Rick Hansen Foundation announces Building Without Barriers winners

RICHMOND, B.C. – The Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF) has announced the award recipients of the 2023-24 Building Without Barriers Challenge.

GWL Realty Advisors, Cadillac Fairview, Choice Properties, Carleton University and First West Credit Union were all recipients of the challenge, a release said.

Awards were given out on Sept. 25 at BOMA Canada’s BOMEX National Awards Gala in Vancouver, B.C.

“We are proud to recognize these organizations for their vision and dedication to becoming industry leaders in accessibility and inclusion. It’s wonderful to see so many well-established developers and organizations go above and beyond to set the bar higher. We hope their leadership will inspire other property owners, managers and municipalities to follow suit,” RHF vice-president of strategic initiatives Sarah McCarthy said in the release.

Awards were recognized in the following categories:

The Commitment Award for the organization with the most buildings or pre-construction plans rated with RHFAC (three-way tie):

Cadillac Fairview
Choice Properties
GWL Realty Advisors

The Innovation Award for a building with the highest number of innovation points on their RHFAC rating:

Carleton University – MacOdrum Library

The Accessibility Progress Award for a previously rated building that achieves the highest overall improvement on their RHFAC rating:

First West Credit Union – Penticton Regional Office

The challenge was launched in 2021 and encourages participants to accelerate accessibility by having at least three buildings rated using Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility CertificationTM (RHFAC), a national rating and recognition system that measures the level of meaningful accessibility of buildings from the holistic perspective of individuals with varying disabilities including mobility, vision, hearing and neurodiversity, the release said.

In addition to the awards, participants also receive accessibility awareness training for staff, a full tuition grant for the RHFAC Professional Training course for one staff member and access to webinars.