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Accessibility for Manitobans Act Review

The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) affects all Manitobans. It provides a process to remove barriers for people with disabilities.

Section 39 of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act calls for a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the act within the first four years. Following the first review, the act is reviewed every five years. During the reviewal process, the Minister responsible for Accessibility appoints an individual to conduct a review, report the findings and present recommendations for improvements to the act back to the government. The consultation process must include members of the public and include people with disabilities or representatives from organizations representing people with disabilities.

At a Glance:

Enacted: December 2013
Recent Review Status: 2023 Review Published
Next Scheduled Review: 2028

Current Review

Five-Year Review of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act: July 2023

The second review of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act started in February 2023, when the Minister responsible for accessibility appointed Manitoba lawyer, Sarah Lugtig Riezebos as the Reviewer.

The consultation process was extensive and included virtual and in-person focus groups held throughout the province, meetings with internal and external key decision-makers, document reviews and the administration of an online public survey.

The final report was presented to the Minister of Families on July 12, 2023. The report included findings on the impact of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act and outlined 27 recommendations and several suggestions for future legislative reviews.

Recommendations identified themes relating to making accessibility a priority by demonstrating leadership and collaboration with all departments and ensuring accountability, long-term planning and proper resourcing occurs.

The Manitoba government formed an internal working group, coordinated by the Department of Families. This group developed an implementation plan, Manitoba’s Accessibility Action Plan, as a response to the Reviewer’s findings and recommendations.

Manitoba’s Accessibility Action Plan will be available soon.

Resources are available in alternative formats on request. Please contact the MAO@gov.mb.ca.

Resources for the 2023 review

Past Reviews

Four-Year Review of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act: December 2018

The first independent review of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act is dated December 2018.

Theresa Harvey Pruden began reviewing the legislation in January 2018. She held consultations to inform her work with numerous groups such as Manitobans with disabilities, service providers, organizations affected by the legislation and members of Manitoba’s accessibility advisory council.

The review focused on progress that has been made since the AMA was established in 2013. The review made 52 recommendations focused on how to improve the effectiveness of the AMA including:

improving the process to develop accessibility standards
enhancing efforts to increase awareness about the legislation
exempting small organizations (under 50 employees) from documenting accessibility measures, policies and practices, which is consistent with the approach taken by Ontario
providing practical, user-friendly tools to help with implementation of accessibility standards.

The Manitoba government took action or completed 51 of the 52 recommendations in the five-year period between reviews.

Read the Four-Year Review of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act: December 2018

Resources are available in alternative formats on request. Please contact the MAO@gov.mb.ca.

Review Resources

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