Accessible Housing

Canadian Demographics

According to the Canadian Survey on Disability:

  • In 2017, one in five (22%) of the Canadian population aged 15 years and over – or about 6.2 million individuals – had one or more disabilities.
  • The prevalence of disability increased with age, from 13% for those aged 15 to 24 years to 47% for those aged 75 years and over.

Statistics Canada has reported that by 2036, it is projected that 23-25% of the Canadian population will be accounted for by people over 65 years old.

Accessible Housing Design Guidelines

There are a variety of housing design guidelines that address the accessibility needs of people with disabilities including Universal Design, Visitable Housing, Adaptable  Housing, Flex Housing, and more. There are also design guidelines for that focus on aging in place or living in place such as Lifespan Homes, SAFERHomes, and more!


As accessible housing labels and design guides continue to evolve it is important that we consider the wide variety of accessibility features individuals may require now, and into the future.

CSA Accessible Dwellings Standard 

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is currently in the development of a Accessible Dwellings Housing Standard, which will include useful definitions, terminology and standards that will shape design and construction for new builds and home modifications.


Marnie Courage, the founder of Access Match™ sits on the technical committee for this new standard and has alligned the features found on Access Match™ directly with the features in this standard to ensure there is common language being used by Canadians who are listing and searching for properties with accessibility features.

Accessible Housing Stock

The accessible housing stock in Canada is currently undefined, as there is no nationally integrated registry for existing or newly built residential properties that have accessibiility features. The data available in each province is limited to government funded housing at 

best, and does not include private dwellings or non-government accessible housing.


Before Access Match™ there wasn't a database of accessible housing available for rent or sale. Now Canadians will be able to search and find housing that has the accessibility features they require!

Demand for Accessible Housing

The demand for accessible housing in Canada is growing rapidly by the burgeoning aging population and their increasing desire to age in place. There are current wait lists for governement funded accessible housing and for residential disability agency housing. Many people are searching right now for accessible housing and are left to navigate multiple search engines, that do not use a common languge for the accessibility features or home descriptions that they are looking for. Many listings online have been labelled as "accessible" when clearly they do not have essential accessibility features.

The Access Match™ Solution

Access Match™ provides clear definitions of accessibility features with instructions on how to identify if these are present in a property. Only those properties submitted with the identified accessibility features will show up in the public search results, ensuring more accurate property listing descriptions and search results. 


The privacy-protected data generated will be used to inform Canadian stakeholders and policy makers to create more accessible, affordable and sustainable housing that meets thier current and future needs.


If you are interested in the privacy-protected data produced by Access Match™ and would like information on how to access the reporting, please contact us.


Accessible Housing Consultation and Training

If you are planning to develop or build accessible housing, have exisiting housing projects that you are intersted in modifiying with accessible features, or would like to learn more about accessible and adaptable housing contact our accessibility experts at Incluzia and learn how we can help!