In the early 1970s, a group of like-minded young persons with a disability in the city of Thunder Bay created the city’s first disability rights organization, called the Handicapped Action Group Incorporated (HAGI). These disabled young people were aided by the Lakehead Rehabilitation Centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Lakehead Social Planning Council.

HAGI was incorporated in 1975, with the appropriate organizational framework and Board of Directors needed for this movement.

By the early 1980s, HAGI had built relationships and connections with community and political leaders, becoming the main local and regional organization for disability advocacy.

Today, HAGIs primary function is to provide barrier free housing facilities, thus enabling physically challenged individuals the freedom to make independent choices about their lifestyle. HAGI’s 2 housing locations are modified to enable people with disabilities to perform day-to-day functions that many people take for granted.