Tourism Winnipeg

59 59 f. Organizations to Assist Individuals with Disabilities Winnipeg's festivals and events strive to be inclusive of people of all abilities, and indicate in festival programs which venues are wheelchair accessible. Winnipeg and Manitoba are in the process of a huge transformation to better provide first-class accessibility service for visitors and citizens. The Accessibility for Manitobans Act became law in December 2013 by the provincial government. This landmark legislation provides a proactive process to remove barriers affecting persons with disabilities and many other citizens. The Government of Manitoba is committed to achieve significant progress by 2023, making Manitoba more inclusive for everyone. Members of the arts & culture sector have been invited to attend workshops about how this legislation and plans will impact organizations and their festivals/events moving forward, as private and non-profits must comply with the accessibility standard in customer service by November 1, 2018. http://www.accessibilitymb.ca/ customer-service-standard.html To assist those with mobility issues, the City of Winnipeg's public transit system offers Handi-Transit, which provides door-to-door transportation for people who are unable to regularly use the City's fixed route transit system because they are legally blind or have a physical disability that significantly impairs their mobility. Handi-Transit operates within the same geographical service area as Winnipeg's fixed route transit system (origin and destination must be within 500 m of a bus route). Handi-Transit transports individuals who are ambulatory or who travel in a wheelchair. Other mobility aides, such as scooters, canes and walkers, are accommodated (some restrictions apply). Handi-Transit delivers the service through contracts with private transportation service providers. Vehicles used are: » cars » retrofitted mini-vans that are low floor, wheelchair accessible » mini-buses equipped with a wheelchair ramp. The non-profit advocacy group, Society for Manitobans with Disabilities is available to consult with festivals and events on best practices, and provides feedback on challenges, accessibility tours, transportation options etc. to help festivals and events best serve this demographic. Below are some of many examples of ways local festivals and events are working with organizations on accessibility: » Kidsfest is a fully accessible festival, and uses a number of volunteers with special abilities at the Festival, mainly through school divisions (Winnipeg One and Louis Riel). » Folklorama offers accessibility VIP tours, where wheelchair accessible transportation is provided to take guests around to two pavilions for the evening. » Winnipeg Folk Festival is proud to provide services that create an easily accessible festival and partner with organizations to ensure the festival is as barrier-free as possible. They collaborate with Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD) as well as Independent Living Resource Centre (ILRC) to provide training to volunteers and staff on disability awareness, inclusion, customer support and more. The Accessibility Advisory Committee ensures the festival takes the correct measures to identify and remove barriers to access the festival – members of the committee include Disability Issue Office of Manitoba, ILRC, SCE Life Works (which helps with job placement for people with disabilities). The committee meets 2-3 times per year and daily during the festival to address any concerns. There's also a volunteer ASL interpreter team that provides services at the festival. WFF can also provide any additional supports such as wheelchair accessible transportation to and from the festival, ASL interpreters for the day and many other accommodations based on the needs of the participants. » Pride Winnipeg hires ASL interpreters depending on needs of events/participants. » 2017 Canada Summer Games had sign language interpreters for both Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as closed captioning for TV. More information around 2017 Canada Games Accessibility and venues can be found here: https://canadagames.ca/2017/content/accessibility » Winnipeg Fringe Festival provides a text copy of the program and performance schedule the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) that can be easily read by their software program. They also provide on their website a list of plays that would suitable for Fringers who may have issues with English, vision or hearing.

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