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We are a group of researchers at the University of British Columbia that are keenly aware that some people with disabilities encounter widespread barriers obtaining and maintaining housing that meets their accessibility needs. Others might have accessible housing, but might have little choice in where they live, how they make their unit a home, and how they interact with their community. In both of these cases, a person’s holistic housing needs are not being met.
It is clear to us that policy reform is needed to ensure that the accessibility needs of Canadians living with disabilities are adequately addressed in housing provision. We have partnered with the Accessible Housing Network (AHN) on a two-phased research study to hear from people living with disabilities in Greater Vancouver, the Greater Toronto Area, and Waterloo Region. Our goal is to understand how folks define accessible housing, and their successes and challenges accessing, occupying, and exiting housing that meets their accessibility needs.
Workshop: It is important to us that the project be driven by the lived experiences of people living with disabilities from the start. So, the first phrase of the project is a series of three 90-minute workshops where participants will be asked questions about how they understand accessibility and will review questions to help the research team design a survey about housing accessibility in Canada. The workshops are scheduled as follows:
Workshop 1: Accessing Housing will be held between 10 am and 12pm, Pacific Standard Time on January 30th, 2025.
Workshop 2: Living in Housing will be held between 10 am and 12pm, Pacific Standard Time on February 6th, 2025.
Workshop 3: Moving from Housing will be held between 10 am and 12pm, Pacific Standard Time on February 20th, 2025.
Each workshop will be approximately 90 minutes long. Participants will be compensated for their time with a $100.00 honorarium. Funding is also available to pay assistants and other support people that are needed to make sure that people can fully participate in the workshop.
Survey: Once the research team incorporates the feedback we get from workshop participants into the final design of the survey, another fifty people will be asked to participate in the second phase of the project. Those who participate in the survey will receive a $20.00 honorarium, and can access supports from the research team to make taking the survey accessible to them.
We are reaching out to you because we know that you have extensive connections to people with disabilities who live in various types of housing (whether they own their home, pay market or subsidized rent, or live in a congregate setting). Our hope is that you would be willing to help us to recruit folks who are over the age of 19, living with a disability, and are able to provide consent to participate in both phases of the study. At the moment, we are recruiting for folks who would like to participate in the workshops. We will reach out to you again when the survey is launched. We have attached a poster to this email that details the study and participation in the workshops. We would greatly appreciate your assistance.
