The City of St. John’s has released a What We Heard report summarizing findings from public engagement which took place in September and October on the development of an Accessibility Plan. The Accessibility Plan will focus on actions to improve accessibility and remove barriers, building upon and improving existing measures previously implemented by the City of St. John’s.

What We Heard will be shared with Council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.

Highlights of What We Heard:

• Concerns about accessible parking and infrastructure, including the need for more accessible parking throughout the City.
• Barriers related to sidewalks, including placement of curb cuts, obstacles, maintenance and snow clearing.
• Importance of ensuring availability of alternate accessible routes in construction zones.
• Comments related to needing more inclusion workers for City programs and more flexibility in programming.
• Noted additional or improved accessible measures and equipment are needed in parks, playgrounds, City owned housing and facilities, such as accessible public washrooms and automatic doors.
• Ideas provided around improving the accessibility of public transit, including placement of curb cuts near bus stops, use of benches and bus shelters, proximity to crosswalks and scheduling.
• Importance of consulting with persons with disabilities or subject matter experts in all phases of a project to ensure current barriers are addressed and no new barriers are created.

Promotional efforts resulted in 1,460 visits to the project page on EngageStJohns.ca. Participants could provide feedback and ask questions on the project page, register for meetings, take surveys and learn about other ways to engage. Three public sessions were held to collect feedback, which were attended by 28 people. In total, over 430 people provided feedback through either surveys, the project page, email, phone or meetings. City committees and working groups were also consulted.

The City has an Inclusion Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations on matters of inclusion and accessibility as they relate to City services. An Accessibility Working Group, which includes several members of the Inclusion Advisory Committee, was created to assist in the development of the City’s Accessibility Plan. Members include representatives from Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canadian Mental Health Association, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association Newfoundland and Labrador, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities Newfoundland and Labrador; Empower NL; Inclusion Canada Newfoundland and Labrador and the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of the Deaf.

Staff, guided by recommendations from the Accessibility Working Group, will bring forward a draft Accessibility Plan to Council in the coming weeks.

Related Links:

• Media Release Announcing Engagement Opportunity
• Visit the Engage Page
• City of St. John’s Accessibility and Inclusion Information