Accessibility Symposium: Dismantling Ableism

Join Abilities Centre and the Region of Durham for the annual Accessibility Symposium, this year themed "Dismantling Ableism."

This free half-day event brings together Canada's leading disability advocates, practitioners, and community members to examine the systemic barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in society and to chart a path forward.

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where: Abilities Centre, 1 Jim Flaherty Street, Whitby, Ont.

Keynote: David Lepofsky

Blind lawyer, Order of Canada recipient, and Chair of the AODA Alliance David Lepofsky will open the morning drawing on his decades of work advancing disability rights and accessible legislation in Ontario.

Panel Discussion

A moderated panel featuring advocates with both professional expertise and lived experience:

• Magda Madsen, accessibility advocate and wellness enthusiast with lived experience of partial sight, hearing loss, and generalized anxiety disorder
• Rick Watters, BA, RHFAC, accessibility consultant and Peer Support Manager at Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, with more than 45 years of lived experience with disability
• MissNatasha Connects, founder of Create Instead of Hate Mental Wellness Solutions and three-time author on mental health and invisible disabilities

This symposium is part of National Accessibility Week, an annual recognition celebrating the contributions of people with disabilities and the work still needed to build a truly inclusive Canada.

Admission is free. All are welcome.

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Host or Publisher Abilities Centre