years, and I’m looking forward to seeing familiar and new faces at the event.
Since 2015, our government has taken action to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in Canada and to build an inclusive and barrier-free nation. This includes Canada’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan, which is a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities with new and meaningful actions. In Budget 2024, our government announced $6.1 billion over six years, and $1.4 billion per year ongoing, for a new Canada Disability Benefit. This benefit is estimated to increase the financial well-being of over 600,000 low-income persons with disabilities.
A fully inclusive Canada benefits all of us. Our country’s strength lies in the diversity of its people — all of its people. In the spirit of “Nothing Without Us,” the Government of Canada continues to collaborate with partners from the disability community, as well as Indigenous representatives, intersectional groups, and all levels of government to ensure the needs and interests of persons with disabilities are considered and supported.
