Royal Roads observes National AccessAbility Week every year, starting on the last Sunday in May. This year, from May 31 to June 6, 2026, we invite you to take part in recognizing:
- the important contributions and leadership of persons with disabilities in Canada
- the efforts of allies, organizations and communities working to break down barriers
- the ongoing movement toward a more accessible and inclusive Canada for people with disabilities
Keynote Event
This event has already occurred.
As aspirations to ensure decolonization and reconciliation informs the strategic directions of practice, policy and research in academia, it is imperative Indigenous lived experiences and knowledges are included in these efforts.
In this talk, Dr. Rheanna Robinson will draw on her experience as an Indigenous scholar that lives with chronic illness and disability to describe how her work within Indigenous Disability Studies and Indigenous patient-partnered research represents a compelling example of how Indigenous knowledges offer the world meaningful representations of equity and inclusion in diverse and varying ways.
News & Stories
POCKET CLASS: When disaster hits, this is who should really get a seat at the table
The 2005 catastrophic tropical cyclone Hurricane Katrina was one of the most intense in U.S. history. But not everyone felt the effects equally, says Dr. Patricia Stukes who teaches in Royal Roads University’s Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management program.
“The needs of people with disabilities were completely ignored,” she says.
Accessibility beyond accommodation
When Margarita Jarrín began researching the experiences of international students with disabilities in higher education, she expected to find challenges. What surprised her was how deeply layered those experiences could become.
“As an international student, a student and someone with a disability, the intersectionality was a huge deal,” says Jarrín, a Royal Roads University alum of the MA in Global Leadership program.
Leading without limits
At the start of the program, Bergeron, MA Leadership, was worried about how her vision loss would affect both her experience and her classmates’.
Learning to lead where it mattered to her changed the trajectory of Diane Bergeron’s life. Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of five, she was legally blind at 10 and lost all sight in her 30s.
As she became engrossed in the work, there was a lesson to be learned in asking for help and understanding her contributions.
2026 Community Events
Past Royal Roads Events
Watch the recording of this thought-provoking session with Dr. Jay Dolmage on building more accessible campuses by understanding disability as identity and culture, not just accommodation. Held May 28, 2025, this conversation invited reflection, questions and new ways forward.
