StopGap Foundation

08/07/2025

🎬 Join us for a special screening and celebration of “A Stop Gap Measure”, fresh off its Hot Docs Festival premiere 🎥

We've got an exciting interactive discussion with film collaborators following the screening!

For more details, tickets, and accessibility info, visit https://a-stop-gap-measure-screening.raiselysite.com/

🎟️ $0-$50 sliding scale, snacks and refreshments included
🗓️ Wednesday, August 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM
📍 Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto ON

This community screening is generously sponsored by Northcrest and The Mabin School.



Image description:
A graphic with text overlay on a promotional photo for A Stop Gap Measure. Luke Anderson smiles, surrounded by 4 ramp-shaped puppets. Each puppet has its own unique characteristics. The backdrop is a brightly coloured cityscape made from cardboard shapes.
The film title, “A Stop Gap Measure” is in a blue chunky sans serif font arranged in a ramp-like shape at the top of the graphic.
Logos for “Official selection HotDocs 2025” and “Citizen Minutes” are in the top right and bottom left corners respectively.
In the bottom half of the graphic, text reads “Aug 20, 2025, 5:30 pm @ Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto. Community screening and discussion. Tickets $0-$50 sliding scale. Learn more: citizenminutes.com”.

07/28/2025

We loved having the crew from Addus join us in the shop recently! Thanks for helping us paint all of these ramps yellow 💛

Addus is a community-based organization in Toronto that supports adults with developmental disabilities and focuses on creating meaningful connections within their community.

To learn more about their work and programming, visit addus.org.



Image descriptions:
1. Three people smile while holding paintbrushes and painting wooden access ramps yellow. There are two others in the background also painting ramps. They are all inside a woodshop.
2. A person wearing a hat and an apron paints the bottom of a wooden access ramp yellow. There are shelves filled with wood in the background.
3. A person wearing eyeglasses and an apron paints the bottom of a wooden access ramp yellow.

06/23/2025

Thanks to the awesome team from Deloitte for joining us for a paint day 💛❤️💙

After painting ramps, we connected with the team over a lunch and learn, having important and energizing conversations together!

➡️ Want to join us for a Corporate Team Building experience? Fill out the form at stopgap.ca/get-involved/corporate-team-building/



Image descriptions:
1. Six people from Deloitte smile with Luke Anderson in the alleyway between two brick buildings. They are holding or standing behind four brightly painted StopGap ramps. Two ramps are yellow, one is red, and one is blue. Luke Anderson uses a powered wheelchair.
2 to 4. Images of people painting StopGap ramps in a woodshop.
5. A person wearing a Jurassic Park shirt is using a paint roller over a red StopGap ramp.
6. Luke Anderson and the Deloitte team have an accessibility-focused lunch and learn inside a meeting room.

05/26/2025

National AccessAbility Week
gives all of us an opportunity to celebrate, advocate for, and act toward creating disability inclusion! 🎉♿🙌

This week, you can join in on the celebrations and commit to contributing to the work that lies ahead.
➡️ If you’re in Toronto, come on out to happening all day on May 31st at David Pecaut Square!

Wherever you are, join our growing movement to transform how we design, build, and shape our communities by volunteering or making a donation. Your generosity allows us to:

🔴 Build, paint, and install custom ramps for individuals, small businesses, and community spaces
🟡 Deliver hands-on workshops and educational outreach to schools and corporate groups
🟢 Equip local volunteers with the tools to expand our Community Ramp Project all across Canada - most recently, to Ottawa and Montreal!
🔵 Advocate for a future where every space is designed with inclusion in mind, from the very beginning

Your volunteer or monetary contributions make our work possible, not just during National AccessAbility Week, but all year-round. Thank you for your continued support!




Image description: A graphic with text in an orange stencil font that reads “Happy National AccessAbility Week!”. The StopGap Foundation logo is below the text, also in orange. The graphic has a white background with tiny coloured triangles that look like confetti in red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

05/05/2025

It was a beauty of a day on Friday as we hosted a Jane's Walk! 🌞

A big thank you to everyone who joined us, contributing to the talk by sharing their experiences and expertise or simply listening and learning. It was a treat to see both new and familiar faces in the crowd!

We hope you were left inspired to spread awareness about the importance of accessible AND inclusive spaces. We look forward to hosting more community events like this walk in the future! 👨‍🦽👩‍🦯🚶‍♀️



Image description 1: Luke, Elise, and Oda smile for the camera outside on a sunny spring day. Luke uses a power wheelchair and Oda uses a manual wheelchair. Elise and Oda are both holding signs with large illustrations of StopGap ramps - Elise’s sign is blue and Oda’s is green.

Image description 2: Luke speaks to a small crowd of people on the sidewalk of Roncesvalles. Three people in the group are wheelchair users, one person is holding onto a stroller, and two others are holding signs with StopGap ramp illustrations on them.

Image description 3: Luke wheels down the sidewalk on Roncesvalles with a smile on his face while a group of people follow behind.

04/22/2025

Toronto friends! Join us for a Jane’s Walk on Roncesvalles as part of the Toronto Jane's Walk Festival! 👨‍🦽👩‍🦯🚶‍♀️

Date: Friday, May 2, 2025
Time: 2 to 3:30 pm
Walk start location: Roncesvalles Ave & Howard Park Ave
Walk end location: Roncesvalles Ave & Wright Ave

Led by our Executive Director, Luke Anderson, this walk will highlight some of the daily barriers faced by people with disabilities on Toronto streets, changing perceptions and fostering a call to action for community-driven advocacy.

➡️ Look out for our team members carrying colourful ramp-shaped signs!

What is a Jane’s Walk? 🧭
Inspired by urban activist Jane Jacobs, Jane’s Walks are free community-led walking conversations that help you learn something new about the city you’re in.

Learn more about this walk and others at www.janeswalkfestivalto.com/walks.



Image description: A graphic with a photo from StopGap's Jane's Walk in 2024. Luke Anderson speaks to a group of people in front of a store on Roncesvalles Ave. A person in the group is holding a sign of a red StopGap ramp illustration. Text reads "Join us for a Jane's Walk! May 2, 2025 from 2:00 - 3:30 pm. Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto". The logo for StopGap Foundation is in the bottom right corner.

04/11/2025

The Daniels Corporation has been a longtime supporter of StopGap, helping fund everything from access ramps to new programming initiatives to event space for our Ramp Up fundraisers over the years.

We’re thrilled to share that they’ve made an incredibly generous $25,000 contribution towards our work removing barriers and furthering our awareness-raising mission! 🙌♿

Join us in extending a big THANK YOU to our fellow accessibility advocates at Daniels for believing in our work. Our team is so, so grateful 🧡

Image description: A close-up photo of a blue StopGap ramp being painted on a table outside. Hands from different people are holding paint brushes. Text reading “Thank you” in a white stencil font is over the photo with the logo for The Daniels Corporation directly below the text.

04/01/2025

You’re invited to our next Volunteer Orientation event!

📍 192 Spadina Avenue, in the Bigger Bolder Room on the ground floor. The space is wheelchair accessible.

🗓️ Thursday, April 3rd from 6 to 7 pm

At this orientation, we’ll share more info about the various volunteer opportunities at StopGap, answer any questions you have, and enjoy some snacks together. We ask all attendees that are able to do so to wear masks at the orientation (we will have some available).

Interested in volunteering? Fill out our Volunteer Inquiry form at https://stopgap.ca/get-involved/volunteer/ to get started!

See you there 👋

Image description: Graphic with the text “Volunteer Orientation Event” in a black stencil font with a red underline. Above it is the text “Apr 3, 2025, 6-7 PM” and below is the text “192 Spadina Ave, Ground Floor, Bigger Bolder Room”. There are two illustrations of ramps in the top right and bottom left corners, framing the text. The graphic background is a pale pink colour.

03/31/2025

The Hot Docs Film Festival is headed our way April 24 to May 4, 2025, and along with it another series of Citizen Minutes! This year's cohort of 6 short films showcase up-and-coming filmmakers shining the spotlight on ordinary Canadians making extraordinary impacts in their communities. The films will have their world premiere on April 30 at TIFF Lightbox.

Get the lowdown on each film below now:

🎬 A Stop Gap Measure
When temporary solutions become the status quo, who gets left behind? A Stop Gap Measure follows the disability activist Luke Anderson on his fight for accessibility to be a right, not a privilege. Directed by Lulu Wei; Produced by Hannah Donegan and Lauren Grant.

🎬 Becoming Ruby
Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence, Ruby Chopstix, navigates the complexity of being an underrepresented drag performer while creating a special showcase to create space for other q***r BIPOC performers. Directed by Quon Luong; Produced by Lauren Grant.

🎬 Crossing the Divide
Two Canadians, one Liberal and one Conservative, attend a U.S. convention focused on depolarizing politics, determined to engage in tough conversations for a healthier democracy. Directed by Chrisann Hessing and Ashley Brook; Produced by Chrisann Hessing and Lauren Grant.

🎬 Hommes-Relais
Amid migration grief and integration challenges, Manuel, a former doctor turned community leader, guides immigrant men in a life-changing program: forging resilience, belonging, and solidarity. Directed by Vladimir Chindea; Produced by Vladimir Chindea and Lauren Grant.

🎬 La femme équi-libre
In Prince Edward Island, Josée Gallant Gordon is reinventing mental health care through her bilingual equine therapy centre, proving that with ideas, one person can transform their community. Directed by Hélène Lebon; Produced by Hélène Lebon and Lauren Grant.

🎬 Red Girl Rising
Joyce Jonathan Crone, Mohawk matriarch, retired teacher, activist, humanitarian reaches forward into her community of Huntsville, Ontario, opening hearts and bridging gaps for Indigenous education. Directed and Co-Produced by Faith Howe and Kim Stadfeld; Produced by Rachel McLean and Lauren Grant.

Head to https://www.citizenminutes.ca/ and https://hotdocs.ca/ for more on the whole slate of films!
🎟️ Ticket packages are on sale now. Single tickets are on sale to the public starting tomorrow, April 1!

https://youtu.be/ly3X5Gsc9Lw?si=VqsmTvSdDaPFIYD3

It's that time of year again! The Hot Docs Film Festival is headed our way April 24 to May 4, 2025, and along with it another series of Citizen Minutes! This...

03/21/2025

A huge thank you for the beautiful letter and generous donation from the grade 3 students at Toronto's Waldorf Academy. On point with StopGap’s colours! ❤️💛💚💙

In the fall, we hosted the students in our office space where they enjoyed a thought-provoking discussion about what accessibility means and what it looks like.

The class is participating in our School Project where they learn about the importance of accessibility and inclusion and take their awareness-raising messages out to their local retail neighbourhood. Using different communication methods, like letter writing and poster creation, they educate shop owners about the importance of spaces that everyone can access.

We are so grateful for all of the classes that participate in this exciting program and how they help cultivate a new generation of accessibility advocates.

📚✏️ Are you an elementary school educator wanting to get involved in StopGap’s School Project? Email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!



Image description: A colourful drawing. A person in a green sweater is pushing a person with orange hair and a magenta sweater who uses a wheelchair up a yellow ramp in front of a door with a gray step. There are blue clouds, black birds and a yellow sun in the sky. Surrounding the picture is a frame with red, blue, green, and yellow rectangles. Handwritten in cursive over the drawing are the words: “January 2025. Dear StopGap, We grew herbs in our home and school garden that we planted in the summer. We have a money block at the end of it, we had a market fair and sold products we made one thousand dollars! And now we present half of it to you! Love Grade 3 Waldorf Academy”.

03/06/2025

🤖 How can we ensure AI is fair and accessible to everyone? Have your say!

Our draft standard on Accessible and Equitable AI Systems is open for public review. Now’s your chance to help create AI systems that are fair, inclusive, and well-designed from the start!

The standard provides requirements to:
➡️make AI systems accessible for all
➡️ensure fairness for people with disabilities
➡️educate on equitable AI

Whether from lived experience or expertise, share your feedback on our draft standard today.

📢Help shape the future of AI!

https://ow.ly/C0C150VbWqf

⏳Deadline: May 5, 2025, 11:59 PM (PST)

Image: Text reads “Public Review: Draft Standard on Accessible-and Equitable AI Systems”. Above the text are several lines forming shapes. The lines surround the letters “AI”.

02/28/2025

We’ve got a podcast for your weekend listening! 🎧

Our Executive Director Luke Anderson was a recent guest on GRETABILITY - hosted and produced by Greta Baier, a dynamic high school student and disability advocate.

Greta seeks to highlight the experiences of others with disabilities, discusses topics that aren’t often mainstreamed, and shifts society’s stigmatized narrative around disability.

🎙️ Check out the episode through the links below!

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-first-step-towards-a-barrier-free-society/id1745809391?i=1000675352096

Spotiy: https://open.spotify.com/show/0zc5mgZAOc8C50HmFPgK0f