top of page

Our Mission

To raise awareness and provide education while working toward a community of

INCLUSION FOR ALL

to live, work and play in a barrier-free community

Caricatures are persons with vision loss, mobility limitations, deafness/hard of hearing, and mental illness/challenges

The Access Oceanside Association

Board of Directors

Photo of Sandra Hobson, Chair of the AOA

Sandra Hobson, Chair

Sandra Hobson is Professor Emerita in the School of Occupational Therapy at Western University (London, Ontario).  She also holds an Adjunct Faculty appointment at Pacific Coast University, where she teaches workplace health and disability management.  She was the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the Belarusian State Medical University for her work there. She is a life member of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. She has both a personal and professional interest in access issues. She sits on Parksville’s Advisory Design Panel, the board of Inclusion Parksville Society, and serves as chair of Accessible Oceanside Association.

Ralph.jpg

Ralph (Olaf) Tietjen,  Secretary/Treasurer

A resident of Parksville since 2017 and retired Airline Manager, the challenges faced by disabled persons became clear when his wife became an amputee in 2019.

He has since learned much about navigating the resources available to disabled persons and became interested in lobbying local governments and businesses to make their services and physical premises more accessible for all to enjoy.

maureen.jpg

Maureen Pilcher, Recording Secretary

A long time resident of Coombs, has recently retired from her Land Use consulting business, and is now working with AOA to ensure inclusivity and accessibility for those who are “differently abled”.  Maureen is also actively pursuing accessible transportation options for Area F residents with mobility challenges. (Handi-Dart)

Photo of Joyce Tyerman holding a lovely bouquet of flowers she got for her birthday.  Photo is placed on top of photo of a sunset over the ocean.

Report an Issue

See an access issue in your local community or in and around the Oceanside area? 

 

We want to know about it.  Click the link below to send us a message and we'll get our team of volunteers to have a look.

Together, with your help we will work to making our community accessible for all.

Did you know?

Qualicum Beach is a town in Oceanside that has Canada's oldest population.

According to a 2011 census more than 47 percent of the population was

65 or older.

Did you know?

The number of people in B.C. who identify as living with a disability is almost equal to the population of Vancouver Island?

Approximately

750,000 People

3D stick people all in a crowd, all look the same except for one who is green in color holding up his hand.

Did you know?

There are approximately 4.4 million people with disabilities in Canada, 60 million people in Europe with disabilities and 700 million people worldwide with disabilities.

3D representation of a stick man looking at a globe of the earth
bottom of page