Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the invitation to appear today to discuss the current study on accessible transportation for persons with disabilities regulations.

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people, and I pay respect to elders past and present.

I am pleased to be appearing here today and to have my colleagues Tamara and Kurush here with me virtually.

Canadian Airports Council represents over 100 airports, including all the national airports system airports and most passenger service airports in every province and territory that handle all of the nation's air cargo, international passenger traffic and 90% of our domestic passenger traffic as well.

Accessibility in the travel journey is more than regulatory compliance. It is about ensuring that all passengers, regardless of a need, have a seamless, respectful and dignified experience. This really is our north star, and we are shaping our objectives and activities as an association around this goal. Certainly there are imperfections, and things can go wrong, and they shouldn't, but we want to learn, improve and aim higher for all passengers in Canada's airports.

With this objective, over the last several years, the CAC and Canada's airports have focused our attention on taking action. Over the last year, the CAC has collaborated with learning management system experts, Harper Learning, to design a new national training program on accessibility in Canadian airports. The goal is to offer a nationally consistent program to train all airport authority employees not just on the regulatory requirements but on how they can best assist a person with a disability at every step of their journey through the airport.

Further, we have also begun work to develop a five-year road map on accessibility for our airports in order to move forward on the broader goal of barrier-free travel in Canada by 2040.

As it stands, Canadian airports have many innovative programs in place that also follow the regulatory requirements established by Transport Canada and the CTA in order to make the passenger journey a better one for people with disabilities, but most airports really do go above and beyond the CTA requirements. Airports care deeply about making tangible improvements to continually raise the bar and better serve passengers.

In addition, the CAC leads an accessibility working group with subject matter experts on the passenger journey and operations. This working group meets monthly to discuss current issues and challenges faced in our airports and helps provide peer guidance and best practices in planning and implementation so we can learn from each other on accessibility efforts in airports from coast to coast.

With over 100 airports, CAC members range from YVR and YYZ, whose representatives are here with me today, but also Hamilton, Nanaimo and many small airports across the country.

When it comes to the larger airports, they have the technology and infrastructure to be some of the most accessible airports in the world, and that is the goal of many. Some of them are now working on world accessibility accreditation in that program, and a number of them have it as well, so we are taking those global steps.

For Pearson, it's about crafting an experience that prioritizes ease and inclusivity. For Montreal, it's about fostering meaningful progress with partnerships with both industry professionals and individuals with disabilities. For Winnipeg, it's about continuing to develop programs and initiatives such as passenger rehearsal programs, pet relief stations and increasing signage containing Braille.

Regional and smaller airports continue to strive to upgrade technology, infrastructure, staffing and communications for travellers with disabilities. Many are working with the Rick Hansen Foundation and going through their audit program. This program is national in scope and rates meaningful access based on users' experience of people with varying disabilities affecting their mobility, vision and hearing.

The Canadian Airports Council and our member airports are ready to work with the members of this committee to strengthen the journey for all passengers.

We look forward to your questions and the discussion.

Transcript

Discussions (0)