Updated Accessibility Plan:
The Town of Antigonish is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible community for all residents, visitors, and employees. In accordance with provincial accessibility legislation, the Town maintains an Accessibility Plan that identifies barriers and outlines actions to improve accessibility across municipal programs, services, facilities, and public spaces. Accessibility Plans are mandated by the Province of Nova Scotia and are required to be reviewed and updated every three years to ensure ongoing progress toward a more accessible and equitable community.This update outlines the Town’s progress since 2023 and reaffirms our commitment to identifying, removing, and preventing barriers to participation for persons with disabilities. The plan was developed through community engagement, committee input, and internal evaluation, and sets a clear direction for advancing accessibility across all Town operations, services, and infrastructure.
The Town of Antigonish’s original Accessibility Plan was adopted in 2022. As outlined in provincial accessibility legislation, municipalities are required to review and update their Accessibility Plans every three years. In keeping with this requirement, the Town completed an updated Accessibility Plan in 2025 to reflect ongoing progress, emerging priorities, and continued efforts to identify and remove barriers within the community.
To read the 2025 Accessibility Plan: pdf Click Here(196 KB) .
The Accessibility Plan includes a series of action items organized within the following focus areas: Awareness and Education, Service Delivery, Communication, Employment, the Built Environment, and Transportation. The Town aims to address as many action items as possible within each three-year planning cycle. Items related to the Built Environment and Transportation are often incorporated into the Town’s capital infrastructure program and completed as projects and funding opportunities arise. Every three years, the action items are reviewed to identify completed initiatives, add new priorities, and carry forward items that may require additional time or resources. While timelines are identified within the plan’s terms, they may be adjusted to respond to new opportunities, evolving priorities, and unforeseen challenges.
To view the 2025-2028 Accessibility Action Items: pdf Click Here(3.91 MB) .
Community Accessibility Initatives & Ideas
The Town's Accessibility Committee invites residents, organizations, businesses and community groups to share accessibility initatives already underway, as well as ideas that oculd help make our community inclusive for all.
Your input helps celebrate progress, inspire, others, and identify opportunities for future improvements across our community. Selectd initatives may be highlighed (with permission) by the Town to encourage shared learning and collaboartion.
The form is available in electronic format below. A print copy can be available in person at Town Hall or you can download an print a copy by clicking here.
Original Accessibility Plan
The Town of Antigonish and the Accessibility Committee adopted the official Accessibility Plan for the Town of Antigonish on June 1, 2023. The plan was done in partnership with Upland Planning + Design and RHAD Architects.
The purpose of the Accessibility plan is to create a town that is safe for community members and visitors living with disabilities, priortixing a dignified and comfortable experience for everyone.
The plan is in line with Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act, and recognizes the diversity among people with disabilities and aim to improve the independence and wellbeing of residents, community members, and visitors with disabilities.
To download a copy of the pdf Town of Antigonish's Accessibility Plan, click here(3.20 MB) .
To download a pdf Large Text Version of the Town of Antigonish Accessibility Plan, click here. (13.90 MB)
For audio files summarizing the plan and it's recommendations, please visit: https://soundcloud.com/town-of-antigonish/sets/accessibility-plan
If you need to access the plan in an alternate format, please contact Shannon Long, Director of Community Development at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 902-318-9245.
Engagement Summary
In order to write the report, the Town in partnership with Upland Planning and Design undertook an extensive engagement process.
To read the Antigonish Accessibility Plan Engagement Summary, pdf click here(482 KB) . pdf Click here to read the large print version. (579 KB)
The videos below summarize the findings of a local research project focused on learning from the perspective of local experts with disabilities on accessibility of the built environment. The videos also explore the ways in which the Town can work with local persons with disabilities to deliver results in accessibility, with comments from Mayor Laurie Boucher.
This project was completed by Callie Scott, a student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, with Supervisor Dr. Amanda Casey (St. Francis Xavier University), in collaboration with PEACH Research Unit. Findings from this project have been incorporated into the Draft Accessibility Plan for the Town of Antigonish.
Provinical Landscape
Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act mandates the development of both Accessibility Advisory Committees and Accessibility Plans for Municipalities within the province.
For information on the Town’s Accessibility Committee, click here.
The Nova Scotia Accessibility Directorate is responsible for administering the Accessibility Act and advancing disability issues within government, working with persons with disabilities, Municipalities, businesses, post-secondary institutions, and others to achieve the goal of an accessible Nova Scotia by 2030.
The Directorate has published a number of resources for this work, including:
- Planning Accessible Meetings and Events
- Accessibility Planning Toolkit for Municipalities
- Interim Accessibility Guidelines for Indoor and Outdoor Spaces
Two Standard Development Committees were established provincially and have recently submitted their first phase of recommendations on accessibility standards relating to education and the built environment.
Although these recommendations have not yet been established as standards, they are a good starting point, and the Town of Antigonish’s Municipal Accessibility Plan will refer to these documents, as well as the guidelines established by the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Accessibility Certification, a nationally recognized resource.
This Accessibility Plan also falls within the legislative and legal context of the Accessible Canada Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
