Partnership Project Promotes the Shaw Festival to More Tourists and Theatre-goers

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – The Ontario government, Shaw Festival and the Canadian Standards Association are changing the way patrons with disabilities are being served when they go to the theatre.

Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, Madeleine Meilleur, today joined Shaw Festival Executive Director Colleen Blake to celebrate the results of the Shaw Festival’s participation in the Building Champions program. Through this program, the Canadian Standards Association worked with seven “champion” businesses and organizations to develop and test new customer service training for businesses to use when serving customers with disabilities.

“Better accessibility can mean more customers, a larger pool of potential employees and long-term growth for Ontario businesses,” said Meilleur. “Our goal is to make Ontario an accessible province by 2025, but businesses like the Shaw Festival are showing us that improved accessibility is something we can achieve right now.”

The “champion” companies tested customer service training for people with disabilities with support from the Canadian Standards Association and the Province. The goal was to demonstrate how this form of customer service training would work in their sector and the gains businesses could make through improved accessibility for their customers.

“The Shaw prides itself on providing the best experience possible for our patrons from the time they order their tickets to the moment they applaud a stunning production. The Building Champions program ensures our patrons that their entire experience is comfortable, respectful and enjoyable,” said Blake.

As part of the Canadian Standards Association’s Building Champions program, the Shaw Festival trained employees on how to better serve customers with a disability. The training included such diverse elements as how to guide a person with a visual impairment, simple ways to make the premises more accessible for people with physical disabilities and how to provide service to someone with a mental health illness.

The Building Champions initiative is one of the innovative projects funded by the Ontario government under the EnAbling Change partnership program. It is just one of the ways in which the McGuinty government is working to break down barriers to help people with disabilities participate more fully in Ontario’s communities. Since 2003, the government has:

• Provided $28.2 million to help universities and colleges provide services for students with disabilities to help them succeed.
• Improved the Disabled Parking Permit program – now called the Accessible Parking Permit program
• Committed nearly $276 million in new funding to strengthen community supports for adults with a developmental disability.

“We’re on the side of Ontarians with disabilities. That’s why we’re supporting businesses, whether big or small, to improve access for their patrons with disabilities,” Meilleur said. “This is part of our plan to build a more prosperous Ontario that benefits from the contributions of all our citizens.”