The Town of Antigonish and the Accessibility Committee is working with Upland Planning + Design and RHAD Architects to develop an Accessibility Plan for our community.
In line with Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act, this process is intended to remove and prevent barriers that restrict people with disabilities from fully participating in society. The Draft Plan recognizes the diversity among people with disabilities and aim to improve the independence and wellbeing of residents, community members, and visitors with disabilities.
The Draft Plan includes recommendations for the Town of Antigonish in the following areas, as well as an accessibility audit of Town Hall:
- Awareness and education
- Goods and services
- Information and communications
- Transportation
- Employment
- The built environment
Draft Accessibility Plan
After delays with internal review, Covid-19, and other Town projects, the draft plan is now available to view. Engagement on this draft took place throughout September 2022.
Hard copies of the Draft Plan and Summary are available at Town Hall and the Antigonish Town & County Library.
If you need to access the plan in an alternate format, please contact Kate Gorman, Director of Community Development at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 902-318-6758.
To read the Draft Accessibility Plan, click here. Click here to read the large print version .
For a summary of the Draft Plan, please click here.
For audio summaries of the Draft Plan, please click here.
To read the Antigonish Accessibility Plan Engagement Summary, pdf click here (482 KB) . pdf Click here to read the large print version. (579 KB)
These videos summarize the findings of a local research project focused on learning from the perspective of local experts with disabilities on accessibility of the built environment. The videos also explore the ways in which the Town can work with local persons with disabilities to deliver results in accessibility, with comments from Mayor Laurie Boucher.
This project was completed by Callie Scott, a student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, with Supervisor Dr. Amanda Casey (St. Francis Xavier University), in collaboration with PEACH Research Unit. Findings from this project have been incorporated into the Draft Accessibility Plan for the Town of Antigonish.
Engagement on the Draft Plan
A public open house was held at Antigonish Town & County Library on September 13th, 2022. Click the links below to view the open house materials, available in text and audio formats
To view the panels from the Open House, pdf click here (17.94 MB) . And for the audio formats, click here.
Next Steps
The Draft Plan will be updated and adjusted to reflect feedback from the community. The final plan will have important details on how the recommendations of the Plan will be implemented, including a timeline, and framework for monitoring and evaluating the effect of the Plan’s policies, programs, practices, and services on accessibility. The final plan will also provide a public response process for accessibility concerns, outlining how the Town will respond to and act on accessibility complaints or comments.
Provinical Landscape
Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act mandates the development of both Accessibility Advisory Committees and Accessibility Plans for Municipalities within the province.
For information on the Town’s Accessibility Committee, click here.
The Nova Scotia Accessibility Directorate is responsible for administering the Accessibility Act and advancing disability issues within government, working with persons with disabilities, Municipalities, businesses, post-secondary institutions, and others to achieve the goal of an accessible Nova Scotia by 2030.
The Directorate has published a number of resources for this work, including:
- Planning Accessible Meetings and Events
- Accessibility Planning Toolkit for Municipalities
- Interim Accessibility Guidelines for Indoor and Outdoor Spaces
Two Standard Development Committees were established provincially and have recently submitted their first phase of recommendations on accessibility standards relating to education and the built environment.
Although these recommendations have not yet been established as standards, they are a good starting point, and the Town of Antigonish’s Municipal Accessibility Plan will refer to these documents, as well as the guidelines established by the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Accessibility Certification, a nationally recognized resource.
This Accessibility Plan also falls within the legislative and legal context of the Accessible Canada Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
