By Estella Rosebush, Reporter
As tourism grows and Canada’s population ages, mobility accessibility concerns have become an increasing issue in tourism-based economies like Saint Andrews.
The Government of Canada (GOC) defines a person as having a mobility disability if they have difficulty or are unable to either walk on a flat surface for 15 minutes without resting or walk up or down a flight of stairs (about 12 steps) without resting, and they are limited in their daily activities because of this difficulty. Under this definition in 2022, 10.6 per cent of Canada’s population met the criteria for having a mobility disability.
According to the GOC, the national population aged 65 and older has more than doubled since 1971, going from 8.0 per cent to 19.5 per cent.
New Brunswick’s older population 65 and over, has nearly tripled since 1971, going from 8.6 per cent to 23.3 per cent.
Dalma French, who has been working with people who have disabilities for more than 67 years, has taken matters intoher own hands to bring attention to the mobility accessibility issues in Saint Andrews.
“It never occurred to me that maybe I might be the one [with a mobility disability],” she said. “So, I understand that people don’t get it. But now that I am the one and I’m retired and I need something to do, I thought I’d work on my town. And I didn’t think it would be this difficult. Yeah, it’s really quite difficult.”
In 2025, French completed a mobility accessibility survey of the major buildings in Saint Andrews and separated them into three categories.
Those categories were Needs a Lot of Help, Needs a Little Help, and Good to Go.
She said the survey reported the following buildings are within the category of Needs a Lot of Help: The Kennedy House, the W.C. O’Neil Arena Theatre and Joey’s Independent Grocery Store.
The survey showed these three buildings are not up to code, and the Kennedy House and Joey’s Independent Grocery recently had renovations completed that did not include improvements concerning mobility accessibility.
French explained that she has been working to improve accessibility in Saint Andrews and she has written four submissions to the town council and gave one presentation to the age-friendly community committee.
“I never got a response,” she said.
At the Aug. 4 regular meeting of council in Saint Andrews, these concerns were brought to the attention of the mayor and the town council by Elizabeth Fothergill and Élisa Gaudette.
Their goal was to shed light on the lack of buildings that are accessible to those with mobility issues. Fothergill and Gaudette told the council that they had a petition signed by 300 residents of Saint Andrews, representing about 10 per cent of the surrounding population.
These community members support implementing an Accessibility Advisory Committee and conducting a comprehensive accessibility assessment.“We think that maybe this petition is working, because they can’t ignore 300 people,” she said. “It’s like being underwater; now we’ve got this little straw so we can breathe. We don’t have to hold our breath, but it’s just a straw.”
During this meeting, many locals expanded on their support for accessibility features. Some residents shared their thoughts in a prerecorded video as part of the presentation.
“Lots of people without a permanent disability benefit from accessibility-focused communities,” said resident Don Mullet in the video. “Parents with strollers, tourists with luggage, delivery workers, people with temporary disabilities, toddlers and anyone becoming unsure of their step.”
“I think unfortunately there are some limitations that we are faced with as a municipality around [mobility accessibility issues],” said Deputy Mayor Annette Harland during the meeting. “However, I think it’s a great opportunity for us to again have some further discussion around how we can ensure that we keep this top of mind when we are looking at things like the municipal plan and the municipal bylaws.”
The New Brunswick Disability Action Plan recommended that small towns implement an Accessibility Advisory Committee to remove barriers and to ensure that everyone can participate in community life.
Ability New Brunswick offers to review small businesses for free to show them how to better make their space accessible.
One of the owners of The Leather House, Katy MacDonald, said that she “didn’t know that we could ask for a free assessment. We would like to make it accessible for wheelchair users if possible.”
“On the board of the Saint Andrews Business Improvement Area (BIA), we have been discussing this as well,” MacDonald said in an email. “We have been trying to figure out how to support the downtown businesses by finding solutions such as portable ramps. Although I cannot speak for the rest of the board, I would support an accessibility committee and a town assessment with suggestions for changes.”
William and Water is one of the few businesses with two accessible ramps, one at the main entrance and one leading to the outdoor deck.
The owner, Will Thornton, explains that if you’re not grandfathered in, like some of the other businesses in Saint Andrews, you’re required to meet all the codes to a barrier-free entrance.
Meeting accessibility requirements do come at a cost, Thornton said.
“Yeah, it was expensive,” he said. “But you also don’t want to turn somebody away from coming here or sitting on the deck.”
