Every morning, five-year-old Beau’s day commences with being transported to his living room in his family home in Beamsville, Ont., where his wheelchair is stationed. Beau was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 17 months, a condition that impairs his ability to walk due to nerve damage and severe muscle weakness.
Rachel O’Hagan, Beau’s mother, highlights the daily challenges they face due to Beau’s condition. Their home’s doorways are too narrow for a wheelchair, meaning Beau has to be carried from room to room. He is unable to wash his hands or brush his teeth independently, nor can he reach light switches. As he grows and gains weight, these obstacles will only intensify.
Rachel believes that Beau could perform these tasks independently if their home was designed to accommodate his needs. Amidst a housing crisis in Canada, there is a call for more newly built homes to incorporate accessibility designs.
Beau’s situation is reminiscent of Tracy Odell, a 66-year-old Toronto resident with the same condition. She recounts her struggle to find accessible housing after aging out of a children’s rehabilitation program. Even now, she deems the accessible housing options in Canada as unsatisfactory.
Jutta Treviranus, director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University, describes the housing crisis as more intense for those requiring accessible housing due to the scarcity of supply. She stresses the importance of including the disability community’s voices in decision-making processes.
The federal housing advocate, Marie-Josée Houle, has called for accessibility to be a primary consideration in the National Housing Strategy. She recommends that all new government-funded housing units meet a minimum criteria of “visitability”.
Chief accessibility officer Stephanie Cadieux states that all levels of government need to promote more accessible housing. She also acknowledges that Canada is lagging behind other countries in this regard. She emphasises the need for adaptable homes that can meet people’s changing needs over time.
A comparison conducted by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. showed that it’s dramatically more expensive to make an existing home accessible compared to a new home. They found that the construction of an accessible new home only costs an additional six to 12 per cent compared to standard construction.
The Daniels Corp., a developer in the Greater Toronto Area, has responded to this need by creating accessible homes for people using mobility devices at no additional cost. However, Heela Omarkhail, Daniels’ vice-president of social impact, recognises that there is still a long way to go.
Kate Chung, co-founder of the Accessible Housing Network, sees the current efforts to boost Canada’s housing supply as a potential turning point. She believes that the adoption of universal design in housing could help address Canada’s housing crisis.
Tracy Odell, who lives in an imperfect yet functional Toronto bungalow, emphasises the difficulty of finding accessible housing. Despite the challenges, she feels fortunate to have a home in her community that is not hindered by additional barriers.
