Mississauga.ca - Residents - 2003 Accessibility Plan

With the passage of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) in 2002, all municipalities were required to establish an Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) by September 2002 and to file annually an Accessibility Plan. Accessibility Plans must identify barriers to persons with disabilities and the municipality's plan for the removal of those barriers. The first Plan is to be submitted and is to be made public by September 2003.

The ODA represents a significant departure from previous initiatives to address the challenges facing persons with disabilities in two main areas. First, disabilities are now defined very broadly to include not only physical disabilities affecting access to buildings or buses, for example, but also visual, hearing and intellectual impairments that affect a person's ability to participate fully in the community. Second, the ODA requires municipalities to consider barriers created not only by physical limitations to facilities or other assets, but also those which may be created by policies, practices, by-laws, programs, and services administered by the municipality.

The implications of the ODA span across all the Divisions of the City requiring a coordinated approach and concerted effort to meet the expectations of the Act. Each Departments' planning process and annual budgets will have to reflect the intent of the ODA to remove barriers in existence and to prevent new barriers from being formed in the future.

Related Links:

	Administration of the Plan
	The Plan: Initiatives
	The Vision
	Introduction/Overview
	Accessibility Plan (full document)
	Strategic Directions
	Past Initiatives
	Link with the City