Raising Awareness with StopGap Foundation - One 'Step' at a Time

My name is Luke Anderson and I am the Executive Director and co-founder of StopGap Foundation. In 2002, I sustained a spinal cord injury while mountain biking that changed my life - I instantly found myself living in a world not well designed for someone who gets around using a wheelchair, where a single step is as large a barrier as a flight of stairs. This led me to create StopGap Foundation, which raises awareness about the importance of accessibility. Those brightly coloured ramps you may have seen around Toronto, including in front of many businesses in and around Kensington Market, draw attention to access barriers, spark conversations about the importance of accessible spaces, and get people thinking about barrier free design. I have a unique perspective on accessibility and access barriers in Toronto because of my lived experience and the work I do.

To inspire others to become passionate about this topic, I often share that we are all connected to this issue, whether it’s because of first hand experience with disability or simply due to the natural aging process, we will all experience a shift in the way we navigate our communities. 27% of Canadians over the age of 15 have one or more disabilities (that’s over 8 million people). We all deserve equitable access to spaces and we have a human right to do so. Unfortunately, many retail, restaurant, and commercial spaces, in every neighbourhood in Toronto and beyond, have stepped entryways. A recent survey conducted by StopGap staff concluded that (on average) roughly 50% of most storefronts in Toronto neighbourhoods have stepped entryways. This issue is particularly apparent in Kensington Market.


This walk aims to shed some light on physical access barriers that are experienced by disabled people on an average street in Toronto. Despite the province's goals of creating a barrier free Ontario by 2025 through the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, new buildings and buildings undergoing renovations are still being constructed with access barriers. We’ll consider our own lived experiences, how we can develop a broader perspective about recognizing barriers in our neighbourhoods, and how removing barriers can lead to a more connected world. Attendees can choose to become accessibility ambassadors, taking lessons learned and knowledge gained and sharing it with their networks.

I’m proposing a walk north along Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market, beginning at Dundas and concluding at College.

Some stops along the way:
-Businesses with single stepped entryways, with and without StopGap ramps. Single-stepped entryways in front of storefronts are a ubiquitous architectural feature in Toronto. We can talk about why that is, and how it creates a barrier for some folks. We’ll talk a bit about StopGap ramps, pointing some out along the way like Orbital Arts. We’ll chat about how the ramps are a temporary solution to the single step issue, some of their positives as well as challenges like bylaws, inadequate building codes, and attitudinal barriers.
-The history of pedestrianization plans for Kensington Market and their associated access issues.
-Newly renovated spaces: We will stop by Augusta Coffee, a newly renovated space that, because of its size, didn’t need to incorporate any accessibility measures.

Ideally, participants will leave the walk with a new vantage point on accessibility in Toronto and the ability to spot access barriers in their own neighborhoods, as well as information on why accessibility is important, and some of the skills and information they need to be inspired to become accessibility advocates.