CAN-ASC-2.1 Outdoor spaces: Public Review Draft

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The public review period for this standard ended on August 11, 2023. Thank you for your feedback.

Preface

This is the first edition of the Standard on outdoor spaces.

This Standard was prepared by the Technical Committee on Outdoor Spaces through an accredited standards development process. The Technical Committee that developed this Standard was comprised of diverse stakeholder groups that all have an interest in providing accessible outdoor spaces. This Standard has been created to help designers, builders, policy makers, and other stakeholders involved in the development of built and natural outdoor spaces.

Diverse people with disabilities contributed their expertise and lived experiences in these stakeholder groups. This supports the key principle of “Nothing Without Us,” an accessibility strategy designed to prepare the public service to lead by example and become a model of accessibility for others, not just for people with disabilities but for all other marginalized groups. People with disabilities must be involved in decision-making that has an impact on their lives and the environments around them. This aligns with the sixth principle of the Accessible Canada Act.

By ratifying the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010, the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of promoting, protecting, and upholding the human rights of persons with disabilities to participate fully in their communities.

While this Standard focuses on accessibility as it pertains to people with disabilities, it respects and recognizes that all people of diverse abilities, ages, and populations, including children, women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized people, people of colour, gender-diverse persons (LGBTQ2IAA+), and those living in poverty can experience additional barriers and disparities in participating fully in their communities.

It is recognized that in addition to the requirements in this Standard, safety standards would also need to be met.

Summary of the draft standard

The Standard on outdoor spaces envisions accessible, barrier-free, and inclusive outdoor spaces. To achieve this vision, this Standard shows value in the principle of universal accessibility that ensures no one is left behind. It contains technical requirements to be applied to the design of all newly constructed or redeveloped outdoor spaces, facilities, and areas undergoing major renovation. 

Like all of Accessibility Standards Canada’s standards, this Standard is designed to contribute to the realization of a Canada without barriers by 2040. It supports the goals of the Accessible Canada Act and Accessibility Standards Canada's mandate and is based on the disability community’s philosophy of “Nothing without us.” 

This is the first version of the standard, which was developed by the Technical Committee on outdoor spaces, under the authority of Accessibility Standards Canada management that includes experts with disabilities. This Standard is intended to align with other relevant standards such as CSA/ASC B651 Accessible design for the built environment, CSA Z614 Children’s playground equipment and surfacing, and applicable standards of Accessibility Standards Canada.

The requirements within this Standard are contained within a framework of design principles that facilitates accessibility and inclusion in outdoor spaces. The five design principles that make up this framework of are:

  • context,
  • identity,
  • user experience,
  • movement, and
  • lifespan.

Key requirements are described in groups that stem from the design principle framework, and include: 

  1. Site planning: these requirements come out of a complete, macro-planning perspective whereby all site elements contribute to the overall accessible journey experience of people of all ages and abilities (includes signage).
  2. Common measures: these requirements define common measures for outdoor space components such as clear space, ramps, reach range, knee/toe clearance, doorways, controls, seating, stairs, sightlines, and outdoor surfaces. 
  3. Facilities and furniture (fixed): these requirements are specific to parking, outdoor play areas, amenities, assembly areas, water environments, campgrounds, service animal areas, outdoor showers, outdoor toilets, passenger lift systems, and power charging stations.
  4. Outdoor surfaces: the outdoor surface requirements describe trail and route specifications, permanent and temporary surfaces, water access surfaces, and other surfaces (i.e., that provide access to outdoor fire pits, cooking facilities, or hot ovens).
  5. Wayfinding: the wayfinding requirements highlight specifications needed for a user to navigate through an outdoor space, starting with the planning of a trip, their arrival at the outdoor space, and continuing through as they experience the rest of their accessible journey. Wayfinding includes requirements for tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs).
  6. Maintenance: the overarching maintenance requirement is for all outdoor facilities, features, surfaces, and environments to have a publicly available maintenance plan. This maintenance plan is required to provide timelines for responding to weather issues such as the clearing of ice/snow/water from surfaces.
  7. Equipment: the standard has a detailed informative annex on equipment used to access outdoor activities. This annex groups the equipment by activity type or location, including:
    • campgrounds,
    • water environments,
    • winter activities,
    • trails,
    • toilet and shower facilities,
    • rest areas, and
    • equestrian activities.

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Table of contents

 Collapse AllExpand All

1. Introduction
2. Scope
3. Reference publications
4. Definitions
5. Site planning
6. Common accessibility measures
7. Facilities and furniture
8. Additional requirements for accessible surfaces
9. Wayfinding and communicating universal information
10. Maintenance for accessibility
Annex A (informative)
Annex B (informative)
Annex C (normative)
Annex D (informative)

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