Council approves revised accessibility strategy 

Halifax regional council gave a revised accessibility strategy the go-ahead Tuesday morning. 

It contains 30 recommendations such as implementing an online system for booking Access-A-Bus travel, upgrading 25 bus stops to accessible standards, increasing training for municipal employees and increasing the amount of accessible gym equipment.  

The revised strategy is “a good step for our next three years,” said Councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon (District 1, Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley). 

Nova Scotia passed the Accessibility Act in 2017. The act requires public-sector bodies to update their accessibility strategy every three years.  

The 2025-28 Accessibility Strategy is the first update to the Halifax region’s initial strategy, which it implemented in 2021.  

The recommendations fall under the categories of transportation, built environment, information and communications, goods and services, and employment. 

Many of the recommendations are being presented for the first time, marking a step toward improved accessibility in Halifax. 

Melissa Myers, an accessibility adviser for the Halifax Regional Municipality, told council some recommendations are in new areas “where [the municipality doesn’t] have a baseline” to build upon.

Myers suggested old infrastructure designs did not consider accessibility. 

“Halifax is a beautiful city, but it’s a historical one too,” she said.

In Halifax “there are so many things to improve,” said Councillor Virginia Hinch (District 8, Halifax Peninsula North). “If we’re trying to be an accessible city, it should be automatic that these things are in place.” 

Since the initial 2021 strategy, the municipality introduced accessible taxi service Extra Care Taxi, renovated Woodside Ferry Terminal and installed more than 1,700 tactile walking surface indicators, among other developments. 

According to Statistics Canada’s 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability, Nova Scotia has the highest population percentage of individuals with disabilities in Canada. Almost 38 per cent of Nova Scotians over the age of 15 have a disability. 

The municipality’s chief administrative officer will provide regional council with an annual progress report on the revised strategy’s implementation.