Council approved the establishment of the Accessibility Planning Program in 2003
Regional Council approved the Region’s first Accessibility Plan, “Making Way for Ontarians with Disabilities” on September 18 2003, which outlined 11 recommended actions to remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities (See Appendix II for more details)
Hired an Accessibility Planning Coordinator in February 2003 to implement the first Accessibility Plan – September 2003
Established a Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee to support the work of the Region of Peel and Town of Caledon
Established an inter-departmental Accessibility Plan Working Group to support identification and removal of barriers
Introduced Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) that allows TransHelp passengers or caregivers to access the information about trips booked, fare balances and trip cancellations at their convenience.
Posted AAC agendas and minutes on external Website
Presented a workshop at the 66th Annual General Meeting of Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) titled, “ODA – One Year Later” to share the Region’s ODA experiences with other area municipalities
Participated in an AMO led workgroup to prepare submission for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration’s consultations to strengthen the ODA - From the Municipal Front Door and Beyond: Achieving Barrier-Free Communities
Focused on developing a strategic three level approach to engage all staff in supporting implementation of the Region’s first Accessibility Plan
Created a template to gather information on departmental accessibility tasks and accomplishments and to identify future barriers
Presented to all eight Departmental Management Teams in order to provide an overview of the Region’s obligations under the ODA and discussed the strategic approach to support the work required to improve accessibility of Regional programs, services and facilities
Included consultation (workshops and e-mail) with Accessibility Advisory Committee in the strategic planning process to create the Region’s fourth Strategic Plan, resulting in the creation of a Strategic Action specific to accessibility
Anchored accessibility into the Region’s fourth Strategic Plan, Fast Forward Peel: Building a Strong Community Together – Strategic Action 5.4: Contribute to creating a receptive, accessible community that ensures full participation of individuals with disabilities
Established accessibility as an input into the Region’s corporate planning process, specifically departmental Service Strategy Business Plans (SSBP)
Conducted strategic level consultations with the Accessibility Advisory Committee in an effort to develop an Accessibility Plan that reflected the need to focus on critical “foundational” issues, e.g. learning and development, and policy and process issues
The Long Range Transportation Planning (LRTP) exercise initiated in 2002 by the Region’s Planning department, as part of the Regional Official Plan Strategic Update (ROPSU), includes development of a strategy to meet the future transportation needs of persons with disabilities and published the Study of Transportation for Persons with Disabilities (See Appendix III for more details)
Ensured Accessibility is included in the reviewing process of the major human services policies during Region of Peel Official Plan Strategic Update (ROPSU). (See Appendix VI for more details)
Responded to AAC recommendation to immediately address attitudinal barriers by piloting a Disability Education and Sensitivity Training program, facilitated by the Coalition of Persons with Disabilities Peel/Halton/Dufferin, with members of Executive Management Team and other Regional staff on August 3rd, 2004 and Regional Council on September 16, 2004. The feedback data will be used to develop a longer term training strategy
Refined SSBP process to include departmental accessibility Work Plan as an input into departmental 2005 SSBPs
Utilized Region’s SSBP process, including consultation with the Accessibility Advisory Committee and information from the Barriers template, to renew the Accessibility Plan
