Let’s talk about the 2 important cards that disabled residents of YYT should have in our wallets – the City of St. John’s Attendant Pass and the Easter Seals Access 2 Card. These cards will definitely be helpful to you if you’re disabled and need someone with you when attending events or visiting public places. As a mobility aid user who doesn’t drive and who needs help with a variety of different things throughout my day, especially when away from the safety of my home, these cards have been a game changer for me.
The City of St. John’s Attendant Pass
An Attendant Pass enables an attendant or support worker to accompany an individual requiring support to activities and/or events for free or at a discounted rate determined by the accepting venues. Participating venues include: Arts & Culture Centre, City of St. John’s facilities and events, Mary Brown’s Centre, Metrobus, The Rooms and The Works/Aquarena.
Just because a facility isn’t on the list doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t accept the card so it’s good to get in touch beforehand to see if the place you’re going might accept this pass.
How to Apply for the Attendant Pass
There is an application form here on St.Johns.ca that you can fill out with the help of a medical professional, social worker or representative of a disability agency. My form was completed with the help of my Occupational Therapist. When submitting this form you also have to include a photo that can be printed on the card. There is no application fee.
You can submit the application:
- by e-mail: inclusion@stjohns.ca
- in person: Recreation Administration Office, 1 Crosbie Place
- by mail: Inclusion and Accessibility, P.O. Box 908, St. John’s, NL, A1c 5M2
Easter Seals Access2 Card
Similarly to the City of St. John’s Attendant Pass, the Access2 card gives you free admission to an attendant or support worker, but this card is valid across Canada in many different participating venues. On their website you can click on provinces and cities within each province to view all the participating venues across Canada.
Some of the participating venues in St. John’s include: Cineplex, Johnson GeoCentre, WallNuts, Newman Wine Vaults, The LSPU Hall and more.
Other participating venues across Newfoundland and Labrador:
Bonavista: Cape Bonavista Lighthouse & Mockbeggar Plantation
Boyd’s Cove: Beothuk Interpretation Centre
Cupids: Cupids Cove Plantation
Gander: North Atlantic Aviation Museum
Heart’s Content: Heart’s Content Cable Station
L’Anse-Amour: Point Amour Lighthouse
Trinity: Hiscock House, Mercantile Premises, Trinity Visitor Centre
If you work for a venue that would like to become a participating venue for the Access2 card you can check out more info about that by clicking here.
How to Apply for the Access2 Card
In order to be eligible for this card you must have a permanent disability and be in need of a support person (who is at least 18 years of age) when visiting participating venues.
There is an online application form that you can fill out by clicking here and there is a section of the form that needs to be completed by a healthcare professional. The website provides details about which healthcare professionals you could ask to fill out the form.
There is an application fee of $20 for a card valid for 3 years and a fee of $30 for a card valid for 5 years. When renewing your card you don’t need to fill out the healthcare authorization section again.
You can submit your application:
- by email: access2card@easterseals.ca
- by fax: 416-932-9844
- by mail: 40 Holly Street, Suite 401, Toronto ON, M4S 3C3
This blog post is for educational purposes only. I am not affiliated with either the City of St. John’s or Easter Seals. If you have any questions about the application process for either the Attendant Pass or the Access2 card please reach out directly to someone who works for the City of St. John’s or Easter Seals at the links provided above.
