Accessibility

Emotional Support Animals

Please review our policy for details

An emotional support animal (ESA) – is an animal that provides companionship, comfort, support, and security to individuals who suffer from mental or emotional, and sometimes physical illnesses or disabilities. This can include PTSD, chronic pain, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and various health issues, such as high blood pressure. Unlike service animals, an ESA does not require any specific training. However, an “ESA letter” from a qualified mental health professional who practices in your province is required to be covered by ESA laws across Canada. Otherwise, the animal is simply considered a normal (companion) pet. While provinces vary on the regulation of ESAs, there is no law in Canada that requires an individual to register their ESA or obtain certification for an ESA. Rather, an ESA letter may be required to demonstrate that an individual requires an ESA in order for it to have access to certain places like airplanes, public places, and employment and housing. The ESA letter must be provided by a licensed mental health professional who is in good standing with the law. This means that they must comply with the Canada Health Act. The contents of this letter will generally disclose information about the owner and why an ESA is needed. Exceptions – undue hardship Some exceptions apply. The organization is required to accommodate these circumstances unless they amount to undue hardship. Undue hardship arises where it may not be practicable for the organization to accommodate the needs of the individual, due to cost considerations and health and safety requirements. Our bus service is exempt from ESA animal requirements under the undue hardship exemption, which applies due to our limited space, the nature of the service, requirements for other customers, and the cost associated with ESA animal accommodation. Buses are not designed set up and configured to meet ESA animal accommodations. We cannot accommodate practically the needs of our customers due to cost considerations and health and safety requirements for ESA animals. We ask our customers that require ESA animals to limit their request to small dogs and be prepared to meet our requirements of travel or our service will be denied under the undue hardship exceptions. Special arrangements can be made for travel on a not busy day if the dog is a medium size or larger. We just do not have the financial resources or capability to accommodate all types of animals and all requests. We are a small business with limited resources. For clients with needs that we cannot meet, we kindly redirect them to other service providers or modes of transportation. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

Right Advice

We understand that traveling with mobility impairment can be stressful and challenging. We are extremely concerned with the lack of options in Canada. Policies are driven by our politicians and the decisions made by our administrations can drive improvements to the obstacles facing accessibility needs. We are strong advocates and have been communicating the need for various federal and provincial funding sources to be made available to fill gaps in intercity transportation. The most common answer we are given is to travel with Ontario Northland if you need an accessible bus. Ontario Northland is funded by the province of Ontario, and it is a crown corporation. The private sector is facing many obstacles and challenges as we try to rebuild the coast-to-coast bus system that is fragmented and broken at this time. We recognize the need for solutions. We are open to speaking with you and trying to give you advice on alternative solutions to meet your travel needs. We hope any clients we cannot service understand that the cost is extremely prohibitive for us to be able to accommodate all takes of disabilities, while w do our best to help everyone, we are not funded or equipped to help everyone at this time.