The Accessibility for Manitobans Amendment Act and The Commemoration of Days, Weeks and Months Amendment Act (Access Awareness Week)
Chamber
manitoba
Stage
Introduced
This Manitoba bill updates accessibility rules and creates an annual Access Awareness Week each May.
Key Changes
- Accessibility standards must be reviewed within 5 years of being created, then again within 5 years, and at least every 10 years after that
- The majority of members on the Accessibility Advisory Council must be people who are disabled by barriers, and the council must reflect Manitoba's diversity including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples
- Money collected from administrative penalties must be used for public education and awareness about accessibility
- Public sector bodies must file accessibility plans every 4 years starting in 2032, instead of every 2 years (with a transition schedule for 2025–2031)
- Accessibility plans must now describe how the organization consulted with people who face barriers, and must be submitted to the government director within 30 days
- The last week of May each year is officially declared 'Access Awareness Week' in Manitoba
Gotchas
- Existing members of the Accessibility Advisory Council keep their seats until replaced, even after the new composition rules take effect — the new diversity requirements only apply to future appointments
- The shift from 2-year to 4-year accessibility plans reduces how often public bodies must formally update their plans, which could mean slower responses to accessibility gaps
- The comprehensive review of the entire Accessibility for Manitobans Act is required by end of 2028 and then only every 10 years — a long gap between full evaluations
- The bill references the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the preamble to Access Awareness Week, but does not create any new legal rights or enforcement mechanisms tied to those documents
Who's Affected
- People with disabilities or who face accessibility barriers in Manitoba
- Provincial government departments and public sector bodies
- Cities, health authorities, and educational institutions
- Small municipalities
- Members of the Accessibility Advisory Council
- Organizations representing people with disabilities
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- Existing members of the Accessibility Advisory Council keep their seats until replaced, even after the new composition rules take effect — the new diversity requirements only apply to future appointments
- The shift from 2-year to 4-year accessibility plans reduces how often public bodies must formally update their plans, which could mean slower responses to accessibility gaps
- The comprehensive review of the entire Accessibility for Manitobans Act is required by end of 2028 and then only every 10 years — a long gap between full evaluations
- The bill references the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the preamble to Access Awareness Week, but does not create any new legal rights or enforcement mechanisms tied to those documents
Summary
This bill makes several changes to Manitoba's accessibility laws. It updates how often accessibility standards must be reviewed, changes who sits on the Accessibility Advisory Council, adjusts how often public sector bodies must file accessibility plans, and requires that money collected from fines be spent on public education about accessibility. The bill also changes the schedule for accessibility plan reporting — moving from every two years to every four years starting in 2032, with a transition period between now and then. Public sector bodies will also need to describe how they consulted with people who face barriers when writing their plans, and must submit those plans to a government director. Finally, the bill officially declares the week starting on the last Sunday of May each year as 'Access Awareness Week' in Manitoba, recognizing the contributions and challenges of people who face accessibility barriers.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses