What to know
- The Pauldo family launched the initiative to encourage homeowners to set up accessible treat stations at the end of their driveways.
- Nearly a decade later, the movement has reached more than 300,000 participating homes across Canada.
- Treat Accessibly encourages homeowners to offer non-edible treats and use lawn signs to signal that their homes welcome children with mobility, sensory and neurological disabilities.
- The family’s goal is to grow the initiative to one million participating homes by 2032.
- Siena says her experience with the initiative has inspired her to pursue architectural engineering so she can help eliminate accessibility barriers in everyday spaces.
For a lot of children in Canada, Halloween is about dressing up, knocking on neighbours’ doors and collecting candy. But for some kids with disabilities, something as simple as a flight of stairs can stand between them and joining in the fun.
That’s the barrier one Canadian family set out to change in 2017, after their five-year-old daughter Siena asked her dad how a young boy using a wheelchair would be able to trick-or-treat at their house, which had stairs leading up to the front porch.
Rather than let children like the boy miss out, the next year, the Pauldo family decided to bring Halloween to him.
“We decided to make a sign and set up a treat station at the end of our driveway, so the family could participate like everyone else,” Siena Pauldo, now 15, told Now Toronto.
That small gesture sparked what would become Treat Accessibly, a growing national movement encouraging Canadians to make their homes and neighbourhoods more welcoming to children with disabilities. Nearly a decade later, the initiative has recruited more than 300,000 participating homes across Canada, helping thousands of trick-or-treaters and their parents experience a more accessible Halloween.
Treat Accessibly’s work has expanded beyond individual driveways, reaching communities across the country through its annual Halloween campaigns and large-scale neighbourhood celebrations. The movement has also attracted support from mayors and ministers across Canada, who have attended events and backed the family’s vision of making Halloween the world’s first fully inclusive holiday.
The family’s long-term goal is to grow from more than 300,000 participating homes in 2026 to one million by 2032, representing a home for every child with a disability in Canada.
Making Halloween accessible, one driveway at a time
The idea behind Treat Accessibly is straightforward: children navigating mobility issues shouldn’t have to navigate physical barriers to enjoy a neighbourhood Halloween tradition, as climbing stairs to reach a front door can make trick-or-treating difficult or impossible. Other children may experience sensory or neurological disabilities that make traditional Halloween activities more challenging.
The movement encourages homeowners to set up a treat station at the end of their driveway, allowing children to collect candy without having to climb stairs or enter a home, while a lawn sign acts as the initiative’s “bat symbol”, signalling to families that a home is accessible and welcomes trick-or-treaters with disabilities.
“It shares with the community that you’re accessible for mobility, sensory, and neurological disabilities,” Siena’s father, Chris, explained.
He shared that those looking to get involved can get a sign from Pet Value family stores for free. Additionally, the Pauldos encourage people giving out candy to go with Kinder, as the brand features the Treat Accessibly logo on the bags throughout the season. They also encourage homeowners to offer non-edible treats, such as pencils and erasers, giving children with different needs and preferences an opportunity to participate.
Chris explained that seeing one home participate can encourage neighbouring households to do the same.
“It’s positively infectious, and it ensures that every child knows they’re welcome.”
Accessibility beyond Halloween
In addition to improving accessibility on Halloween, the initiative also wants accessibility to become something children learn about early in life, rather than something communities only consider when a barrier becomes impossible to ignore.
“We want you to also start thinking about accessibility,” Chris said. “One of the benefits of doing that is that as we age, everyone will eventually identify with a disability. So we want to create awareness within the next generation about accessible inclusion as early as possible, so they can take care of us one day when they’re building the roads, the buildings, the homes.”
He hopes that teaching children about accessible inclusion will influence how future generations approach designing roads, buildings and homes, ensuring accessibility is considered from the beginning.
“Let’s ensure that they think about universal and accessible design.”
From raising awareness to changing the way things are designed
Siena shared that the experience has also influenced their future ambitions. She says being part of Treat Accessibly has changed how they see the world, making them more aware of the barriers people encounter in everyday spaces.
“I hope to go into architectural engineering because from my experience with Treat Accessibly, I look at the world differently and I see barriers in daily life differently,” she explained. “I want to be able to change those in spaces from the get-go.”
As the movement prepares for another Halloween, the Pauldo family hopes Canadians will recognize that creating an inclusive holiday doesn’t require a massive undertaking. Sometimes, it starts with moving a bowl of candy to the end of a driveway.
For those looking to get involved, the family encourages Canadians to follow Treat Accessibly on Instagram, where sharing and reposting the campaign can help spread the message to more neighbourhoods.
“Traditions are meant to be shared with open hearts,” Chris shared.
