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Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee Meetings:

Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee - Accessibility & You Survey

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Seven municipalities in the centre and western part of the Capital Regional District – Colwood, Esquimalt, Highlands, Langford, Metchosin, Sooke, and View Royal – have partnered to form the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee and to prepare a joint Accessibility Plan (the “Plan”). The purpose of the Plan is to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to individuals in or interacting with the partner municipalities. The Plan will be informed, in part, by this survey as well as partially by facilitated public engagement sessions.

While the first Plan will focus primarily on service delivery and employment, the Plan will also lay the foundation for other future themes and include accessibility initiatives in the partner municipalities.

This survey is completely anonymous and will only be reported back as a summary of feedback.

This survey is estimated to be completed in 10-15 minutes or less.

Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee - Accessibility & You Survey | Let's Chat Langford (letschatlangford.ca) 

Please feel free to share this survey link with others. The survey has now been extended to Sunday, April 7 at 11:59 p.m.

This survey was prepared with accessibility in mind. It is recognized that people will access information in different ways. Please let us know if there is a more accessible way for you to participate in the survey or if you need assistance completing it by contacting the City of Langford’s Administration Department at accessibility@langford.ca or calling 250-478-7882. Paper copies of this survey are available for pick-up and drop-off during business hours at all partner municipalities:

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Focus on Accessibility

In 2021, the Province of British Columbia passed the Accessible BC Act requiring municipalities to develop a plan that addresses accessibility to municipal services, programs, and infrastructure. Everyone will experience permanent, temporary, or episodic impairments over their lifetime either personally, or through caring for someone else. By focusing on accessibility, we can work towards becoming a municipality where everyone is able to participate fully and equally and is empowered to pursue the life they wish to live.  

Accessibility Plan

To improve accessibility to our municipal services, facilities, and natural and built environments, the District of Metchosin is working with other regional municipalities to develop an Accessibility Plan. The Plan will identify and reduce challenges people experience with our:

• Information
• Communication
• Technologies
• Policies
• Practices; and 
• Infrastructure 

The Accessible BC Act identifies eight standards for inclusion in a long-term Plan. The first iteration of our Plan will focus on the first two of those standards: Employment and Service Delivery. It will take time to eliminate barriers, however the Plan is the first step in identifying how we can improve accessibility going forward. 

The Plan must be reviewed and updated every three years and will incorporate information gathered through public engagement opportunities. Opportunities will be advertised on this page as they are scheduled. 

Accessibility Committee

An initial Accessibility Committee, comprised of staff from partner municipalities, including the District of Metchosin, will review the District's internal practices for making information, activities, and environments sensible, meaningful, and usable for as many people as possible. Once a robust staff foundation is built, the committee composition will be expanded to reflect the Plan's revised areas of focus to further enhance access and inclusion in the District of Metchosin.

Meetings will be open to the public and written feedback may be provided as outlined below. 

Committee meeting agendas and minutes will be posted here: Public Meeting Agendas & Minutes (metchosin.ca) 

Public Participation and Feedback

A critical part of developing, monitoring and updating the Accessibility Plan is receiving valuable feedback from people experiencing barriers. While the first term of the Plan is internally focused, public input is always welcomed and appreciated. Sharing your experiences in or interacting with the municipality will help us to identify barriers and improve accessibility for all people. 

We invite your feedback in the following ways:

• Email: accessibility@metchosin.ca 
• Phone: 250-474-3167
• In Person/Mail: 4450 Happy Valley Road, Victoria, BC V9C 3Z3

Next Steps

Once the draft Plan is developed, it will be presented to Council for consideration and approval. Opportunities to review and comment on the draft Plan will be posted to this page.