Executive committee reviews progress in City of Regina’s accessibility plan

Councillor Sarah Turnbull says she is happy to see progress on the City of Regina's Accessibility Plan. (Sierra D'Souza Butts/CTV News)

The City of Regina has completed 33 of its 80 actions as part of its accessibility plan.

During Wednesday’s meeting, executive committee reviewed the short-term actions the city has completed towards making areas more accessible and age-friendly.

Those actions include transit access, additional snow removal, disability awareness training, ongoing engagement with the disability community, developing a Sidewalk Working Group, and others.

“I think we’re doing a good job. With our accessibility plan, it was one of the first. There’s a lot of policy-based [changes],” Ward 5 Coun. Sarah Turnbull told reporters.

“… There’s just so many more people living with disabilities and challenges than people even imagine, because you don’t see them due to the accessibility standard. If a space isn’t accessible, someone’s not going to be there.”

The city’s accessibility plan focuses on removing and preventing barriers for people with disabilities, in addition to following up on its strategic plan to manage its accessibility efforts across all city departments.

Additional infrastructure improvements and maintenance of city roads and sidewalks also remain top priority, the committee discussed.

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This is the second year the plan has been implemented as it was first approved by Regina city council in April 2024. As part of the 10-year plan, the city has committed to completing 80 goals. To date, 33 of those actions have been finished and 41 are in progress.

Out of the city’s approximately 152 playgrounds, not one currently meets the city’s “new accessibility standards.” However, they are accessible, according to administration.

“How many years is it going to take to get all of our parks up to this standard?” Ward 2 Coun. George Tsiklis asked.

“Through the assessment, we are evaluating a strategy for how we’re approaching all of our playgrounds. We’ll have more information when we bring that strategy back to council,” answered Deborah Bryden, deputy city manager of city planning and community development.

By the end of the year, the city expects to have at least four playgrounds that match its recent accessibility policies.

“I think it’s important to note it’s not always about disabled children. It is also about the caregiver,” Turnbull said.

“There’s grandmas who want to go, parents who want to take their kids to the park and if they can’t walk on the park, they can’t take their kid to the park. That’s also a big part of it.”

The executive committee unanimously approved the updated plan, which will be brought to Regina city council on May 20 for final approval. Members also thanked administration and the City of Regina for their achievements on the plan.