CALGARY -- As millions of cell phones across Canada gather dust after their owners upgraded to newer models, the CNIB Foundation offers a way for people to donate their phones, get a tax break, and help people with blindness or vision loss.

Only 46 per cent  of Canadians living with blindness own a smartphone.

"A lot of people who are blind don't have access to smartphones because of unemployment rates being so high. It's hard for them to have access to a smartphone," said Leanna Smashnuk, a program specialist with Phone It Forward. "We're hearing stories about how these phones are changing people's lives and giving them back their independence."

Donors can simply drop their old phone into a supplied, prepaid envelope and the CNIB program takes care of the rest. Broken screen? No problem. Phone it forward will fix the screen and return the phone to usable condition though it will diminish the amount of the tax receipt, which is based on the resale value of the old phone.

One person who found new independence through smartphone technology is Meaghan Hargrave, whose vision loss started when her retina detached at age nine.

"It completely changed my life," said Hargrave of the phone.

While Hargrave has several accessibility apps installed on her phone the two she uses most often are Microsoft’s Seeing AI and AIRA.

Seeing AI (presently available only on IOS) uses the iPhone camera to read documents aloud, and can identify everything from what a room looks like, or what a person nearby looks like, to the type and denomination of currency, or even the colour of clothing the user is wearing, a function Hargrave uses a lot.

"(For example) it can tell me I have black pants instead of blue," explained Hargrave. "It's so important. Especially, you know, you're going out or you're going to work or you're going to a social event, you know, you've got to look decent."

AIRA puts her in contact with a sighted person on the other end of a video call. The sighted person helps her navigate her environment, right down to helping her pick items off the shelf in a store.

"I’ve gone to Shoppers (Drug Mart) with them before and said I’m looking for this bodywash, or toothpaste, and they’ll say 'Go to your left about three feet. It looks like Crest or it looks like Colgate, or whatever. It’s amazing."

Recipients of the donated phones also receiving training on how to use the new technology

"Every client is different when it comes to their eye condition. And the way they use their phone once they master it," said Ali Khalil, innovation and technology program lead with the CNIB. "We kind of create a lesson plan on how to kind of integrate it into their day to day process."

Khalil advises potential donors to wipe their phones by resetting them to factory settings and removing the SIM card before mailing them in.

If requested the CNIB will also send a security report back to donors detailing the steps taken to further ensure all data is erased.

Donation envelopes can be picked up at one of four Calgary locations:

  • The Edison Building - 150 9th Ave S.W.
  • Sun Life Plaza -112 4th Ave S.W.
  • Palliser South building 125 9th Ave S.W.
  • The CNIB - 10 11A St N.E.

Or can be requested online from Phoneitforward