Accessibility, Anti-Racism and Equity Plan

Overview

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), with the support of the Diversity Institute (DI), is developing an Equity, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility Plan as required by provincial legislation, including the Accessibility Act and the Dismantling Racism and Hate Act. This plan will help ensure municipal services, planning, innovation, and more serve the communities of our region.

The plan will include:

Shared municipal visions, missions, goals, and guiding principles; and
Actions and recommendations across municipal areas of focus, including:
- transportation,
- built environment,
- goods and services,
- employment,
- information and communication, and
- public awareness.

The Plan builds on CBRM’s existing Accessibility Plan, as well as other efforts for equity, anti-racism, and accessibility and reflects requirements from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls to Justice.

Developing the Plan

The Diversity Institute will work collaboratively with CBRM staff, leadership, and community members to understand their needs, perspectives, and recommendations. This includes:

A review of relevant CBRM documents and legislation to understand existing initiatives, gaps, and recommendations for change; and
Public engagement:
- We will organize community meetings to understand experiences and recommendations for change; and
- We will have a survey for people to provide their confidential feedback.

Getting Involved

DI will be engaging with various communities within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to better understand their experiences, perspectives, and recommendations for embedded accessibility, equity, anti-racism and anti-discrimination across the municipal areas of focus. Your insights will be used to inform the Equity, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility Strategy Plan and ensure it meets the needs of all communities within the Cape Breton Region.

Session Details

Please see below for information regarding the various sessions that will be hosted in the coming weeks. All are welcome to attend.

September 29, 2025, 1-3 p.m. at Centre 200, Sydney
September 29, 2025, 6-8 p.m. at the Glace Bay Miner’s Forum, Glace Bay
October 1, 2025, 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. at the Emera Centre, North Sydney
October 8, 2025, 6- 7:30 p.m., virtual via Zoom

Please register for an in-person or virtual session here. Light refreshments will be served at all in-person sessions.

Survey

If you are unable to attend a session, but would still like to provide feedback, a survey will soon be available. Stay tuned!

About the Diversity Institute

The Diversity Institute (DI) is based at Toronto Metropolitan University with hubs across the country, and is collaborating with Dr. Jasmine Alam, Associate Professor, Academic Director at the Shannon School of Business of Cape Breton University, on this project. DI has worked with municipalities and associated organizations across Canada, including the City of Markham, City of Vaughan, City of Mississauga, City of Toronto, Toronto Regional Police, and York Regional Police. Recently, DI developed the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation platform for municipalities in collaboration with the City of Kingston to support the municipal community of practice in sharing tools and strategies. DI has more than 80 full-time staff who work on a broad range of projects and is currently supporting the Winnipeg School Board, Rogers Communications and more on their strategies. DI is a partner in the Future Skills Centre and leads the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub with partners across Atlantic Canada.