В Виктории запустили программу помощи инвалидам на колясках в поиске доступного жилья

Wheelchair users get a hand finding appropriate housing in Victoria Published 12:30 pm Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Finding affordable and appropriate housing in Greater Victoria can be a challenge for anyone. For those with specific requirements, it can be even more difficult. In Greater Victoria, people who use a wheelchair will have a new resource to find housing, as the Disability Alliance BC expands its Right Fit Program to the South Island. “The right fit program is the only one of its kind in Canada. It’s involved to do this work because of all the barriers that exist for people accessing housing,” executive director Helaine Boyd told the Victoria News. “For wheelchair users, accessible housing is not an option, it’s a requirement.” The Right Fit Program is a multi-partner service that matches wheelchair users with accessible housing and independent living supports, preventing homelessness, institutionalization, and unsafe housing situations for people with disabilities. The program started in Vancouver and is expanding to the Island through grants from the Capital Regional District, Real Estate Foundation of BC, and Alacanastu Family Foundation. Further cash comes through the Victoria Foundation, matched by the City of Victoria to scale up the program. Locally, the program is delivered with the Victoria Disability Resource Centre – where the offices will be located – to help connect Right Fit staff with community organizations, housing providers and wheelchair users seeking accessible housing. So far they’ve connected with a couple of providers who have accessible units available, and those are gauged against a standardized checklist: measuring and documenting everything from door openings and how shelves move, where there are grab bars and automatic doors. “It’s a fairly comprehensive assessment,” Boyd said. At the moment, the group takes on clients who are permanent, full-time wheelchair users. “We identified that wheelchair users have the highest barriers to access housing,” Boyd said. “We hope to eventually expand the mandate of our program to all types of disabilities.” Juggling funding from multiple sources will allow for some minor growth in a program that is the only one of its kind in the country. “It’s involved to do this work because of all the barriers that exist for people accessing housing,” Boyd said, calling it a system issue. Accessible units are too often rented to those who don’t need those requirements – shrinking the appropriate housing supply. “The other big hurdle is affordability. There has been some gains in the past few years in policy by municipal governments to ensure a certain number of units developed are accessible, but they’re often still not affordable,” Boyd said. Frequently, to meet those policies, a development will include smaller accessible units, where a three-bedroom is rare, marginalizing wheelchair users with families. “We do a lot of systemic advocacy work,” Boyd said. “In order to really allow us to have our clients thrive, there has to be public policy change as well.” For more information, visit therightfitbc.org. About the Author: Christine van Reeuwyk Do you have a Greater Victoria story to share? Send me a tip at [email protected]