Three people looking at a printed map, one is in a wheelchair

Ensuring all people are treated with respect, with equitable access and opportunity to participate to the fullest extent in the city.

The City of Edmonton Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy guides the development and implementation of City policies and civic engagement, programs and services, communications and technology, employee services, and infrastructure (facilities, open spaces, and transportation) to ensure full consideration of the needs of all individuals and their diverse abilities. 

Accessibility: A Fundamental Aspect of Society

Accessibility is fundamental to the quality of life, well-being and engagement of individuals in the social, economic, cultural, spiritual and political aspects of society. 

The City of Edmonton Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy is intended to ensure all people are treated with respect, and have equitable access and opportunity to participate to the fullest extent in the city.

Policy and Plan Implementation

City Council approved the updated Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy on May 21, 2025.

The 2021-2024 Corporate Accessibility Plan supports the Policy through action. The Plan included 70 accessibility actions and ended in June 2024. Read the Final Progress Report.

Corporate staff training to support awareness on disability and accessibility for people with disabilities was released in 2020. 

311 app was updated in 2020 to include a checkbox to track accessibility-related submissions. 

2021 - 2024
Implementation of 2021-24 Corporate Accessibility Plan

Second Quarter (Q2) - 2021
First 3-year Corporate Accessibility Plan published

December 2020
Updates to 311 app to track accessibility-related submissions

October 2020
Corporate awareness training on Accessibility for People with Disabilities released 

Audio Version of Policy C602

ASL Version of Policy C602

Public Engagement

Thanks for Sharing Your Feedback

A new Corporate Accessibility Plan will help us continue our efforts to make Edmonton more accessible. Thank you to everyone who attended our public engagement sessions and completed our online survey.

Public engagement for the 2025-2029 Corporate Accessibility Plan included 2 phases:

Next Steps

Winter 2025
Public and staff engagement on draft 2025-2029 Corporate Accessibility Plan

Spring 2025 
Updated Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy

2025-2029 Corporate Accessibility Plan

2025-2029
Implementation of 2025-2029 Corporate Accessibility Plan

Project Overview

The Policy is guided by a number of drivers including:

  • The City’s commitment to providing accessible environments and universal design to ensure full consideration of individuals’ needs and diverse abilities
  • Alignment with the City’s broader strategic framework and related plans and policies
  • Alignment with provincial, national and international policies, best practices and research
  • Opportunities to increase the City’s quality of life and reputation as an accessible city

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this Policy include Diversity and Inclusion too?

The City of Edmonton’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy was approved by City Council in 2008. It is currently under review for an update and will remain a separate policy from the Accessibility for People with Disabilities Policy.

How does the City define accessibility and disability?

Words can often have differing interpretations. For this Policy work, the City has adopted the following definitions to create a common understanding:

Accessibility
A concept integral to human rights that refers to the absence of barriers that prevent individuals and/or groups from fully participating in all social, economic, cultural, spiritual and political aspects of society. The term is often linked to people with disabilities and their rights to access. It also refers to universal design characteristics of products, devices, information, programs, services and infrastructure that enable independent use or support when required, and access by people with a variety of disabilities.

Disability
Disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment - or a functional limitation - whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society (Accessible Canada Act, 2019).

Who benefits from the Policy and the Corporate Accessibility Plan?

All Edmontonians, visitors and City employees. The  Policy  is a shared direction and way of working, influencing how we plan and make decisions in areas that affect people with visible or invisible disabilities. The work supports both the City’s corporate promise of enabling a better life for all Edmontonians and several policies of the City Plan. The Corporate Accessibility Plan includes actions aimed at identifying, preventing and reducing barriers to accessibility to make Edmonton a more accessible city.

What kind of changes can I expect to see because of this Policy and the Corporate Accessibility Plan?

The Policy is expanded in scope to identify and remove accessibility barriers in all areas of work at the City including: technology, information, communication, transportation, recreation, open spaces, civic engagement, programs and services. The Policy states the City’s commitments. The City is taking a well thought out, strategic approach to fulfill the commitments. The Corporate Accessibility Plan identifies priority actions to remove barriers.  The Plan is incremental in nature with a phased-in approach.

Were people with disabilities involved in the development of the Policy and the plan?

The City worked with various external groups representing different disabilities, including the Accessibility Advisory Committee, to develop the Policy.

The City also engaged people with disabilities for feedback on actions in the Corporate Accessibility Plan.

The City continues to engage with Edmontonians with disabilities and disability organizations to share progress updates and understand the barriers they experience when accessing City programs, services and spaces. The 2025-2029 Corporate Accessibility Plan is based on this feedback.

Contact Us

311 Contact Centre

Phone  311 | Outside Edmonton and Video Relay Service (VRS): 780-442-5311 | TTY 711

Contact 311 Online