What we learned - Phase 1 Engagement

Why we engaged

The City of Kingston is committed to creating an inclusive environment for residents of all abilities. The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan is what the City of Kingston follows to prevent and remove barriers to accessibility and is required under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The plan builds on the City’s success of meeting the legislative requirements and vision of going above and beyond to make municipal services and facilities more accessible and inclusive.

The current plan ends in 2025 and we are seeking to consult on a new one to focus our efforts from 2026 to 2028. We wanted to hear from community members about their goals and priorities and how we can improve the next version.

How we listened

On Feb. 10, 2025 we launched a project page on Get Involved Kingston with a survey, an ideas tool where respondents could share general thoughts and others could engage with those, as well as an application for a number of focused interview slots. Those opportunities for feedback were advertised through a news release, newsletters, signage, social media, direct outreach and the newspaper. Feedback closed on Mar. 9, 2025.

What we learned

Get Involved Kingston

During the engagement period from Feb. 10 and Mar. 9, 2025, there were more than 1,400 visits to the project page. The survey had 99 respondents, and there were 11 ideas contributed.

Survey results

Question 1: Do you Identify as a person with a disability?

There were 98 responses, 47 (48 per cent) identified as a person with a disability, 45 (45.9 per cent) said the did not, and 6 (6.1 per cent) preferred not to answer.

Question 2: How familiar are you with the City's current Multi-Year Accessibility Plan?

There were 99 responses to this question, the largest segment of responses, 49.5 per cent, indicated they weren’t familiar with the City’s current plan. Responses are broken down in the list below in from most to least.

  • Familiar: 33

  • Not very familiar: 29

  • Not at all familiar: 20

  • I don’t know: 8

  • Very familiar: 7

  • Prefer not to answer: 2

Question 3: The current Multi Year Accessibility Plan covered the years 2023-2025, thinking about what the City has done during this time period, what areas do you think the City has made progress in? Check all that apply.

Responses are broken down in the list below in from most to least.

  • Design of public spaces: 34

  • Information and communication: 31

  • Customer service: 30

  • Transportation: 29

  • None: 16

  • Prefer not to answer: 14

  • Employment: 9


Question 4: The current Multi Year Accessibility Plan covered the years 2023-2025, thinking about what the City has done during this time period, what areas do you think the City has not made progress in? Check all that apply.

Responses are broken down in the list below in from most to least.

  • Transportation: 45

  • Design of public spaces: 41

  • Information and communication: 29

  • Customer service: 21

  • Employment: 18

  • Prefer not to answer: 18

  • None: 11

Ideas and open responses

The last question on the survey asked an open-ended question, “What else would you like to tell us about the previous Multi-Year Accessibility that we should consider when drafting the updated version?” As well as an ideas tool which asked respondents, “Let us know your thoughts about what the City could implement to remove barriers for people with disabilities.” The responses from both questions were read carefully and are summarized below in themes.

99 surveys were completed in March, with 11 additional ‘ideas’ posted to the Get Involved Kingston page. Ideas posted and responses to the survey question “What else would you like to tell us about the previous Multi-Year Accessibility that we should consider when drafting the updated version?” were reviewed by staff. Each response was categorized into one of the five categories of the Multi-Year Accessibility Plan, along with the categories “Other municipal service area” and “Non-municipal service area”. Responses were further categorized based on general themes within the category.

Customer Service

Service provision

6

Disability recognition

3

Programs

1

Enforcement

1

Winter control

1


A total of 11 responses were received regarding customer service. Six suggested improving customer service to persons with disabilities. Specifically, this included making services easier to access, providing better guidance and direction for the completion of forms, providing video tours of City facilities and using a greater variety of communications methods. Three responses were received regarding City staff better recognizing the needs of persons with disabilities during in-person and electronic communications.

Information and Communications

MYAP related

5

Communication methods

4

Engagement

4

Website

2

Emergency Preparedness

1

MAAC

1


A total of 17 responses were received regarding information and communications. Five responses were related to the Multi-Year Accessibility Plan, with suggestions for increasing resident awareness of the Plan and improving access to the Plan. Four responses related to communications methods used by the City, with suggestions including the use of a greater diversity of communication channels, creating more access to engagements and materials online, using captioning and ASL for videos and providing video transcripts. Four responses were received regarding engagement, all focused on ensuring direct and early involvement with persons with disabilities, disability organizations, advocates and caregivers early in the engagement process, with particular emphasis on projects that effect persons with disabilities

Employment

Topic

Frequency

Expand opportunities

2

Two responses were received regarding employment, with both focused on improving employment opportunities for persons with disabilities with the City of Kingston.

Design of Public Spaces

Winter control

16

Parking

7

Sidewalk maintenance

6

Sidewalk construction

4

Infrastructure maintenance

2

Universal washrooms

2

Green space

2

Recreation facilities

2

Facilities

1


42 responses were received regarding the Design of Public Spaces. 16 responses were related to winter control, focused on improving sidewalk snow plowing and sanding. Specifically within this category, responses suggested more pathways be plowed, or plowed more frequently, improved or more frequent clearing of snow banks near parking and sidewalks and prioritizing sidewalk plowing. It is to be noted that this engagement took place during the winter, with a significant weather event occurring in mid-February.

Seven responses were received regarding parking. Suggestions included creating more accessible parking spaces, offering free parking to those with accessible parking passes and improving winter control around accessible parking spaces.

Six responses were received regarding proactive sidewalk repair and maintenance. Four responses received suggesting better connectivity between sidewalks and active transportation opportunities and more sidewalk access ramps. Two responses each were received in support of creating more public universal washrooms, creating more accessible public greenspaces and making accessibility improvements to City recreation facilities with a focus on universal design principles.

Transportation

Active transportation

8

Transit - service improvement

3

Transit - frequency of service

3

Transit - priority seating

2

Transit - fares

2

Accessible taxis

1

Transit - detour notice

1

Rural transportation

1

Transit - stop announcements

1


22 responses were received regarding Transportation. Eight responses were related to active transportation, including support for more cycling lanes, greater connectivity between active transportation modes and routes, increasing bicycle parking, and increasing consideration of vulnerable road users when constructing and maintaining active transportation infrastructure.

12 responses were received regarding Kingston Transit. Three were related to service improvements (free Wi-Fi on buses, better labelling of routes, enforcing scent-free policies for employees), three supported increased service times or number of routes, two supported more enforcement of priority seating areas, two supported free transit for the elderly, or on holidays, and one supported providing better notice for detours/delays at stops.

Other municipal service areas

Five responses were received regarding other municipal service areas, with one of those comments not related to accessibility. These responses were related to housing affordability, licensing of private snow clearing companies, and foster greater inclusion in the downtown area of Kingston. One response supported the hiring of a City staff position dedicated to accessibility.

Non-municipal service area

Six responses were received regarding accessibility outside of municipal services. Five responses were related to improving accessibility at private businesses or property, with some focused specifically on downtown Kingston or heritage buildings. One response was related to Kingston Access Bus and its booking system.

Interviews

Staff conducted interviews with five residents that volunteered to discuss their experiences with accessibility in the City of Kingston. Residents volunteered via a sign-up form on the Get Involved Kingston project page and were chosen at random by City staff.

Staff conducted two sessions with members of the Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee’s Awareness & Education Project Team, receiving their feedback on the progress of the current 2023 – 2025 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan and what areas should be addressed within the 2026 – 2028 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan.

Transportation and design of public spaces were identified as the areas with the most room for improvement or the greatest need for a reduction in accessibility barriers. Common themes within these areas include:

  • Increasing maintenance of and improving the construction of sidewalks and walkways;

  • Ensuring connectivity between sidewalks, walkways and other forms of transportation on both public and private property;

  • Increasing publicly available washrooms, and incorporating universal design principles in those washrooms;

  • Increasing the amount of accessible parking;

  • Not charging a fee for the use of accessible parking spaces; and

  • Increasing the availability of specialized transit services offered through Kingston Access Bus or accessible taxis.

The following accessibility themes were also commonly discussed in the interviews and meetings:

  • Customer service: City staff need to have the necessary knowledge and empowerment on how to resolve conflicts with City policies or procedures and the need to accommodate accessibility needs. Not every scenario can be accounted for in advance due to the wide variety of disabilities in the community.

  • Design of public spaces: the City needs to continue to create whole or complete spaces where multiple services and activities can be accessed by all ages and abilities. Third places (places outside the home and workplace) where people can spend multiple hours in the community are very important. The Rideau Heights Community Centre, with its supporting environment and facilities, is a good example of an accessible and complete third place.

  • Information and communications: there is a need for improved communication with respect to accessibility. This includes advertising the accessibility features that are currently present in City facilities or services, as well as ones that are being added in the future. Additionally, there is a need for the community to better understand how to report accessibility barriers, and for this reporting mechanism to be as easy to access as possible. The creation of a staff resource dedicated to accessibility, such as a manager or coordinator, to oversee all accessibility considerations in City facilities and services would be a positive.

What happens next?

Using the feedback collected at this stage, the City will work on the draft of the next plan. In early summer 2025 we expect to release that draft to the public to review and provide feedback on.