A crisis highlights the need for more inclusive and accessible homes
For Rachel O’Hagan, daily life with her five-year-old son, Beau, is a stark reminder of how inaccessible homes can amplify the challenges of living with a disability. Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 17 months, Beau’s limited mobility means he relies on his parents to navigate their home. Narrow doorways, inaccessible sinks, and unreachable light switches hinder his independence.
“These are all things that he absolutely could do on his own if the house could accommodate him,” said O’Hagan in an interview with The Canadian Press. “He very much wouldn’t need our support ... He could freely move around.”
Canada’s housing crisis, marked by soaring demand and limited supply, is intensifying calls for more accessible housing. Advocates argue that accessibility must be a cornerstone of future construction to accommodate the needs of millions of Canadians living with disabilities.
A nationwide gap in accessible housing
The barriers Beau faces mirror those experienced by Tracy Odell, a 66-year-old Toronto resident who also lives with spinal muscular atrophy. Decades after her childhood, Odell finds that accessible housing remains scarce and calls current options “deplorable.”
“There’s a housing crisis for everyone,” said Jutta Treviranus, director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University in an interview with The Canadian Press. “But the housing crisis is so much more intense for anyone requiring accessible housing because the lack of supply is exponentially more scarce.”
Despite growing awareness, Canada lags behind in creating accessible housing. Federal accessibility officer Stephanie Cadieux emphasized the urgent need to address the issue through policy and design changes. “We are not building homes that work for everybody,” Cadieux said. “The way we build homes is very much that homes are designed around able-bodied people.”
Building accessibility from the ground up
The federal government’s target of 3.87 million new homes by 2031 offers a unique opportunity to reshape the country’s housing landscape. Advocates urge policymakers to adopt universal design principles that allow homes to adapt to changing needs over time.
The financial argument is clear: A 2019 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) study found that retrofitting existing homes for accessibility costs up to 779% more than incorporating such features during initial construction. The added cost of building accessible homes from the start is estimated at just 6% to 12%.
Some developers are taking the lead. The Daniels Corporation in the Greater Toronto Area has built 38 accessible units since 2017, with more under construction. Their designs feature roll-in showers, roll-out balconies, and accessible common areas at no additional cost. However, vice-president Heela Omarkhail acknowledged the gap between the current supply and the needs of Canadians with disabilities.
An opportunity for change
The federal Housing Design Catalogue program, launching in 2024, could set a new standard for accessibility. Advocates like Kate Chung of the Accessible Housing Network see this as a chance to integrate universal design into Canada’s housing strategy.
“Here’s an opportunity. You’re going to be building all this housing and you have control over the design of the housing,” Chung said in a Canadian Press interview. “You need to make it all universal design, so anyone of any age or ability can live there and can continue to live there, even if they get hit by a stroke or heart attack, (multiple sclerosis), a truck — whatever happens to them, whether they end up with a permanent disability or a temporary one.”
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