Over 70% of Canadian's Experience Barriers on Vacation

The 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) notes an increase in the number of Canadians with disabilities from 22% to 27% of Canadian's aged 15 years of age or older. The survey looked at 27 types of barriers experience by Canadians with disabilities.

I find it frustrating, but not surprising that 71% of disabled Canadians face one or more barriers to having a vacation. Canada has eight million residents with a disability and at 71%, that means 5.7 million residents face challenges with vacations, which must be negatively impacting the tourism business. There is fantastic opportunity for the tourism and hospitality industry to gain competitive advantage and grow by removing barriers and being more inclusive.

The CSD results are available via an interactive report > Barriers to accessibility among persons with disabilities in Canada (statcan.gc.ca)

How Intertek Can Help?

People with special requirements, whether they are visually impaired, wheelchair users or have an invisible disability, need to know if the facility they plan to visit is suitably prepared and equipped for their needs.

As part of Intertek’s purpose-led commitment to making the world a more inclusive place for our clients and their customers, we launched AccessCheck, an assessment protocol which provides independent verification of the degree to which any facility meets the accessibility needs of the disabled community.

AccessCheck — Intertek Cristal (cristalstandards.com)