Emily De Boer is a Barrier Breaker
Emily De Boer moves through the world with an artist’s eye and an athlete’s resilience. She’s a competitor, a builder, a re-imaginator of space. Whether she’s wielding a hockey stick on the ice as a member of the British Columbia women’s sledge ice hockey team or shaping surreal, radically inclusive environments through art, Emily is driven by a singular force: the belief that everyone deserves access.
At 12, Emily’s life changed when she sustained a spinal cord injury. It was a shift that redefined her path. Now in her 20s, fresh from earning a master’s degree of fine arts, she’s redefining the world.
“How was it ever decided that stairs should be the default in the design of buildings?” Emily mused. It’s a question rooted in lived experience; every sidewalk without a curb cut, every building without a ramp or an elevator, every workplace not designed with accessibility in mind is a reminder that environments – not disability – are what limit people.
Time for Real Change
As a Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification™ (RHFAC) Professional in training, Emily is preparing to help businesses and communities create spaces where accessibility is part of the culture. RHFAC equips organizations with the tools to improve accessibility in a meaningful way, providing a clear roadmap for creating barrier-free spaces that promote inclusion, enhance user experience, and meet the needs of people of varying abilities.
Emily knows the numbers: 1 in 4 Canadians has a disability, yet 57% of Canadians with physical disabilities remain unemployed due to workplace barriers. The equation is simple: remove the barriers and potential can thrive.
Emily aligns strongly with the work of Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF). The Foundation’s commitment to a barrier-free Canada is the vehicle needed to turn awareness into tangible action.
“We don’t need more studies about why accessibility is needed. Or how to go about it,” Emily said. “We already know what needs to change. People with disabilities have provided the solutions. We have them locked and loaded.”
It’s not just physical barriers that need dismantling. Attitudinal ones can be just as exhausting to navigate. Like the hotel manager in the United States who chased her down, assuming Emily was lost in the hotel lobby and needed help finding the elevator. Or the countless times she’s had to fight the unspoken assumption that disability equates to helplessness.
“Dealing with misunderstandings takes energy that many of us don’t have,” Emily said. “That’s why education is just as important as physical accessibility. Society needs to understand that disability isn’t the issue. The way the world is built is the issue.”
Turning Art into Action
Emily’s advocacy extends beyond physical spaces. She’s part of the RHF School Program (RHFSP) Youth Leadership Committee, working with other young leaders to shift perspectives about disability and drive meaningful conversations. She’s leading a webinar on accessible travel and self-advocacy, empowering others with the knowledge and confidence to demand better.
Emily’s approach extends into her art, where she constructs the concept of accessibility through photography, photomontage, printmaking, sculpture, and installation. Through collage, Emily builds places where exclusion does not exist, turning the very barrier that obstruct into the medium through which she challenges their existence.
“I reject the principles of which that keep me excluded,” she wrote in her powerful artist statement, words that inform her work, advocacy, and everyday life.
Emily is many things – an artist, an athlete, an activist. But, above all, she is a force of change. Emily isn’t just imagining a more accessible world; she is part of the movement to build it.
