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This newsletter is available in alternate formats on request.
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Accessible Employment Standard Regulation
Five-Year Review
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The Accessibility Advisory Council wants to hear from Manitobans about their experiences with the Accessible Employment Standard Regulation, the second accessibility standard under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act.
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- Do you face barriers to finding or keeping a job?
- Do you know how to best accommodate your employees with disabilities?
- How does this standard affect you and your workplace?
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We want to hear from you.
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The review aims to determine if the standard has met its objectives to remove barriers to employment, and if not, how could it be improved. Lessons learned from this review can help strengthen the impact of the Accessible Employment Standard going forward.
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Public engagement is an important aspect of the review, and there are many ways for you to share your perspective including:
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A public survey is available on EngageMB, the Manitoba government’s online portal, until November 1, 2024. EngageMB provides an easy way for all Manitobans to share their insights. If you require the survey in an alternate format, please contact our office.
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Live Virtual Town Hall Sessions:
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The Accessibility Advisory Council is hosting two virtual town hall sessions on Zoom where you are invited to share your perspectives, including by chat and phone. These sessions follow the same format. You’re invited to register for the session that works best for your schedule.
- Morning Virtual Town Hall
- Date: Tuesday, September 24
- Time: 10 a.m. to Noon
- Where: Online via Zoom
Register to Attend
- Afternoon Virtual Town Hall:
- Date: Thursday, September 26
- Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- Where: Online via Zoom
Register to Attend
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Comments and feedback are welcome via briefs and submissions to the attention of the Accessibility Advisory Council at access@gov.mb.ca. The deadline for submissions is Friday, November 1, 2024.
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The council will use all feedback and perspectives received to make recommendations for improvements.
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For more information on the council’s review, please contact the Manitoba Accessibility Office at mao@gov.mb.ca, or by calling 204-945-7613.
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Manitoba Accessibility Fund Recipient Announcements
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The Manitoba Accessibility Fund is happy to announce that notifications have been sent out to all grant applicants for this funding cycle. Congratulations to each of you who will be receiving support for your projects and initiatives. Your dedication and passion for removing barriers have truly impressed the selection committee, and we can't wait to see the impact your work will make.
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For those who applied but may not have been selected this time, we appreciate your efforts and encourage you to keep pursuing your projects. Your commitment to removing barriers is invaluable, and we look forward to the opportunity to support you in future intakes.
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Stay tuned for a full announcement where we'll share more details about the grant recipients and their projects. We're excited about the positive changes and ambitious initiatives ahead.
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Spotlight on a Manitoba Accessibility Fund Project
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The Manitoba Accessibility Fund is proud to spotlight projects from three previous grant recipients.
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South Interlake Regional Library – Literacy for All Manitobans
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South Interlake Regional Library provides public library services to the rural municipalities of Rockwood and Rosser and the towns of Stonewall and Teulon. Our mission is to enhance South Interlake communities through literacy by providing innovative, accessible and dynamic library services and programs. We strive to be the welcoming heart of our communities where patrons of all generations are included, educated, informed and inspired.
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Rural libraries in our province have recently gained access to the digital collection of the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA). CELA provides library patrons with print disabilities access to 1.2 million titles in accessible formats via a smart device. In many parts of Manitoba, people with print disabilities do not have access to a smart device due to economic or technology barriers such as a lack of high-speed internet.
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Our project, funded by the Manitoba Accessibility Fund, used the existing inter-library loan system to lend accessible audiobook players preloaded with titles from CELA free of charge to people across Manitoba who have a print disability. In partnership with CELA, we also hosted a training workshop and displayed materials for rural librarians to raise awareness of Manitoba’s Accessible Information and Communication Standard.
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The project was launched at the end of April, and we are pleased that several audiobook players are already in circulation. Feedback from patrons using the service has been very positive, with more than one saying that this service has been life-changing. We are delighted to offer this new service to remove barriers to literacy and accessibility for persons living with print disabilities. We are also proud to support rural librarians in providing this service in their own communities.
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~ Article submitted by the South Interlake Regional Library.
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Transportation Options Network for Seniors
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Transportation Options Network for Seniors (TONS) is a provincial organization that focuses on developing and enhancing relationships with current transportation providers in the public and private sector as well as distributing research and best practice recommendations. We aim to increase awareness and provide education on the transportation needs for older adults in Manitoba with the goal of ensuring that individuals can choose to age in place within community and that communities see transportation as a valuable investment for creating age-friendly communities. We work to provide resources, tools and networking opportunities for transportation services and service providers who support older adults across Manitoba with a specific focus on, but not limited to inter-community transportation programs like accessible van services in rural communities.
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With support from the Manitoba Accessibility Fund, TONS worked with the Independent Living Resource Centre to host three online wheelchair securement and customer service training sessions via Zoom. Fifty people from 30 different communities attended. The goal of the training was to reduce barriers to accessing information about wheelchair securement. Training included tips on how to tie down wheelchairs in transportation vehicles, customer service training that meets AMA standards and training on the Accessible Transportation Standard.
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There are training requirements in place for all para-transit providers, contained within the Accessible Customer Service and Accessible Transportation Standards, although training is not always available to small rural transportation providers. It was extremely beneficial to provide training to smaller transportation groups in hopes that community members and older adults can safely access transportation across the province. As the training sessions were recorded, organizations could go back to re-watch. They could also access resources which included a transportation toolkit and an online training manual.
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~ Article submitted by the Transportation Options Network for Seniors.
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Boyne Regional Library is a public library in Carman, Manitoba serving the town, the Rural Municipality of Dufferin and several surrounding communities. Many of our patrons request books in large print as they can no longer read regular print comfortably and want to continue reading. We offer tech help to the community, in the library and through an outreach program. This helps to remove barriers that seniors are facing in the ever-changing digital age.
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With support from the Manitoba Accessibility Fund (MAF), we were able to expand our large print collection and purchase a fully accessible public workstation, an accessible high contrast keyboard, computer and a large monitor. Patrons without internet access at home can now comfortably access information, participate in continuing education and communicate through email. By providing help with our library reading apps, library users with accessibility barriers learned to access online eBooks and audiobooks, giving them a wider selection of reading materials in formats to meet individualized needs. Through an iPad lending program, patrons are also given access to apps and technology.
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MAF funding enabled us to introduce Wonderbooks into our collection. Wonderbooks are print books with a ready to play audiobook inside. Each book is a customizable reading experience based on reading levels and abilities. The response for the Wonderbooks has been incredible with families and educators.
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Our library and community have greatly benefited from MAF. The funding allowed us to improve and provide accessible library materials for all and inform staff about ways to recognize and proactively address accessibility barriers.
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~ Article submitted by Boyne Regional Library.
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Workplace Accommodation Requests
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All employees, who are temporarily or permanently disabled by one or more accessibility barrier in the workplace, have the right to request workplace accommodations. Under the Accessible Employment Standard Regulation when an employee makes a request for an individualized accommodation plan to remove a temporary or permanent barrier in the workplace, it sets in motion the employer’s legal obligation to assess, develop and implement a plan to review reasonable accommodation options.
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The Accessible Employment Standard Regulation outlines responsibilities for both the employer and the employee in relation to individualized accommodation plans. Among other requirements, an employee is responsible for providing relevant information to assist in the assessment of an accommodation request, while the employer must identify how often an established plan will be reviewed. Additional details about these responsibilities can be found in sections 12 and 13 of the regulation.
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Reasons for Denying a Request
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If a request for an individualized accommodation plan is denied, employers in Manitoba are obligated to provide written reasons for the decision. Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to:
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- If an independent regulated health professional does not support the employee’s self-assessed requirement for a workplace accommodation.
- If there is evidence that the request would cause undue hardship (e.g., create a major and measurable cost to the employer or health and safety risks).
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It is important to note that a reasonable accommodation offered by the employer may not always be the requested or preferred accommodation of the employee. An employer may offer a different reasonable accommodation to remove the barriers presented.
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Remember: Creating workplace accommodations is a shared responsibility between the employer and employee. Collaboration is critical to identifying and implementing a reasonable accommodation that meets the individual’s unique needs in the workplace.
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This July, Celebrate Disability Pride Month
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Recognized each July, Disability Pride Month is a movement of empowerment and visibility for people with disabilities. It’s a time for community members and advocates to reflect and speak out against societal barriers.
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Disability Pride Month was first celebrated in the United States in July 1990. This was the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act came into law. Today it is recognized around the world. This July, take some time to celebrate Disability Pride Month by reflecting on the role society plays in removing barriers while reflecting on the multiple intersecting identities within our community.
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The Disability Pride Month Flag
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The Disability Pride Month flag was created by Ann Magill. The flag represents the many cross-sections and advocates for an inclusive society that ensures barrier-free accessibility for everyone.
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Meaning behind each design element:
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- The Black Field: Mourning for those who've suffered and died from ableist violence.
- The Zigzag Band: Recognizing how disabled people must move around barriers and the creative ways in which they do so.
- The Five Colours: Representing the variety of disabilities, needs and experiences, including Mental Illness, Neurodiversity, Invisible and Undiagnosed Disabilities, Physical Disabilities and Sensory Disabilities.
- The Parallel Stripes: Forming solidarity within the disability community, despite differences.
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In 2022, nearly eight million Canadians aged 15 years and over had one or more disabilities according to the Canadian Survey on Disability. Among them, approximately 8.7 per cent individuals reported being a 2SLGBTQ+ person, representing 2.3 per cent of the Canadian population aged 15 years and over.
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Frustrated by limited support for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, a local group in Manitoba's second-largest city has formed to practise American Sign Language and provide support for each other.
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The City of Winnipeg’s public service is putting a price tag on changing the accessibility icon to a more “forward-leaning” icon on city properties and communication. The Accessible Icon Project symbol was introduced in 2010 to replace the 1960s wheelchair accessibility icon.
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New Accessibility Funding Opportunities Available from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
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Apply for this new funding opportunity:
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Update from Accessibility Standards Canada:
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Accessibility Standards Canada held their Annual Public Meeting “Leading change to make Canada accessible and include all people” on May 22, 2024.
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Are you interested in learning American Sign Language?
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RRC Polytechnic will be offering American Sign Language through its Continuing Education program this fall. Courses include American Sign Language 1, American Sign Language 2, American Sign Language 3 and ASL Bridging 2.
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This newsletter is available in alternate formats on request.
You subscribed to this newsletter on the AccessibilityMB.ca website.
Manitoba Accessibility Office
630 - 240 Graham Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0J7
Phone: 204-945-7613
Toll-free: 1-800-282-8069, ext. 7613
Email: mao@gov.mb.ca
Follow and join the #AccessibleMB conversation on social media.
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