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Public bodies in Nova Scotia get one year to develop accessibility plans

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Public bodies in Nova Scotia get one year to develop accessibility plans
WATCH: Accessibility advisory committees will be established for N.S. post-secondary institutions, libraries and municipalities to work towards the goal of making all of Nova Scotia accessible by the year 2030. Alexa MacLean reports. – Dec 3, 2019

Nova Scotia is taking another step toward making the province more accessible to people with disabilities by 2030, requiring municipalities and post-secondary institutions to come up with plans to remove barriers to access.

Justice Minister Mark Furey says beginning April 1, municipalities, villages, universities, the Nova Scotia Community College and provincial libraries will be designated as public sector bodies under the Accessibility Act.

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Furey says they will have one year to establish accessibility advisory committees and implement plans aimed at making buildings and public spaces accessible under provincial standards that are being developed.

The standards are expected to be in place by 2022.

Nova Scotia passed its accessibility law in 2017, joining Ontario and Manitoba as the only provinces with such legislation.

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The federal government passed the Accessible Canada Act last June, and British Columbia is planning its own legislation to be introduced sometime in 2020.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2019.

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