Biography

Mark DeMontis is one of Canada’s leading accessibility strategist. He has a unique perspective as someone who has experienced life both with and without sight and has over 15-years’ experience making brands and public and private spaces more accessible for consumers and workers with disabilities. 

After losing his NHL dream unexpectedly at 17 from sudden sight loss, Mark established Canadian Blind Hockey which offers programming and competitions for Canadians Who are blind and partially sighted of all ages, and has inline skated for over 8,000 kilometres to raise money for the cause. 

Mark helps brands to unlock the global disability consumer market. He has worked as a senior disability and accessibility advisor to the Premier of Ontario, and some of Canada’s top brands including the NHL, Tim Horton’s and Lululemon. 

As the Chief Accessibility Officer at The Substance Group, he helps organizations to harness the potential of the eight million Canadians with disabilities, or more than ¼ of the population. From brand and organizational audits to strategies and pathways, his focus is on moving companies beyond fulfilling compliance obligations to embracing accessibility as a business driver.

“Understanding and accommodating Canadians with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do. This untapped consumer market is calling for brands to pay attention to them. Those that do will be rewarded with lifelong loyalty.” 

Mark travels across North America speaking to audiences, sharing his story and offering insights on rethinking disability as an opportunity to build brand audience and reputation and increase profits. His story has been featured in The Globe and Mail, Hockey Night in Canada, CTV W5 and TSN’s Breaking Down Barriers and he is a recipient of the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award for his volunteer work.

For media and speaker inquiries, please contact Andrea Chrysanthou at andrea@thesubstancegroup.com