The Accessibility Policy is the City of Calgary’s commitment to make sure everyone can access and benefit from our spaces, facilities, and services. It sets the standards for inclusion and ensures accessibility is considered in every project, program, and service we offer.

We’re updating the Accessibility Policy to make sure it reflects the needs of today’s disability community.

Since the policy was first created, expectations, standards and language around accessibility have changed and improved. New laws and guidelines across Canada have also set a stronger direction for removing barriers and building inclusion.

The Accessibility Plan is a roadmap for building a more inclusive community. While the policy sets The City’s commitment to access and inclusion, the plan identifies where barriers exist, outlines actions to remove them, and tracks progress so we can be transparent and accountable as we make improvements to City spaces, services, and programs.

The Accessibility Program is the bigger picture. It brings everything together by:

• Updating the City’s Access Design Standards spaces and services meet accessibility needs – this engagement will be completed in 2025.
• Refreshing the Accessibility Policy to keep it relevant and effective
• Creating and putting the Accessibility Plan into action so we can deliver meaningful change

Your input will guide how we update the Accessibility Policy and create the Accessibility Plan. We’ll use your feedback to understand barriers, set priorities, and shape actions that reflect real experiences. Once the input is reviewed, we’ll share what we heard and show how it influenced the decisions and updates.

This project focuses on how The City of Calgary can make its spaces, services and programs more accessible. That includes things like sidewalks, crosswalks, transit, parks, recreation centres, City programs and communication.

Other levels of government, and spaces or services owned by private businesses or on private land are not within scope since The City doesn’t have authority over those areas.

Everyone is welcome to provide input. We especially encourage participation from:

• Individuals with a disability
• Families, friends, support workers and advocates
  
• Disability serving organizations
  
• Calgarians who use City spaces and services
  

Yes. Accessibility supports such as American Sign Language (ASL), captioning, and other accommodations will be available. Specific details about the accessibility supports for each event is included in the event listings above. If you have additional accessibility needs, you can also contact us at engage@calgary.ca so we can work with you to make sure you are able to participate fully.