Tech Update: Using tech to improve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities

October marks Disability Employment Awareness Month in Canada, a time to recognize the importance of inclusivity in workplaces so that people with disabilities have equitable opportunities to find meaningful, sustainable work.
Unfortunately, recent assessments suggest the province — and the country as a whole —  may be slacking on the job.
In September, advocacy group Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance presented a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of People with Disabilities, highlighting an overall lack of action in dismantling barriers that were laid out in 2019’s Accessible Canada Act.
This assessment comes a little more than a year after an independent review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) itself, which cited surveys that suggest 25 per cent of persons with disabilities have no or limited access to experiences in public places and work settings, while 75 per cent report having negative experiences. Given that AODA legislation has been in effect for nearly two decades, reviewers deemed the lack of progress in this area “a crisis.”
As these independent analyses demonstrate, infrastructure and policy changes can often move at a relatively glacial pace. And as persons with disabilities are left to grapple with the imperfections of existing systems, tech solutions can help provide crucial workarounds.
Toronto-based Braze Mobility, for instance, has developed innovative blind spot sensors for wheelchairs, which allow people with mobility issues to navigate tight spaces, such as small apartment kitchens or narrow entrances. The company’s tech can also be used by people with vision impairments — its audio and vibration cues signal when objects are in the way.
Braze Mobility founder Pooja Viswanathan believes accessible technology is a human right, but she also took inspiration from a somewhat unlikely source: the automotive industry. Viswanathan drew on her experience exploring computer vision algorithms at Honda, working on tech involved in blind spot sensors in cars. With the advent of more cost-effective ultrasonic sensors in cars, she says, this tech has become more viable for wheelchairs.
But adapting the solution for people with disabilities comes with distinctive considerations: unlike the automotive industry, which is laser-focused on self-driving vehicles, “wheelchair users really prefer to stay in control,” says Viswanathan. Her company developed an app that allows users to tweak the detection distances of the sensors based on their preferences.
Braze Mobility is part of the inaugural cohort in the Mobility Unlimited Hub, a partnership between the Toyota Mobility Foundation and MaRS Discovery District that launched this past June with the aim of helping startups bring their solutions to market. (Other participants developing tech that could improve workplace accessibility include Deaf AI, which uses AI to provide real-time voice-to-sign language interpretation and Richmond Hill–based Cheelcare, which specializes in wheelchair power add-ons and rehab mobility.)
There is an unequivocal ethical imperative to improve accessibility, but this kind of tech also represents a vital business opportunity. According to StatsCan data from 2022, 27 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and older report that they are living with at least one disability — and it is estimated that at least a million more people will join that group by 2040. So it should come as no surprise that some experts suggest that investments in workplace accessibility could increase GDP by as much as $16.8 billion by 2030.
Frontier, a major carbon-removal funding consortium driven by such heavy hitters as Shopify and Meta, recently announced a new offtake agreement with CarbonRun. The Nova Scotia–based company specializes in river liming — an approach that involves using pulverized limestone, an alkaline substance, to make rivers less acidic, thereby allowing them to trap more carbon. CarbonRun will receive U.S.$25.4 million, which will be directed toward removing 55,442 tons of carbon dioxide over the next four years — the equivalent of a year’s worth of emissions from 13,000 cars. The company is set to begin work at a site in Nova Scotia.
A group of funders led by BDC Capital and Clean Energy Ventures have provided US$6.8 million in seed funding to Ayrton Energy, a Calgary-based startup that is looking to scale its novel hydrogen storage tech. Hydrogen is a promising clean energy source: it’s abundant, burns clean and leaves only water behind as a byproduct. But unlike conventional gas and diesel, hydrogen is tricky to transport and store — it requires cryogenic temperatures and high pressure containers, which presents major challenges for distribution and widespread adoption. Ayrton Energy has developed a method to store hydrogen at room temperature, using existing fuel infrastructure. The company’s tech shows promise in a hydrogen market that’s expected to grow to US$1.4 trillion annually by 2050.
Venture capital firm Pangaea Ventures recently raised a formidable $115 million for its fifth and largest fund. The company, which is headquartered in Vancouver and Phoenix, Ariz., supports hardtech companies in cleantech, biosciences and sustainable agriculture; this new impact fund will be directed toward innovative solutions that tackle food security, climate change and other issues that affect the health of the planet. 
3,000: The number of financial service providers who will be required to register with the Bank of Canada as of Nov. 1 as part of a concerted effort to strengthen security for customers, according to remarks delivered by BoC governor Tiff Macklem at the Canadian Bankers Forum on Sept. 24.
US$1.5 million: The amount secured in seed funding by bloks.app, an AI-powered platform that assists investment teams in streamlining their work.
$71 million: How much money Cyclic Materials raised in its recent round of series B funding. These investments will support the company’s efforts to scale its rare-earth recycling infrastructure throughout Europe and North America.
Junaid Ahmed writes about technology for MaRS. Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, has partnered with MaRS to highlight innovation in Canadian companies.