top of page

Beyond One Month: Why Blindness Awareness Must Extend All Year (and Why the 2025 Federal Budget Is a Key Moment)


Each October, we mark World Blindness Awareness Month—a time to highlight the experiences of blind, low-vision and Deafblind Canadians. It’s an opportunity to shine a light on barriers, celebrate successes, and push for change. But if awareness only happens during this 30-day window, much of the progress we aim for falls short.


Real change requires consistent attention and that includes strong commitments from the federal government. With the upcoming 2025 federal budget, this moment offers a tangible chance for the AEBC and our community to move from discussion to action.


Awareness Shouldn’t Be Seasonal


Awareness months are useful for visibility, but they also risk being siloed: seen as a “once a year” event, rather than a continuous concern. For people who are blind or partially sighted, barriers don’t vanish when November arrives. They exist in everyday life. In access to technology, employment, public services, housing, and transportation.


If we limit our focus to one month, we miss addressing how deeply embedded and persistent those barriers are. Awareness must feed action: policy design, budget allocations, accountability mechanisms, and societal norms. That means maintaining focus all year.


The 2025 Federal Budget: A Chance to Shift from Words to Commitments


The federal budget is more than numbers on a page. It signals priorities, allocates resources, and shapes lives. In our recent press release and submission to the federal government, we outlined six key asks:


  • Stable five-year funding agreements under the Social Development Partnerships Program – Disability Component (SDPP-D).

  • A national assistive devices program accessible across all provinces and territories.

  • Mandatory inclusion of people with disabilities in all federal emergency preparedness planning and evaluation.

  • A substantial increase to the Canada Disability Benefit, with eligibility extended to seniors.

  • Full enforcement of the Accessible Canada Act, backed by updated training for federal staff and regulated sectors.

  • Reduced clawbacks on disability benefits for people earning less than the average Canadian wage.


These asks aren’t abstract. They reflect real costs, real lives, and real gaps. Linking them to Awareness Month, we’re saying: “Yes, we know the challenges now. Let’s actually fund the solutions.”


Why These Commitments Matter Right Now


  • Technology gap: Adaptive technologies have high upfront and maintenance costs, and piecemeal funding leaves many without up-to-date tools. A national assistive devices program levels the field.

  • Income support: Many Canadians with vision loss face precarious employment or low wages. Expanding the Canada Disability Benefit and reducing clawbacks opens doors to dignity and independence.

  • Organisational stability: Disability organisations do critical advocacy and service work, yet many operate under short-term contracts. Five-year funding cycles let them plan, innovate, and deliver.

  • Systemic change: Laws like the Accessible Canada Act are only useful if properly enforced. Training, accountability and oversight turn promise into practice.

  • Inclusive emergency planning: Blind and low-vision people are too often excluded from emergency response planning. This isn’t theoretical; it’s a matter of safety.


What We Invite Businesses, Communities and Individuals to Do


  • Don’t treat awareness month like the only time to “do accessibility.” Use it as a reminder to audit your practices, policies and spaces all year.

  • Ask your elected representatives: “In the next budget, what commitments will you make for accessibility, supports and inclusion for blind Canadians?”

  • Share your own stories of what accessibility means. This civil conversation builds public will and signals to decision-makers that access matters.

  • Support organisations (including AEBC) that are working year-round on these issues. Visibility helps but so does sustained funding.


Final Word


This October, yes — raise awareness. But don’t stop at awareness. The upcoming federal budget gives us a moment to translate that attention into action.


For Canadians who are blind, Deafblind or partially sighted, change isn’t just welcome, it’s overdue. And it deserves more than one month of notice.


If you agree, reach out to your MP, join the conversation, and help ensure that accessibility doesn’t vanish come November.

 
 
bottom of page