Release
Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour
May 26, 2025
FREDERICTON (GNB) – New Brunswickers are encouraged to celebrate AccessAbility Week during the final week of May.
AccessAbility Week is a time to celebrate and promote the importance of community accessibility by raising awareness, sharing resources and highlighting the progress made toward a more inclusive New Brunswick.
“Everyone has a role to play in removing barriers and creating environments and systems that are accessible,” said Jean-Claude D’Amours, acting minister of post-secondary education, training and labour. “Whether you are an employer, employee, educator or community member, it’s important we all take time to think about what accessibility means to each of us and discuss how we can work together to make our communities accessible to all. The Accessibility Act, which is currently being implemented, is foundational and transformative legislation. We cannot do this work alone. Making New Brunswick a more accessible province requires an all-sector approach.”
The act, introduced in June 2024, aims to improve accessibility by identifying, removing and preventing barriers to full and equal participation in society.
Since the legislation was passed, the Accessibility Advisory Board has been working with staff in the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour and has provided recommendations on accessibility standards priorities. The board will be engaging with New Brunswickers and appointing advisory committees to support the development of these standards.
Work is also underway on the minister’s five-year strategy on accessibility.
“The Accessibility Advisory Board has a clear vision as we work to advance the regulatory standards,” said board chair Haley Flaro. “We want to ensure a New Brunswick where all children are included in the classroom and on the playground, where employers are leaders in the hiring of persons with a disability, where accessible housing is readily available, and where all citizens have equitable access to government services, businesses and recreation areas. This legislation is paving the way forward.”
More information about promoting accessibility, and how to get involved, is available online.
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Media Contact(s)
Rebecca Howland, communications, Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, [email protected].