City of Ottawa - Accessibility Spotlight - November 2021

 

United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities Event

The City of Ottawa is hosting an event to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Thursday, December 2, 2021 from 10-11:30am. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the event will be hosted virtually on Zoom. Please join Deputy Mayor Laura Dudas, City Councillors, senior leaders, staff and residents in observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The United Nations theme for 2021 is “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.” Deputy Mayor Dudas will provide remarks and a proclamation of observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Jeff Willbond, the Director General of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, will then provide an update on the Accessible Canada Act and Jeff Poirier, Acting Director of the Policy, Education, Monitoring and Outreach Branch, of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, will speak to the impacts of COVID-19 on people with disabilities and Human Rights in Ontario.   Please register Online by December 1st at 12:00 p.m. To promote the inclusion of all participants, American Sign Language (ASL), langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) and continuous real-time captioning will be provided for the event. Simultaneous French translation will also be available. When you register, please advise if you require any additional disability-related accommodations to participate in the event.

2021 E-Scooter Pilot Survey

The 2021 e-scooter pilot season ends on November 30th. This year’s end-of-season survey is now available on the City of Ottawa E-scooter webpage. Whether you have used the shared e-scooters or not, please send us your feedback by filling out the survey. The survey deadline is Tuesday, November 30, 2021.

OC Transpo to offer customers unlimited no-charge transit in December

OC Transpo will be offering unlimited no-charge service on all forms of transit (buses, O-Train and Para Transpo) to customers in December, in recognition of the considerable disruption faced by transit users following the suspension of O-Train Line 1 service. OC Transpo is making unlimited no-charge transit in December as easy as possible for customers: From December 1 to 31, fare gates at all O-Train stations will be opened and fare boxes and smartcard readers on all OC Transpo buses will be covered. Monthly December passes will not be sold. Presto customers with auto-renew subscriptions will see a one-cent charge which will be credited back to their account. U-Pass customers or customers with a school board issued pass do not need to tap their card at O-Train stations or on OC Transpo buses. All Para Transpo trips during December will be at no charge. Regular fares continue to apply to transit customers travelling on the Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) system. Customers who had a monthly pass on their Presto card in November and U-Pass customers should tap their card as they board but no charges will be applied. Other customers will need to pay the applicable STO fare. Customers who have questions can visit octranspo.com or call 613-560-5000 for more information and can use the OC Transpo Travel Planner to plan their trips.

SnowGo & SnowGo Assist

With the arrival of ice and snow, Ottawa winters can be a challenging time for seniors and people with limited mobility. The City funds two programs, Snow Go and Snow Go Assist, which help seniors and people with disabilities with their snow removal. The City partners with nine community agencies to run these two programs. The Snow Go program vets snow removal workers and matches them with seniors and people with disabilities to get their snow cleared. Residents pay the workers directly for their services. The Snow Go Assist program goes one step further and helps low-income seniors and people with disabilities with the cost of their snow removal. To be eligible for the Snow Go Assist program funding, applicants must: Be a senior of at least 60 years old or a person with a disability Have a low-income and show proof of: Annual income below $31,500 if single and below $39,200 for a household of two persons or more Eligible residents may be reimbursed up to 50 per cent of snow removal costs to a seasonal maximum. To apply, contact the partnering local agency in your area. For a list of these agencies, visit ottawa.ca/snowgo, call 3-1-1 or call 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service (VRS).