2020- 2022 Policy Process | Green Party of Canada

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G21-P035 Make Universal Design the Basic Standard in All Building Codes

Official proposal

05/06/2021 12:18

Submitter Name

Kate Chung

Ratification Vote Results: Adopted

Proposal

To make universal design the basic standard in all Building Codes. The Government of Canada will comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Canadian Human Rights Act by ensuring all new housing will be fully accessible (universal design).

Objective

To ensure all housing options are accessible to all and thereby ending all housing discrimination, ensuring that their human rights are respected, in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Canadian Human Rights Act.

Benefit

Ensuring that all new housing is accessible will end discrimination in housing and will make up for the decades of having no accessible housing. It will enable many to live in their own homes longer as they age and will save millions of healthcare dollars.

Supporting Comments from Submitter

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) research shows that the cost of building accessible apartments is the same as conventional construction, if included from the design stage.

Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, reported to the General Assembly that adequate housing is a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to non-discrimination in housing. (12 July 2017)

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/LeilaniFarha.aspx

A 2002 report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission called for the government to recognize that “the Human Rights Code applies to the Building Code itself and inconsistencies between them may form the basis of a human rights complaint against MAH itself”.

http://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/submission-ontario-human-rights-commission-concerning-barrier-free-access-requirements-ontario

In a National Housing Day statement on Nov 22, 2020, the Chief Commissioner again called for amendments to Ontario’s Building Code Regulation to require all units in new construction or major renovation of multi-unit residences to meet universal accessibility standards. She said, “Universal design makes housing accessible and adaptable not just for people with disabilities, but for everyone.”

bit.ly/3lXQQmk

The federal government has responsibility for military housing and Indigenous housing, and participates in funding for housing in all provinces and territories.

Statistics Canada reports that 22% of Canadians have a disability.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/181128/dq181128a-eng.htm