Grants and Awards
Manitoba Accessibility Awards
The Manitoba Accessibility Awards recognizes leaders in our communities who have shown their commitment to accessibility and inclusion for all Manitobans, especially those who experience accessibility barriers.
The Manitoba government plans to celebrate the awards, by including the Manitoba Accessibility Awards as part of community-based awards programs.
About the Awards
The 2018 Independent Report on the Effectiveness of the Implementation of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act recommended introducing accessibility awards as an incentive program for business and organizations to encourage their compliance of the act.
Acting on these recommendations, the Manitoba Accessibility Office began to research effective ways to use awards to promote accessibility. Today the awards raise awareness to the efforts and achievements Manitoba businesses and organizations have made to become more accessible to all.
The Manitoba government launched the Manitoba Accessibility Awards virtually, December 3, 2020, during a webinar to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Award Recipients
2024
Abilities Manitoba
Abilities Manitoba launched a successful social media campaign to raise awareness about the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. In May 2023, the campaign featured five short videos, three informational one-pagers and a new web page, reaching over 65,000 Manitobans across various platforms.
The campaign highlighted the lived experiences of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in relation to the first three standards of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. Abilities Manitoba collaborated with representatives from disability support service organizations and individuals with lived intellectual disability experience to develop the campaign's concept, strategy, and messaging.
People with lived experience were hired as paid actors and played an active role in providing feedback during the launch and evaluation stages, further enhancing the campaign's accessibility and broadening its impact.
In November 2023, Abilities Manitoba's “Barrier Town” campaign won a gold award in the Disability Awareness category at the Shorty Impact Awards. This international program recognizes purpose-driven work that creates positive change.
Abilities Manitoba was also a recipient of a Manitoba Accessibility Fund grant in 2022.
Abilities MB - Making Manitoba Accessible
2021 - 2023
Award suspended due to COVID-19
2020
- Large business: Winnipeg Airports Authority, Winnipeg
- Small business: Red Apple, Stonewall
- Urban non-profit organization: Gateway Church, Winnipeg
- Rural non-profit: Woodlands Pioneer Museum, Woodlands
- Large municipality: City of Selkirk
- Small municipality: Rural Municipality of Victoria Beach
Resources
City of Selkirk Receives the 2020 Manitoba Accessibility Award for Large Municipalities: