Summary#
The bill, titled the Accessibility for Manitobans Amendment Act and the Commemoration of Days, Weeks and Months Amendment Act (Access Awareness Week), would amend two existing Manitoba laws. Its stated goal is to prevent and remove accessibility barriers; it does not create a new agency or a new front-line service.
- Accessibility standards would be reviewed within five years after they are made, again within five years after their first review, and at least once every 10 years after that.
- When appointing members to the Accessibility Advisory Council, the government must, as much as possible, ensure most members are persons disabled by barriers, include representatives of specified groups, and reflect Manitoba’s diversity, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Current council members could stay until replaced or otherwise leaving.
- Public sector bodies would follow transition schedules for preparing or updating accessibility plans, then do so by January 1, 2032, and every four years after. Plans must describe consultation with persons disabled by barriers or their organizations, and be sent to the director within 30 days.
- The government must use money collected from administrative penalties to educate the public or promote awareness about accessibility.
- The minister must appoint someone to review the Act’s effectiveness by the end of 2028 and before the end of every 10-year period after that.
- The week beginning on the last Sunday in May would be Access Awareness Week. The text leaves the royal-assent date blank, so it does not establish whether the changes are in force.
What it means for you#
- Public sector bodies: They would have to prepare or update plans on the bill’s schedule. Government and certain listed bodies must cover 2025–26, 2027–28 and 2029–31. Small municipalities have a different schedule: 2026–27, then either two two-year periods or one four-year period covering 2028–31. From 2032, plans are due every four years and must address identifying, preventing and removing barriers in the body’s policies, programs, practices and services.
- People disabled by barriers and their organizations: Public sector bodies must consult them when preparing plans and describe that consultation in the plan. The bill does not specify how consultation must happen.
- Council appointees: The appointment rules would seek a majority of members who are persons disabled by barriers and representation from specified organizations and sectors, while reflecting Manitoba’s diversity. “As much as possible” qualifies these requirements.
- The public: Access Awareness Week would be formally designated. The bill does not require particular events or services during that week.
- People or organizations paying administrative penalties: The government would have to use the amounts collected for public education or accessibility awareness.
Money#
No cost estimate is provided in the available material.
- Public bodies would have to prepare or update plans and send them to the director; the bill gives no staffing or cost estimate.
- The government must use administrative-penalty amounts for accessibility education or awareness. The material does not state how much is collected or whether the money is kept in a separate fund.
- No spending amount is specified for the reviews or Access Awareness Week.
What is unclear#
- The parent Acts and the regulation listing public sector bodies are not supplied, so the full current rules and which bodies fall into each group could not be verified.
- The bill does not set out a process for checking plans, responding to them, or enforcing the plan requirements.
- It does not state how the consultation must be conducted or how the director will use plans submitted.
- The supplied material does not show whether “persons disabled by barriers” is defined in the existing Act.
- The assent date is blank. The schedules say they come into force on royal assent, but the material does not confirm whether or when that happened.
Case for#
- More regular reviews could help keep accessibility standards under review while allowing longer gaps after the first follow-up.
- Requiring plans to describe consultation makes that part of planning visible in the plan.
- A council with a majority of members disabled by barriers could bring direct experience of barriers into its advice.
- The bill directs administrative-penalty money toward public education or awareness about accessibility.
Case against#
- A four-year plan cycle from 2032 means plans would be updated less often than the every-two-years schedule described in the explanatory note.
- The bill requires plans and consultation but does not specify how the director will assess them or what happens if a plan is inadequate.
- The appointment rules are qualified by “as much as possible,” so the bill does not guarantee that the council will meet every representation aim.
- The cost and staff time for plan preparation, submission and reviews are not estimated.