Your Quebec Partner forSince 1979, Kéroul has strived to make tourism and culture more accessible to persons with limited physical ability. The organization offers tourist information services, as well as consulting, training and research services for businesses. Recognized worldwide for its unique expertise, Kéroul is also part of several associations and its representatives are involved in a number of advisory boards and working groups.
The organization Roulbec is founded and, in 1979, becomes Kéroul (a blend of Québec—or kébek—and roule, from the French verb rouler, meaning to roll, drive or wheel). With this initiative, André Leclerc hopes to persuade the tourism and transportation industries to offer accessible tourist services and encourage persons with disabilities to travel.
From the very start, many people pitch in, believing in Kéroul's mission: Lyne Ménard, Hélène Tardif, Louis Jolin, Daniel Côté, Normand Dulude, Réjean Frenette, Paul Rioux, Léo Bellerive, Maurice Blais, Michèle Côté, Michel Trudel, Ines Gonzales, Lynda Chabot, Jacinthe Dumoulin, Michel Carpentier, Claude Martin and countless others—including all those who have earned a Mention Kéroul award—work hard to make Kéroul a success.
The organization's activity sectors are established, i.e. promotion and lobbying, research, training and information (1980).
Kéroul organizes the Journées québécoises du tourisme pour les personnes handicapées (1981, 1982 and 1983).
Kéroul sets up Accès Plein Air (1987): offered eight years in a row, this program features recreational tourist activities for persons with disabilities organized by Kéroul in collaboration with ten sports and leisure organizations, including the Québec Sailing Federation, the Société québécoise de spéléologie, Scouts Canada and the Fédération motocycliste du Québec. The program's impact is substantial.
Minister Yvon Picotte recognizes Kéroul as the chief consultant to Tourisme Québec concerning persons with limited physical ability (1987).
Kéroul produces a number of publications, including seven issues of the travel guide Le Québec accessible.
Kéroul organizes hospitality services for 300 disabled persons from around the world for the Independence '92 international congressin Vancouver, the closing event for the Decade of Disabled Persons.
The organization trains the trainers and 10,000 employees at Air Canada (1994).
Measures to improve the accessibility of new buildings are incorporated into the Québec Construction Code (1995), including the requirement that 10% of hotel establishments' rooms be accessible.
Kéroul organizes interministerial meetings hosted by the Secretary General of the Conseil exécutif: Michel Carpentier (1998) and Michel Noël de Tilly (1999).
A partnership is established with CAA-Québec to develop accessible tourist routes across Canada (1996–2000).
Kéroul hosts the International Adapted Tourism Symposium in Montréal (2000), which is attended by delegations from Peru, Costa Rica, France and the United States.
Accessibility and training criteria for accommodating disabled and elderly people are given consideration in the Programme qualité for the tourist industry.
The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Tourism Working Group mandates Kéroul with identifying the best practices in accessible tourism (2001).
Kéroul holds a regional tour and reunion to mark its 25th anniversary (2004).
Kéroul organizes interministerial meetings hosted by the Secretary General of the Conseil exécutif: André Dicaire (2004), Gérard Bibeau (2007 and 2010) and Jean Saint-Gelais (2013).
Disabled persons are acknowledged as a clientele in the tourism policy of Québec's Ministère du Tourisme (2005).
Major studies into the economic impact of disabled persons in the tourist and cultural markets are conducted (1995, 2001 and 2011).
The Accessible Road (2005), an essential resource for travellers with disabilities, is developed. Available in hard copy and online at www.larouteaccessible.com, the guide is the brainchild of Louis Jolin, who says the idea came to him after attending an advisory board meeting.
A network of regional ambassadors is set up and a regional tour is held (2005–2007).
Kéroul's educational training program gets a facelift (2006).
The first Déclaration québécoise concernant l'accessibilité au tourisme pour toutes les personnes ayant une incapacité (2007) is drafted, and numerous organizations sign on in the years.
A campaign urging people to share bike paths with others, including people in wheelchairs, is launched (2009).
Kéroul is invited to speak at the III International Congress on Tourism for All, in Valladolid, Spain, to present The Accessible Road (2010).
Kéroul receives the 2011 United Nations World Tourism Organization's Ulysses Award for Innovation for The Accessible Road, in Portugal (2011).
The Régie du bâtiment du Québec issues a statement indicating that the provisions of the Code de construction du Québec concerning hotel accessibility also extend to hotel condominiums (2011).
Accessibility issues are given consideration in the Tourisme Québec's Plan de développement de l'industrie touristique 2012-2020 (2012).
The Office des personnes handicapées du Québec awards Kéroul its À part entière prize (2012).
For more information, see the section International Expertise.
Kéroul is the contraction of Québec and roule (the French word for roll or wheel).
Genuine, energetic, driven, hard-working… André Leclerc is both a dedicated activist and an accomplished businessman. As someone who has been living with cerebral palsy all his life, he has been dealt his fair share of prejudice, but he has nevertheless remained determined to fight it.
That determination is indeed the most striking thing about André Leclerc. Born in Saguenay, and having spent his teens in Sept-Îles and Port-Cartier, André Leclerc left the family nest very early on to spread his wings. André Leclerc had a dream: he wanted to go on a long trip that would take him from Montréal to California, then to Mexico, then back to Quebec via Florida, all this while hitchhiking! In order to combine business with pleasure, he proposed a project to visit persons in the United States who work with disabled persons in order to explore what is being done about their integration and compare it to the Québec approach. Having watched him pull himself around in spite of his handicap since he was just a little boy, his family gave him its full support.
After spending some time in Québec City learning to feed, dress and take care of himself, Leclerc took Montréal by storm. Upon arriving there, he was forced to live in the only place he could find that could accommodate a wheelchair... a seniors residence! That is, until six months later, when he managed to convince the superintendent of the Centre de réadaptation Lucie-Bruneau to let him take up residence there. His room at this rehab facility would later serve as Kéroul's very first headquarters, after the idea came to him like a bolt out of the blue.
One of his major influences, the rehab centre's general manager Jacques Gilles Laberge, firmly believed that travelling is educational for young people and is one of the keys to furthering disabled persons' inclusion in society. Bear in mind that, in those days, most handicapped people lived in institutions and were thus extremely marginalized. André Leclerc was even stopped by police and taken down to the station for trying to hitch a ride, when, back then, there were hitchhikers his age all over Québec's roads. The officers thought he had escaped from an institution... that was what it was like in 1976.
Even though he knew there was lots of work to do, nothing could stop André Leclerc. Now in his early twenties, he decided to start his research with travelling. Beginning with him hitching rides between Montréal and Chicoutimi, it was a journey he hoped would take him all the way to the United States, so that he could see what was being done there in terms of integration, and compare it with Québec's practices.
On home soil and abroad, his travels only confirmed his initial theory: yes, travelling does foster openness, which helps fight prejudice; yes, the subsectors of the tourist industry are numerous and encompass the accessibility of buildings, buses, trains, taxis, airplanes, restaurants, hotels, camp grounds, hostels, etc.—making the industry the perfect arena to promote integration; and, yes, there was a tremendous amount of work to be done!
André Leclerc still heads Kéroul to this day. Over the years, the organization has gained international acclaim for its expertise, and its founder now proudly relies on a small, yet devoted team to provide tourist information services, as well as consulting, training and research services for businesses. Kéroul is also part of several associations and its representatives are involved in a number of advisory boards and working groups.
Things have come a long way since Kéroul was founded in 1979, but the work is far from over. André Leclerc makes no bones about it: "With an aging population, mobility will become an important issue in the coming years." Many are impressed with Leclerc's achievements, but no one is more astounded than the man himself. After all, he is the father of two grown children and he has never stopped believing in his dreams, whether personal or professional. In addition to his career endeavours, he also has plans for a biography and a movie. Interestingly, he even helped comedian Jean-Marc Parent write a bit on disabled people.
André Leclerc has always known exactly where he wanted to take Kéroul, and never once did he question its importance. "Believing is imperative," he says. It has been a lengthy battle, one he still fighting, to turn Québec into the benchmark for accessible tourist destinations! And winning that battle may be easier said than done, since it requires convincing as many people as possible from the tourist and transportation industry to offer adapted services.
Picture of André
2012 Prix À Part entière! from the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec
2007 Ambassadors, Palais des congrès de Montréal
2004 Semaine nationale des transports Award of Achievement, Québec
2003 Ambassadeur AeGTH, Université du Québec à Montréal
2001 Prix de la personnalité de l'année 2001, Grands Prix du tourisme québécois, Québec
2001 Recipient of the Murray Award granted by the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (SATH), United States
2000 Les 100 personnes qui font bouger le Québec, week of June 15 2000, L'Express, international edition, France
1996 Prix des Droits et Libertés de la personne, Commission des droits et libertés de la personne et de la jeunesse, Québec
1996 Personnalité La Presse, week of 15 December, La Presse, Québec
1992 Recipient of the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation, Canada
1991 Prix W.M.F. Macklaier, Association québécoise de la paralysie cérébrale, Québec