Human Resources Committee on Oct. 1st, 2024

[Christina Bisanz]

NORCs are naturally occurring retirement communities that typically have more than 30% of the residents within the NORC area. That could be a building, a cluster of buildings or a building within a neighbourhood where a significant number of older adults are living. It brings together services and supports within the NORC to enable seniors to have access to information and social programs. In some instances, NORCs will offer primary care support. They may have a nurse practitioner who comes in once a week to speak with the residents or tenants, in some cases.

Essentially, it brings services, social engagement and activity to where the seniors live, as opposed to expecting that seniors will go out somewhere else and will have to travel to receive those services and social opportunities.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

I have one last question. We have about a minute.

What specific recommendations would you suggest the committee include in its report to ensure more meaningful progress toward a barrier-free Canada?

[Christina Bisanz]

Following up on your question regarding the NORCs and universal design standards, to really be successful we have to look at integrating housing with essential services in order to create those supportive environments for older adults. That includes proximity to health care, transportation and community services.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen.

Go ahead, Ms. Chabot. You have six minutes.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses.

Mr. Adair, you represent people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities. Would you say that the Accessible Canada Act is adequate in its current form to achieve the goal of eliminating barriers? If not, what changes are needed?

[Bill Adair]

Thank you for the question.

The act has some very strong components that are not being implemented with the kind of speed that's required to drive changes more quickly.

For example, there are the regulations that are required, and it should be mandatory that federally regulated entities would be required to comply with them. We have one standard, but it hasn't been turned into a regulation. How quickly will it be turned into a regulation? Accelerating the speed of that has to happen.

I think there is low-hanging fruit available. Over 400 large federally regulated entities are ignoring the requirement of creating an accessibility plan and posting annual updates. No fines have been issued. I don't know anything about what kind of pressure is being put on these organizations, but to me, it's a matter of exercising the enforcement that is in the act that could actually have an impact on change to remove barriers and prevent new barriers.

I think the act has a lot of tools that are effective, so there's a lot there, but I think there's much more that could be brought in. I pointed out paying attention to and pouring resources into shifting the culture and the attitudes of people in Canada towards those of us with disabilities. That's over six million people. It's the attitudes that need to shift, and then the changes will come much more quickly, because people will embrace the changes, as opposed to seeing it as just a box to tick.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I imagine the obstacles are numerous, but are there any especially challenging areas the government should prioritize? Inclusion in the workplace and the transportation sector are two that come to mind. Some witnesses have brought up housing as well.

[Bill Adair]

I know that the barriers that exist in Canada for people with disabilities have been well documented, and we know what they are. Speedier action on implementing changes would produce results in terms of removing barriers.

You just mentioned housing. There is a principle or a concept called “accessible-ready housing” that is being implemented in B.C. When new housing starts are being funded, the Government of B.C. requires them to comply with the requirements to build accessible-ready housing. It's not fully accessible, but it can be made accessible for a minimal cost.

This allows people to age in place, and it allows people with disabilities to purchase a house that's new or a home that's new or an apartment that somebody has moved out of. It reduces the cost and it opens opportunities for people with disabilities. Accessible, affordable housing for people with disabilities is a major crisis, and this would take us a good step forward to addressing that issue.

I know that Accessibility Standards Canada has released guidelines on accessible-ready housing and is fast-tracking a standard on accessible-ready housing, but will that standard be turned into a regulation that is enforceable?

A standard is voluntary. Will the Minister of Housing, with the Government of Canada, take the position that they will provide financial assistance to provinces and territories for housing, but that they must comply with the standard and the regulations that are being created by Accessibility Standards Canada? We're asking the minister to make that commitment, but we have no reply yet.

That's a very clear example of a step that could be taken, right now, to increase accessible and affordable housing for more people with disabilities in the future.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Adair.

We would welcome any other recommendations you have for strengthening the act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Madame Chabot.

Madame Zarrillo, go ahead for six minutes to conclude today's witness testimony.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am going to start by asking witness Adair a question, but if I have time, I have some questions for witness Janeiro about recommendations in the report for other tax entitlements, or lack thereof, that might need a review or updating. We know that it is witness testimony that drives recommendations in these reports, and we would certainly love to have that.

Witness Adair, you mentioned the creation of a culture of inclusive attitudes. There are two things I want to ask you.

One, could you table for us, or could you supply this to committee to be tabled, the 400 organizations that are in contravention of the act at this point in time?

Two—and I raised this point at the last meeting—could you give us the seven priority areas of the Accessible Canada Act that do not include a change in culture? Could you give us a recommendation of what could be placed into the Accessible Canada Act to address this need for culture change?

[Bill Adair]

Thank you for the questions.

To answer the question about the large private sector companies, 410 are not in compliance with the act. This is under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. I have asked the commission for that information. It's not available. I would love to reach out to those 410 organizations and offer to help educate them about their responsibilities for compliance and to help assist them with creating the plans.

Likewise, of the small private sector companies, which include organizations with 10 to 99 employees, 644 are not in compliance. It's a much larger number.

The answer to your question is no, I can't tell you exactly what those organizations are, but I would like to know, because we would like to be part of the solution and help them come into compliance.

In terms of the culture shift, that is something that could be built into the act at this point, or there could be funding put in place within the government that encourages and supports the interventions that are going to change the attitudes of people in Canada toward those of us with disabilities. The Government of Canada has introduced and required GBA+ training to ensure that people are aware of unconscious biases; hopefully, those biases will be removed, and as a result, people in this community will be accepted and included, and we could have something—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I'm sorry, witness Adair. I don't have much time.

Would you recommend that all public servants take some mandatory training on disability?

[Bill Adair]

Yes, I would, and I would require those involved in doing the training and the educating to be people with disabilities.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you so much.

I'm going to move to witness Janeiro.

Could you give us your thoughts on the tax entitlements, which might need review and additions?

[James Janeiro]

Certainly.

If I may, I'll give you four categories. These are the Canada caregiver credit, the disability tax credit, the two EI caregiving benefits that exist today and the broad umbrella of medical expenses that are allowed to be deducted from your income taxes at the end of the year. I would suggest that all four of those categories need to be dramatically reviewed and dramatically altered within the scope and the context of this legislation to make them as accessible and easy to access as possible.

Err on the side of putting some more support into the hands of people with disabilities, as well as a timely response.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Wonderful.

I still have two minutes, so I want to talk a bit about your organization, which recently released a report. Could you speak a bit to that report? I would also like to have the report tabled for this study.

[James Janeiro]

It would be my pleasure to provide that to the chair. I'll defer to the clerk on how best to do that—we have it available in English and French—at your convenience, of course.

One of the key findings of this “state of” report, which I also mentioned in my comments, is that one in five caregivers in Canada providing care to somebody else right now is a senior. Once you get to the age of 65, you are more likely to be one diagnosis or one accident away from needing care yourself. If you're already in a situation of providing care to somebody and, all of a sudden, you receive that diagnosis or you slip on a patch of ice, what was a difficult situation of care quickly turns into a crisis of care.

The absolute reality for many of these folks is there isn't a lot of help out there for them if they find themselves in that situation. That's one finding.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Very quickly on that, OAS was not increased for those aged 65 to 74. We debated that in the House today. It is impacting caregivers of that age.

Can you let me what an additional $73 a month could do to help a caregiver?

[James Janeiro]

It could do so much. I believe the last time I was before this committee, I spoke in favour of that particular bill coming from our friends in the Bloc. We support that wholeheartedly. The more support we can get into the hands of seniors and caregivers, the better. We see the economic impact of a cost of living crisis and pensions being squeezed every week and every month.

The more we can do to help this population, the better, so we're certainly behind it.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you.

You have eight seconds left. If you're going to generously cede them, Madame Zarrillo, we will conclude, because we have 15 minutes of committee business.

I want to thank all the witnesses who appeared today for giving the testimony they did. Thank you all for taking your time to appear before this committee on this important study.

I'll suspend for two minutes while we transition to an in camera meeting. Those not on the committee will have to leave the room.

We'll suspend for two—

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Just before you do, can we ensure that we are going to get that report to this committee for the analysts?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Yes. You requested it, and Mr. Janeiro indicated that he would send it.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

That's perfect. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

You can provide whatever written material to the committee you choose in support of your testimony.

[Proceedings continue in camera]