Alberta’s Overlooked Crisis: The Urgent Need for Accessible Affordable Housing
Why thousands of Albertans with disabilities are being left behind—and what we must do to fix it
Every Albertan deserves a safe, stable place to call home. But for thousands of people with disabilities across the province, finding housing that is both accessible and affordable remains a near-impossible task. As Alberta faces a growing housing affordability crisis, people with disabilities are disproportionately affected—left behind by a system that was never designed with their needs in mind.
At Accessible Housing we work every day to close this gap. We support people with limited mobility to live with dignity and independence. Yet the demand for accessible affordable housing continues to outpace supply by a wide margin. In Calgary and Edmonton, an estimate of just 2 to 3 percent of affordable housing units are fully accessible, while 27 percent of Albertans aged 15 and older—over 900,000 Albertans—report living with a disability. The shortage is particularly acute for those with physical disabilities who require barrier-free design.
So why is accessible housing needed? For many people with disabilities, daily activities like cooking a meal, taking a shower, or simply entering and exiting their home are impossible without accessible features. Barrier-free doorways, lowered counters, roll-in showers, and sufficient turning space are not conveniences—they are necessities for independence, safety, and quality of life.
Accessibility alone isn’t enough. Affordability is equally critical. People with disabilities are more likely to live on low or fixed incomes due to barriers in employment, discrimination, or reliance on support programs like the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH), which provides a maximum monthly income of $1,787. In Calgary, where average one-bedroom rents are now around $1,700, this leaves little to nothing for food, medication, transportation, assistive equipment, and other basic needs.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that costs less than 30% of a household’s gross income. When people with disabilities are spending 70% to 90% of their income on rent alone, the risks of eviction, homelessness, or forced institutionalization increase drastically.
This crisis isn’t new, but it is getting worse. Alberta’s aging population, increased housing prices, and the absence of mandatory accessibility requirements in the provincial building code have compounded the issue. Meanwhile, new construction often overlooks accessibility from the start, and the cost to retrofit older buildings is high and rarely prioritized.
At Accessible Housing, we believe that inclusive communities start with inclusive homes. We call on policymakers, developers, and citizens to recognize that accessible affordable housing is not a luxury—it is a basic right. We need strong government investment in both new accessible builds and the retrofitting of existing stock. We need accessibility to be built in from the start, not added as an afterthought.
Accessible affordable housing gives people with disabilities the freedom to live independently, contribute to their communities, and thrive. Let’s build a future where every Albertan has a place to belong.
Learn more about our work and how you can help at accessiblehousing.ca.
Source Links:
Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0374-01 Persons with and without disabilities aged 15 years and over, by age group and gender
https://www.entrustdisabilityservices.ca/assured-income-for-the-severely-handicapped-aish/
