A new report by the Auditor General of Canada says nearly two-out-of-three disabled people in Canada still face barriers when it comes to travel.
The report, issued this week, says that VIA Rail, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, and the Canadian Transportation Agency have taken steps to improving transportation accessibility by identifying, reducing, and preventing some of the barriers faced by persons with disabilities.
“But more needs to be done. In 2019 and 2020, nearly two thirds of the 2.2 million persons with disabilities who travelled on planes, trains, and other federally regulated modes of transportation faced a barrier.”
While VIA Rail and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority—as transportation service providers—consulted with persons with disabilities to gather feedback on projects such as accessibility plans and the design of VIA Rail’s new fleet, some ongoing issues that persons with disabilities regularly face remained. For example, websites for planning and booking trips were not fully accessible despite this being one of the most frequently experienced barriers in transportation for persons with disabilities. We also found that staff and management did not always complete their accessibility training on time, which can affect the service persons with disabilities receive.
As the organization responsible for overseeing the accessibility regulations for the transportation industry, the Canadian Transportation Agency identified accessibility barriers through its inspections and worked with transportation service providers to remove some of the barriers. However, inspections looked at how the services were designed but did not test the actual service delivery. Also, just 4 full-time-equivalent employees were responsible for monitoring and enforcing more than 450 provisions for more than 130 transportation service providers. As a result, some of the barriers could remain, and new ones could be introduced.
VIA Rail’s, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority’s, and the Canadian Transportation Agency’s efforts to improve accessibility would be enhanced if the organizations went beyond resolving individual complaints and more deeply analyzed complaint data to better understand the day-to-day experiences of travellers with disabilities.
As well, the report notes that the Canadian Transportation Agency “has very limited authority to request complaint data from the transportation service providers.”
A man in a wheelchair. Centre for Ageing Better Photo courtesy Unsplash.
KEY FACTS AND FIGURES
- VIA Rail and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority took steps toward engaging with persons with disabilities for specific activities. However, as envisioned in federal accessibility legislation and related regulations, persons with disabilities should have been consulted more broadly—such as on teaching methods for accessibility training.
- From 2017 to 2022, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority categorized 83 complaints under persons with disabilities. However, more than 1,000 complaints, many of which were made by or on behalf of persons with disabilities, included terms related to a disability but were instead categorized by the operational nature of the complaint. Data about complaints made by persons with disabilities was not leveraged to identify and prevent barriers to accessible travel.
- In its oversight role, the Canadian Transportation Agency had insufficient tools and enforcement staff to address all the barriers. It looked at how services were designed, in accordance with the regulations—not the actual delivery of services.
- In its oversight role, the Canadian Transportation Agency had insufficient tools and enforcement staff to address all the barriers. Just 4 full-time-equivalent employees at the agency were responsible for monitoring more than 130 transportation service providers and enforcing the Accessible Transportation for Persons With Disabilities Regulations, which contain more than 450 enforceable provisions. The agency looked at how services were designed, in accordance with the regulations—not the actual delivery of services.
- The percentage of managers and executives who did not complete their mandatory accessibility training on time was 39% at VIA Rail and 31% at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. An additional 17% of managers and executives at VIA Rail did not complete the training at all. However, 80% of client-service staff at VIA Rail and 78% of third-party screening personnel at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority completed their training on time.
- According to Statistics Canada, 1 in 5 Canadians aged 15 and over have 1 or more disabilities that could limit their participation in everyday activities. Of the 2.2 million persons with disabilities who used federally regulated transportation in 2019 and 2020, 63% faced a barrier.
