Access Awareness Week Nova Scotia is May 25 to 31, 2025
“Access Awareness Week Nova Scotia is May 25 to 31, 2025” on a blue background. A rectangle at the top of the image with the Access Awareness Week Nova Scotia logo. The “May 25 to 31, 2025” is in a white banner.
It is that time again of highlighting the work of persons with disabilities and the work to improve accessibility. On the last Sunday of May (which is the 25th this year), it will be the start of Access Awareness Week in Nova Scotia and National AccessAbility Week across Canada. Inspired by Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion tour, Nova Scotia first started Access Awareness Week in 1987 and it is still going on 39 years later. While it used to be called National Access Awareness Week as a community initiative, the Government of Canada declared National AccessAbility Week in 2017 as part of their commitment to the development of the Accessible Canada Act.
While the work towards accessibility and improving the lives of persons with disabilities never stops, it is important to highlight what has been done so far, celebrate who has contributed to the work, inspire conversations of why access awareness is important, and express what still needs to be done.
This year, Access Awareness Week Nova Scotia’s theme is Our Voices, Our Votes: Disability Rights in Action. The goal with the theme is to express the importance of being involved in the community through voting, disability rights advocacy, and connecting with the community through volunteering, data, and feedback for improvements. Overall, it is showcasing how important First Voice can be to create the change needed to improve their quality of life. This theme was inspired by the three elections that happened in Nova Scotia in the past 7 months highlighting the challenges and improvements needed to include persons with disabilities in civic engagement.
The week is a simple way to highlight the work that can get involved. There are events happening across Nova Scotia and Canada for people to attend including creating events for the week. You can also use the week to spark conversations about the accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities. My favourite part of the week is celebrating the current and emerging leaders who are both persons with disabilities and abled people and learning the work they are doing to help make Nova Scotia an accessible and inclusive province. There is still so much work to do and it requires everyone to make an accessible and inclusive society a reality.
Amanda