National AccessAbility Week (NAAW)May 28 to June 2, 2023

Learn from Yesterday, Change Today, Enhance Tomorrow

NAAW is an annual event observed in Canada during the last week of May. This week is dedicated to raising awareness about accessibility and the importance of building inclusive and better accessible communities and workplaces “a confident Canada”. The goal of the week is to highlight the various barriers that people with disabilities face in their daily lives and to encourage everyone to take action to remove those barriers.

The Government of Canada first launched National AccessAbility Week in 2017 and Canada joined the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010. The Convention protects and promotes the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities without discrimination and on an equal basis with others.

Did you know, 3.8 million Canadians are living with a mobility, vision, or hearing disability and struggle every day to access spaces like shops, office buildings, and community centres because of physical barriers to accessibility. To remove these barriers, the Accessible Canada Act was passed, in 2019. It involves identifying, removing, and preventing barriers in employment, communication and information technologies, transportation, public buildings and spaces, etc.

The Wheel Around the World

A dream of creating an Accessible and inclusive world, and a cure for Spinal Cord Injury, Rick Hansen (a Canadian Wheelchair Athlete) set his journey for - The Man-In-Motion World Tour (TMIMWT).

  • Rick and his team wheeled over 40,000 km through 34 countries raising awareness about the potential of people with disabilities, creating accessible and inclusive communities, and finding a cure.
  • Later the concept of National Access Awareness Week was originally developed by Rick Hansen after his TMIMW Tour. This Tour raised $26 million for his spinal cord injury research and changed the way people with disabilities were perceived.
  • Hansen has received numerous honours for his contributions to disability rights and accessibility, including the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

NAAW Event

The ITAO Accessibility Office is pleased to invite you to their upcoming event in partnership with Accessibility Center of Excellence (ACE) which support employees with disabilities by providing a variety of adaptive software and hardware.

Join this Event, where ACE will be demonstrating their services on:

Adaptive Hardware and Software Presentation

  • French Event: June 1 | 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (ET)

Adaptive Hardware and Software Presentation

  • English Event: June 1 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)

For additional connection options or for any inquiries, please reach out to the Awareness Team

Other Ways to Get Involved during NAAW 2023