Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Guidance counsellors should have knowledge on each post-secondary institution’s strengths and weaknesses with regard to not only disability accommodations, but quality of programs. Everyone is entitled to have access to studying in the field they wish to pursue. If you are not receiving the type of support you need from the guidance counsellor, please make sure to reach out to your school board.

There are many ways to be an effective self-advocate at the post-secondary level, especially as a first-year university student with a disability. First and foremost, you must believe that you are deserving of the opportunities and the subsequent support you'll need. Maintaining a strong sense of self-esteem can help you build positive relationships with others and advocate for yourself with confidence. Second, it is important to be proactive. Request accommodations early and follow the proper procedures to ensure that your needs are addressed in a timely manner. Third, consider joining a disabled students’ group on campus, as it can provide guidance and support in developing self-advocacy skills. Volunteering with a meaningful cause or organization can also be valuable, as it can help build self-esteem while teaching the assertiveness and confidence needed to ask for accommodations and support in university.

All educational institutions have a legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodations, up to the point of 'undue hardship', in order to ensure equity for students with disabilities. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, along with provincial and territorial human rights laws, prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. As a result, post-secondary institutions have increasingly emphasized the need to create accessible learning environments and to articulate the rights of disabled students through educational equity policies. Disabled students are generally encouraged to contact their institution’s disability services office for more information and support. Several organizations can also help clarify the legal aspects of disability accommodations, including ARCH Disability Law Centre, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, and Reach Canada. ARCH is a non-profit community legal clinic that defends and promotes the equality rights of people with disabilities through litigation, law and policy reform, and legal education. Its current contact information is: ARCH Disability Law Centre 55 University Avenue, Suite 1500 Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2H7 Telephone: (416) 482-8255 TTY: (416) 482-1254 Email: archlib@lao.on.ca Website: https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/

You can find information about financial assistance for post-secondary studies through your school’s Awards Office or Financial Aid Office, and our website includes a directory where you can look up that office’s contact information (See "Student Awards Offices" under Education tab). You can also explore federal and provincial student aid programs, such as the Government of Canada’s Student Aid and the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). If you are looking for disability-specific funding, scholarships from organizations such as the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, and Spinal Cord Injury Canada are posted and updated regularly on NEADS’ Disability Awards website (disabilityawards.ca)

Students with learning disabilities may be able to receive funding or reimbursement for psychoeducational or learning disability assessments through government student aid and institutional disability services. The Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment for Students with Disabilities can cover disability verification costs, including psychoeducational assessments, up to a yearly maximum when the assessment is required to confirm disability status for student aid. In addition, some provinces offer dedicated bursaries or reimbursement programs for assessment costs (for example, the Learning Disability Assessment Bursary through StudentAid BC), and many colleges and universities may have limited internal funds managed by their accessibility or disability services offices. Students should contact their school’s accessibility / disability services office and their provincial or territorial student aid program to ask about current options for funding or reimbursement of assessment costs.

No. In most cases, you can still receive government student loans and grants if you study outside your home province or territory, as long as you apply through the province or territory where you are considered a resident and your school and program are approved for funding. Residency for student aid is typically based on where you (or your parents, if you are a dependent student) last lived for 12 consecutive months without being a full-time post-secondary student, not on where your school is located. Some provinces have slightly different funding rules or maximums for students studying out of province, but they generally continue to support eligible residents who attend recognized institutions elsewhere in Canada (and sometimes abroad).

The Canada Student Financial Assistance Program (CSFA Program), which includes the Canada Student Loans Program, offers a range of grants and repayment assistance options to help students with permanent disabilities access and complete post-secondary education. These measures are designed to recognize the additional barriers and costs that many disabled students face and to make both studying and repaying loans more manageable. Students with permanent disabilities and/or persistent and prolonged disabilities may be eligible for non‑repayable grants, such as grants for students with permanent disabilities and grants for services and equipment, as well as repayment assistance once they leave school. Repayment assistance can reduce or eliminate required monthly payments when income is low, and in some cases can lead to a portion of the loan being forgiven over time. In situations where a borrower has a severe permanent disability and will never be able to repay their student loans, the program allows for the possibility of loan forgiveness based on specific eligibility criteria. If you have a permanent disability, you do not need to keep resubmitting documentation every time you apply for help with repayment; once your disability is recognized, it can be used to assess your eligibility for different supports across the program. The calculation of repayment assistance for borrowers with permanent disabilities also takes into account some of the extra costs associated with disability, which can lower the “affordable payment” that the government expects you to make. To learn what you qualify for and to apply: 1. Apply for student aid and disability supports through your province or territory of residence (this is how you access federal loans, grants, and repayment assistance). 2. Log in to your National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) online account to see your federal loan and grant details, check your repayment options, and submit applications for repayment assistance. 3. Contact your school’s accessibility/disability services office or awards office if you need help understanding the documentation requirements or how to access disability-related grants and supports. For the most current information, students should refer to the Government of Canada’s official student aid pages and the NSLSC online portal, rather than older brochures or print materials, because program names, eligibility rules, and contact numbers can change over time.

You can start by checking your school’s student association or student union website and its list of clubs or student groups, as many disability - or accessibility - focused groups are registered there. Our website also includes a directory where you can look up your campus disability services' contact information (see “Campus Disability Services” under the Education tab). Campus disability or accessibility services can tell you whether there is a peer support group, disability student union, or advocacy collective for disabled students. If you still cannot find a group, you can ask these offices how to connect with other disabled students or how to start a new group if you are interested.

You can start with the Government of Canada’s main disability benefits and services page, which provides information on federal programs for people with disabilities and their families, including income supports, tax measures, savings plans, and other services. From there, you can find contact information for specific programs, such as the Canada Disability Benefit, Registered Disability Savings Plan, Canada Pension Plan disability benefits, and other federal disability supports, through the links and “Contact us” sections on each program page. If you prefer to speak with someone, you can also call Service Canada, which provides general information and can direct you to the appropriate federal program for your situation.

Yes. There are national student organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), which represent member student unions and associations across the country. These organizations advocate on a wide range of post-secondary issues at the federal level, such as affordability, student financial aid, mental health, and campus accessibility. While they are not disability-only organizations, their policy work often includes disability-related advocacy, including calls for improved funding and accommodations for disabled students, better accessibility standards on campuses, and stronger supports within federal student aid programs.

Yes. The National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) is a national, by-and-for consumer organization that supports the self‑empowerment of post‑secondary students and graduates with disabilities across Canada. NEADS advocates for increased accessibility and equity at all levels so that disabled students can gain equal access to college and university education. NEADS is the national association that runs this website and develops many of the resources you see here. We aim to provide information on services and programs for students with disabilities nationwide, publish resources and newsletters, maintain an extensive website, and conduct research on issues that affect disabled students. Our members include disabled students, campus disability groups and accessibility committees, educators, and professional service providers. NEADS is governed by a national Board of Directors with representatives from provinces and territories, and board members are all students or recent graduates with disabilities.

There is no single body that formally represents every disabled person in Canada, but several national cross-disability organizations play a major advocacy role. One key example is the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), a national human rights organization of people with disabilities working for an accessible and inclusive Canada. Another emerging national cross-disability group is Disability Alliance Canada (DAC), which focuses on promoting a more inclusive and equitable society for people with all disabilities across Canada through direct services, community partnerships, systemic advocacy, research, and publications. The National Educational Association of Disabled Students is a member group of the Council of Canadians With Disabilities and the Canadian Accessibility Network. These organizations collaborate with many disability-specific and regional groups, including NEADS, to advance the rights and inclusion of disabled people at the national level.

The best first step is to contact the disability / accessibility services office at the college or university you are interested in. Staff there can provide detailed information about physical access on campus, including accessible classrooms, residences, libraries, labs, and common spaces. Many schools also publish campus accessibility or facilities maps that show the locations of elevators, ramps, curb cuts, automatic doors, accessible washrooms, and accessible parking. In addition, some institutions offer orientation sessions or specialized campus tours for disabled students, which can be a good way to see the spaces in person and ask questions about your specific access needs. If you do not have the contact information for the campus disability services office, you can use the “Campus Disability Services” directory under the Education tab on our website. This directory lets you search schools by province or territory and links directly to the websites and contact details for disability service centres across Canada.

You should connect with your campus disability / accessibility services office as early as possible (ideally several weeks before your courses begin) and discuss your accommodation needs together with your instructors. Once you know who will be teaching your courses (a departmental assistant or program office can usually tell you this), arrange a time to review the course outline and reading list so you can identify which materials will need to be provided in Braille, audio, large print, or accessible digital format. Work with your disability services office to create a schedule for when you will need specific chapters, articles, or other readings in alternative formats, and make sure your professors provide reading lists and syllabi well in advance. This advance planning gives the service office enough time to convert materials so that you receive your accessible readings on or before the dates they are assigned in class.

Yes. In Canada, the federal government provides funding to organizations and programs that produce alternate format reading materials (such as Braille, accessible e‑text, DAISY, and audiobooks) for people with print disabilities. This funding is directed to producers and service organizations, not typically to individual students, so most students access alternate format materials through their campus disability services office or through library and not‑for‑profit producers, rather than paying out of pocket and being reimbursed. On your own campus, the disability / accessibility services office will usually arrange and fund the conversion of required course materials into alternate formats as part of your approved accommodations. In many cases, this work is supported by institutional budgets and external government funding streams, so you should not be charged for having your textbooks and readings produced in accessible formats. If you are unsure what is covered, ask your disability services office directly whether there are any costs to you and how they access funding or partnerships to produce your materials.

Services and accommodations vary greatly from one school to the next. Some typical services include: tutors, note-takers in class, extended time for tests/exams, oral exams, access to computers with adaptive hardware and software, an adaptive technology centre, assistance with research in libraries, sign language interpretation in lectures, texts on tape, communication with faculty regarding accommodations in the classroom, special parking permits for mobility impaired students, orientation sessions, attendant services, and accessible transportation. The fact of the matter is, all students require different accommodations depending upon their disabilities and individual circumstances. Speak to a service provider at your school of choice to find out what is available to support students with disabilities in their pursuit of accessible education. Your students' association will have fees/levies that they charge that cover the costs of peers support centres including Women's Centres, 2SLGBTQ+ Centres, and on-campus Disabled Students' Centres and even your university or college radio station.

Contact the disability services office and / or health services centre on your campus to find out about the level of medical support and attendant services offered at the post-secondary institution. You may also want to ask about hours of service and qualifications of personnel.

This will depend upon the school that you attend. Of course, some of the services that you receive may be covered by provincial or federal funding programs that you are eligible for, while other services will be supported by your school. Some colleges and universities charge for tutors, notetaking, large-print transcription, photocopying etc. If in doubt, talk to the coordinator of the service centre on your campus.