Madam Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition that recognizes that 22% of Canadians have a disability and that housing policy discriminates against people with disabilities. The petitioners specifically cite that no building code in Canada mandates that housing be accessible. They note that this leads to thousands being forced out of their dwellings at the most vulnerable time in their lives and that millions of health care dollars could be saved by enabling people to remain in their own accessible homes.
The petitioners call on the House of Commons to amend the national building code to make universal design mandatory in all new multi-unit housing developments under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada consistent with current legislation and conventions. They also call for ensuring the Canadian table for harmonized construction codes policy, the Canadian Board for Harmonized Construction Codes and the CMHC collaborate to defining and illustrate in the national building code what is “visitable”, “adaptable, “accessible”, “barrier-free” and “universal design”. Finally, the petitioners call on the House of Commons to require public funds or concessions for housing conferred on municipalities, developers or other organizations to be exclusively used for universally designed housing.