How Cities Fail To Support Wheelchair Users - A Closer Look Through Jacob’s Lens

Mobility is More Than Movement

Imagine trying to get to work in a wheelchair when the elevator’s broken, the sidewalk is cracked, or the bus ramp is too steep. Mobility isn’t just getting from point A to B, in reality, mobility is freedom: it allows us to participate fully in everyday life. Yet, nearly 20% of Canadians with mobility disabilities avoid leaving home simply because the outside world isn’t built for them. Today, we will dive into some of the everyday challenges wheelchair users face navigating urban spaces, explore how these barriers impact daily life, and highlight innovative wheelchair designs and accessibility solutions aiming to make city life more inclusive for everyone.

Physical Barriers in the Community

A recent review identified cracked sidewalks, uneven pavement, inaccessible entrances and steep curb ramps as widespread and persistent issues in urban road infrastructure worldwide, yet they are daily realities for wheelchair users navigating the city. Not to mention, bad weather furthers these challenges. Snow, slush, and ice pile up on curb ramps, often leaving wheelchair users stranded or forcing risky detours onto busy streets. While volunteering at my local hospital, I had the chance to speak with another volunteer, Mr. Jacob, who has been using a wheelchair for almost a decade, and he generously shared his experiences for this piece:

“I’ve rolled up to crosswalks only to find a pile of snow reaching higher than my wheels. It sometimes feels like the city forgets we exist… the fear of getting stuck somewhere keeps me home. It can be exhausting planning every little detail.” 

Barriers to Belonging and Opportunity

Clearly, these physical barriers don’t just block sidewalks, in a way, they block lives. As highlighted in a 2016 scientific paper, wheelchair users often face limits on travel, needing meticulous planning for even the simplest outings, like going to the corner store for groceries. This loss of freedom chips away at independence and can fuel a sense of isolation. It helps explain why people with spinal cord injuries report reduced participation in community and social activities, alongside higher rates of depression. 

One striking finding from the study revealed that only 8.3% of older wheelchair users engage in physical or social activities, compared to nearly 89% of older adults who don’t use wheelchairs. Employment, too, suffers when workplaces or commutes aren’t accessible, closing off opportunities and leaving many out of the workforce entirely. According to Statistics Canada, nearly 59% of individuals with disabilities face labour-market barriers, and 49% specifically cite physical environment issues, such as inaccessible workplaces.

Transportation barriers further complicate matters, with 35% of respondents unable to reliably commute, making job opportunities even scarcer. Compounding these structural obstacles, wheelchair users often face stigma during the hiring process.

As Jacob shared, “I’ve shown up to interviews where I could barely get in the building. People look at my chair and suddenly the job’s ‘no longer available.’ I feel like my skills disappear the moment they see me rolling in.” Together, these barriers, combined with personal challenges like pain or fatigue, create a vicious cycle that can leave wheelchair users feeling sidelined from society.

Emerging Accessibility Solutions

Despite the challenges, new technology is helping many wheelchair users reclaim independence and navigate city life with greater ease. One standout example is the SmartDrive, a compact motor that clips onto the back of a manual wheelchair, transforming it into a power-assist device. A paper published last year found that SmartDrive users nearly doubled their satisfaction with everyday activities from shopping and dog walking to navigating busy city streets. The device slashes the effort of pushing over long distances or climbing hills, cutting the number of pushes in half, and easing strain on shoulders that often leads to chronic pain. Even users who still experienced pain felt more able to stay active and spontaneous, one participant sharing, “It makes me more mobile when my body isn’t as strong, and it feels liberating not to plan every little detail.” 

Equally impactful for urban living are compact, foldable power wheelchairs like the KD Smart Chair that weigh just 50 pounds, and can be folded small enough to fit in car trunks or rideshares, solving the problem of tight doorways, narrow elevators, cramped cafés and so much more. In other words, they offer freedom to navigate places many traditional chairs can’t fit. While not “smart” in a tech sense, foldable designs greatly improve urban practicality for those who need flexibility to adapt on the go.

The High Cost of Accessibility

While technology does offer hope for better urban mobility, the reality is that many Canadians using wheelchairs and living with spinal cord injuries face financial, systemic and geographic barriers that keep life-changing devices out of reach. Advanced assistive devices, such as the SmartDrive ($6,000 CAD) and the KD Smart Chair ($3,000 CAD), exceed the budgets of those relying on disability income or social assistance. Although provinces assist those who need funding for assistive devices, unfortunately, this funding is still not enough for many, and there are many caveats. For example, Ontario’s Assistive Devices Program (ADP) covers only 75% of wheelchair costs, leaving individuals responsible for the remaining 25% but, Mr. Jacob was sharing his experience with me about the ADP and it truly surprised me:

“A couple years ago, I needed to upgrade my wheelchair because my medical condition had changed. I wanted to get a Freewheel (a wheelchair accessory similar to SmartDrive)  but was told that there would be no coverage on it. The ADP only covers the basic level of wheelchair and this higher performance wheelchair wasn’t covered.”

A Final Word

Hearing Jacob’s story left me genuinely stunned. It seems unbelievable that even essential upgrades tied to someone’s changing health aren’t recognized as necessities, revealing just how disconnected our funding systems are from the realities of everyday life for wheelchair users. Jacob’s story shows us that the problem isn’t just broken sidewalks or expensive devices, it’s a system that often misses the mark on what people actually need to move, work, and live fully. From inaccessible infrastructure to funding gaps, these barriers add up in ways that drastically impact lives. If we want our cities to be truly inclusive, accessibility shouldn’t be treated as an extra, it should be part of the plan from the start.