How accessible are Moncton and Dieppe for people with disabilities? [video]

A sloping section of sidewalk in downtown Moncton might be invisible to most people, but for wheelchairs users and other people with disabilities, it’s one of many hurdles making cities across Canada inaccessible.

NB Media Co-op volunteer Matthew Wright, a full-time wheelchair user since 2020, worked with reporter David Gordon Koch on this video documenting how unseen dips and divots in the pavement can pose significant hazards for people with disabilities.

Wright, a member of the NB Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, said there needs to be more consultation with people from the disability community in the construction of new buildings.

In some cases, he’s been unable to reach a “supposedly accessible bathroom” because the doorway was too narrow for his wheelchair. “People think just because it’s made to the building code, it’s right,” he said.

And yet, when people with disabilities are consulted, any compensation they receive may result in “clawbacks” affecting essential benefits such as social assistance cheques or housing subsidies, he said.

(On Friday, the provincial government announced that the federal government’s new Canada Disability Benefit will be exempted from those calculations “to protect recipients from other benefit reductions.” The new benefit will provide up to $2,400 annually to low-income people aged 18 to 64.)

Social assistance rates are notoriously low in New Brunswick. Meanwhile, public coverage for necessary equipment like wheelchairs remains limited.

Wright’s manual wheelchair at $2,000 was covered by private health insurance, but broken wheels are paid for out-of-pocket and cost over $400. Wright said he has replaced the wheels on his chair six times.

As part of this report, Wright sat down with Moncton and Dieppe city officials to discuss challenges faced by people in the disability community, and to ask about what they’re doing to improve accessibility.

Both acknowledged that more needs to be done, although they noted that some matters such as building codes fall outside of municipal jurisdiction.

Check out the full video to hear from Vince Merola, the City of Moncton’s community development officer, and Luc Richard, the City of Dieppe’s deputy chief administrative officer.

Unlike Moncton, Dieppe doesn’t have an accessibility committee — a source of frustration for the NB Coalition for Persons with Disabilities — but Richard stressed the importance of dialogue with groups representing the disability community, and he agreed to attend one of the regular “coffee chats” organized by the Coalition.

New Brunswick has among the highest rates of people with disabilities in Canada, second only to Nova Scotia, according to 2022 figures from Statistics Canada.

This story was updated with more details about the Canada Disability Benefit at 5:15 p.m. on July 4, 2025.

This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).