1945 to 2020: The future is accessible

Our first quarterly newsletter, Caliper is created.  Through the decades we have been providing information to our community through our periodicals from Caliper, to Outspoken to Community.

The key to Lyndhurst Lodge is handed to John Counsell by representatives of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Lyndhurst Lodge is transferred to Canadian Paraplegic Association for one dollar.

An in-house school classroom is established at Lyndhurst Lodge to further the goal of ensuring that people could further their education and training to find jobs after rehabilitation.

Ken Langford becomes the Managing Director of the Canadian Paraplegic Association for the next 33 years.

The Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association is formed to create opportunities for people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities to achieve full community participation.

Lyndhurst Hospital is officially opened as the first and only hospital in Canada for the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries and becomes a model for the world.

Our first regional office outside of Toronto opened in London.  Over the next few decades, we continue to open more service locations. Our reach in 2020 is province wide with locations in Barrie, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Kingston, Peterborough, Ottawa, Waterloo, York, Peel and Halton Regions.

The Nucleus Housing Project was launched to establish the first community-level, attendant services facility for people who have high level quadriplegia.

CPA supported Rick Hansen on his Man in Motion tour raising awareness about the potential of people with disabilities, creating accessible and inclusive communities, and finding a cure.

With the help of the CPA Ontario, Darrel Murphy secured funding from the Ministry of Health to provide outreach attendant services to clients living in their own homes.

Golf tournaments become one of our organizations signature events. These include the Barbara Turnbull Golf Tournament, The Oviinbyrd Golf Tournament, Rolling Thunder Tournament and Rebuilding Lives, to name a few. The events have raised over $2.5 million over the last 30 years with the help of so many volunteer committee members.

The Wheelchair Relay Challenge is created quickly becoming a popular event and raising over $4 million during its lifetime.

The Employment Resource Centre opens and is dedicated exclusively to helping people with a disability re-enter the workforce.

Canadian Paraplegic Association begins years of international development in many countries including Jamaica, Senegal and Guyana.

Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation is created through the collective efforts of the CPA Ontario, the Canadian Spinal Research Organization, the Ontario Brain Injury Association, and the Rick Hansen Foundation.

A dedicated group of volunteers create the annual Ski Day now in its 20th year and having raised $1.5 million since inception. One of our favourite days of the year and a great opportunity for our community members to try a new sport or experience it again through adaptive skiing.

Peer Support is expanded across the province. From the beginning, the value of lived experience has been at the heart of who we are.

A Postdoctoral Fellowship is established on spinal cord research at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and University of Toronto. Through the leadership of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, CPA Ontario supported the first National SCI Conference.

SCI Alliance is created bringing together key stakeholders and strategic partners of researchers, service providers, policy makers, funders and people with spinal cord injury to address and resolve systemic barriers in Ontario.

Spinal Cord Injury Ontario rebrands. Survival beyond one year has increased to between 85% and 90%.

Canada’s first federal accessibility legislation, the Accessible Canada Act, receives Royal Assent. SCIO Cortree Disability Education Centre and Family Peer Program launches.