Five-year-old Beau starts each day being carried by one of his parents to the family91裸聊视频檚 living room, where his wheelchair awaits in their Beamsville, Ont., home.

Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 17 months old, Beau is unable to walk independently due to the disease, which damages nerves and leads to severe muscle weakness.

Beau91裸聊视频檚 day-to-day living comes with barriers most would never think about when raising a child, said his mother, Rachel O91裸聊视频橦agan. The doorways in their home aren91裸聊视频檛 wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through, meaning Beau has to be carried from room to room, including the bathroom.

He can91裸聊视频檛 access the sink to wash his hands or brush his teeth on his own, nor reach the light switches. As he gets older, O91裸聊视频橦agan said she and her husband Bryce know these challenges will only compound, especially as he gets too heavy for them to lift.

91裸聊视频淭hese are all things that he absolutely could do on his own if the house could accommodate him,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淗e very much wouldn91裸聊视频檛 need our support 91裸聊视频� He could freely move around.91裸聊视频�

Amid a housing crisis that has Canadian policymakers and developers scrambling to bolster supply, those living with disability are urging leaders to enshrine accessibility into more newly built homes than the country has historically seen.

91裸聊视频淚t just really seems like an impossible situation for us, I won91裸聊视频檛 lie,91裸聊视频� said O91裸聊视频橦agan.

91裸聊视频淲e want our son to be able to access everything he needs.91裸聊视频�

Beau91裸聊视频檚 situation mirrors the early life of Tracy Odell, a 66-year-old woman living in Toronto who was born with the same condition.

Growing up, Odell attended what91裸聊视频檚 now known as Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, which she described as 91裸聊视频渁n institution for kids91裸聊视频� where they live and receive their schooling.

But when she turned 18 and aged out of the program, her options were scarce.

91裸聊视频淎 nursing home was accessible, but apartments weren91裸聊视频檛. Houses weren91裸聊视频檛 built that way. You had to look specifically for an apartment that didn91裸聊视频檛 have stairs in the building and (had) an elevator,91裸聊视频� said Odell.

91裸聊视频淎s far as the design of the apartment, you had to make do.91裸聊视频�

Decades later, Odell is struck by how little has changed, calling the accessible housing options available in Canada 91裸聊视频渄eplorable.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭his is a hugely urgent matter,91裸聊视频� said Jutta Treviranus, director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a housing crisis for everyone, but the housing crisis is so much more intense for anyone requiring accessible housing because the lack of supply is exponentially more scarce.91裸聊视频�

Treviranus said it91裸聊视频檚 unsurprising Canada lacks sufficient housing to meet the disability community91裸聊视频檚 needs, considering how infrequently their voices are heard at the decision-making table.

91裸聊视频淎n accessible home is an adaptive home. It91裸聊视频檚 a home that has choices,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淭here isn91裸聊视频檛 a fixed solution or a singular one-size-fits-all approach to providing accessibility.91裸聊视频�

Federal housing advocate Marie-Jos茅e Houle called on Ottawa in her 2022-2023 report to 91裸聊视频渂uild accessibility up front91裸聊视频� into its National Housing Strategy.

That included recommendations such as ensuring all new government-funded housing units meet a minimum criteria of 91裸聊视频渧isitability91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� defined as having a level entrance, wider doorways and hallways, and a wheelchair accessible washroom on the entry-level floor.

All levels of government have a role to play in spurring more accessible housing, whether through changes to building code requirements or financial incentives tied to grants, said Stephanie Cadieux, the federal government91裸聊视频檚 chief accessibility officer.

Asked if Canada has fallen behind peer countries in that regard, Cadieux acknowledged, 91裸聊视频淲e aren91裸聊视频檛 yet in the lead.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淲e are not building homes that work for everybody. The way we build homes is very much that homes are designed around able-bodied people,91裸聊视频� she said in an interview.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 important that we start through policy to insist that we are building homes that are adaptable for people91裸聊视频檚 changing needs over time. Ultimately if we do, that will ensure that everyone is able to live where they want to live 91裸聊视频� because that supply of housing will exist. It currently doesn91裸聊视频檛 exist.91裸聊视频�

Cadieux said there is an enormous opportunity to change the face of accessible housing across Canada at this moment, particularly as the federal government targets 3.87 million new homes by 2031.

91裸聊视频淣ow91裸聊视频檚 the time,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 proven over and over again that it91裸聊视频檚 far more costly to fix something after the fact when it comes to accessibility than it is to do it at the beginning.91裸聊视频�

Studies by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. support that claim. A 2019 comparison conducted by the national housing agency showed it would cost between 185 to 779 per cent more 91裸聊视频� depending on the housing type 91裸聊视频� to make an existing Montreal home accessible compared with a new home.

An earlier CMHC report said the construction of an accessible and adaptable new home carried an added cost of just six to 12 per cent compared with standard construction, depending on the model and the city in which the home would be built.

91裸聊视频淲ith our population aging and demand for adaptable and accessible housing on the rise, it is in the housing industry91裸聊视频檚 best interest to adjust its offering accordingly,91裸聊视频� it said.

The Daniels Corp. is a developer in the Greater Toronto Area that has taken up that call through its Accessibility Designed Program. First unveiled in 2017, the builder set out to create accessibly designed homes for people using mobility devices at no additional cost.

The units, available to rent or own, have features such as roll-in showers and roll-out balconies along with accessible common spaces 91裸聊视频� including lowered concierge desks, accessible kitchens in party rooms and waste chutes with automatic door openers.

Thus far, the developer has completed 38 accessible units, with 124 under construction and another 36 in a pre-construction design phase.

91裸聊视频淲hen we work with our trade contractors and say, 91裸聊视频楾his light receptacle and switch should be here as opposed to here,91裸聊视频� there is no cost to that. There is very minimal cost from the very beginning of a project if you are looking at building washrooms in the accessible units that have no tub,91裸聊视频� said Heela Omarkhail, Daniels91裸聊视频� vice-president of social impact.

91裸聊视频淚t was really these types of features and often finishes that we looked at (and said), 91裸聊视频極K, if we can make some of these enhancements from the very beginning 91裸聊视频� rather than trying to bolt it on later, can we be more responsive to the needs of the accessibility community?91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�

But Omarkhail acknowledged there is far more work to do on that front. She said there is a gap of accessible units available compared with the needs of Canadians 91裸聊视频� estimates suggest more than a quarter of whom are living with some form of disability.

91裸聊视频淚f you look across our market in the GTA or in Canada as a whole, we are not building 15 to 20 per cent of homes with enhanced accessibility features,91裸聊视频� she said.

Kate Chung, co-founder of the Accessible Housing Network, worries that 91裸聊视频減eople with disabilities are being totally ignored91裸聊视频� in the process.

But she said ongoing efforts to boost Canada91裸聊视频檚 housing supply could serve as a turning point.

In early 2024, the federal government launched its Housing Design Catalogue program, a reboot of an initiative from the post-Second World War era meant to provide standardized housing designs that reduce the time required for design, approvals and construction.

A government report released in the summer said feedback from stakeholders consistently highlighted that greater accessibility must be an essential feature of the design catalogue.

91裸聊视频淭he non-profit sector and accessibility advocates reinforced not only the importance of universal design features for addressing the needs of Canadians today but also the growing need as Canada91裸聊视频檚 population continues to age,91裸聊视频� the report said.

Chung said this recommendation, if carefully adopted, could steer Canada91裸聊视频檚 housing crisis in the right direction.

91裸聊视频淗ere91裸聊视频檚 an opportunity. You91裸聊视频檙e going to be building all this housing and you have control over the design of the housing,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淵ou need to make it all universal design, so anyone of any age or ability can live there and can continue to live there, even if they get hit by a stroke or heart attack, (multiple sclerosis), a truck 91裸聊视频� whatever happens to them, whether they end up with a permanent disability or a temporary one.91裸聊视频�

Today, the Toronto bungalow where Odell lives is imperfect, but good enough to get by, she said. It features a lift to get up the front porch and enter the home, along with a ramp out back built by her husband.

She doesn91裸聊视频檛 have access to the basement, nor adjustable counters in the kitchen to help her reach.

Her doorways are just wide enough to pass through, although they91裸聊视频檙e marked with scrapes due to the space constraints of entering a room with the assistance of a wheelchair.

Still, Odell said she91裸聊视频檚 lucky to have a home in the community that isn91裸聊视频檛 encumbered by further barriers.

91裸聊视频淚f I was looking for something else right now, I think that91裸聊视频檇 be very, very difficult,91裸聊视频� she said.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press