2026 to 2029 Accessibility Plan

Introduction

We are proud to be publishing the Canada Water Agency’s (the Agency) first accessibility plan, as required by the Accessible Canada Act (ACA). This plan demonstrates our commitment to accessibility, and our work to continuously identify, remove, and prevent barriers for persons with disabilities. We will prepare and publish a new accessibility plan every three years. We will also publish progress reports that outline the progress we will make on the actions and commitments we are making through this plan.

We understand the importance of engaging with people with disabilities directly and to learn from their lived experiences when interacting with our organization. The development of this plan has been informed by consultations with persons with disabilities. Accessibility is a shared responsibility and is essential in building an organization that is inclusive and barrier-free.

How to use this document

The first part of this document is a simplified summary of the actions we plan to take to remove barriers at the Agency. The rest of the document has more detailed descriptions of the barriers we have found and our plans to remove them.

You can read the summary only, the entire plan, or only read the sections that are most relevant to you.

If you need this document in a different format, please find out how to ask for Alternative formats.

Definitions and terms

The following definitions and terms are used in this accessibility plan:

Accessibility: The design of products, devices, services, environments, technologies, policies and rules in a way that allows all people, including people with a variety of disabilities, to access them.

Barrier: Anything that might hinder people with disabilities’ full and equal participation. Barriers can be architectural, technological, attitudinal, based on information or communications, or can be the result of a policy or procedure.

Disability: Any impairment, or difference in physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, or communication ability. Disabilities can be permanent, temporary, or can change over time. Disabilities can also be fluctuating, which means that the symptoms or functional limitations the person experiences are not constant.

Memorandum of understanding: A type of agreement between two or more parties.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat: A federal agency that acts as the administrative arm of the Treasury Board. It provides guidance to help departments effectively implement government policies and priorities.

Environment and Climate Change Canada: A federal agency that is responsible for environmental policies, protecting nature and providing weather forecasting. The Agency is collocated with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and ECCC provides the IT infrastructure to the Agency.  

Parole Board of Canada: is an independent administrative tribunal, part of the Canadian criminal justice system. Currently, the Agency has an agreement with the Parole Board of Canada who provides procurement services to the Agency.

Summary of this accessibility plan

This section provides a short summary of the Agency’s accessibility plan. To make our plan, we reviewed our policies, programs, practices and services to identify barriers for people with disabilities. We also consulted with employees who have disabilities.

Summary of the Accessible Canada Act

The Accessible Canada Act is a law that outlines accessibility requirements for federal organizations.  The Act requires organizations like the Agency to publish an accessibility plan every three years. Accessibility plans must be created through consultation with people with disabilities.

To develop this plan, we examined our policies, programs, practices and services to identify barriers or potential barriers for people with disabilities and make plans to remove them. We did this for seven priority areas that are laid out by the Accessible Canada Act. Those seven areas are:

• Employment
• The built environment
• Information and communication technologies (ICT)
• Communication, other than information and communication technologies
• The procurement of goods, services and facilities
• The design and delivery of programs and services
• Transportation

Summary of our organization

The Canada Water Agency (the Agency) is a federal government agency that reports to the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature. We have a mandate to improve freshwater management in Canada by providing leadership, effective collaboration federally, and improved coordination and collaboration with provinces, territories, and Indigenous peoples to proactively address national and regional transboundary freshwater challenges and opportunities.

For more information about the Agency, please visit our website at this link: Canada Water Agency

Summary of what we heard from people with disabilities

We consulted with employees who have disabilities using a virtual survey and a focus group meeting facilitated by an external accessibility consulting firm. We received a total of 65 responses to the survey, and six employees participated in the focus group meeting.  

The key barriers that were found during the employee consultations were related to the workplace accommodations process, working in the office instead of at home, and disclosing one’s disability in the workplace.

To learn more about what we heard from persons with disabilities, see the Consultations section of this accessibility plan.

Summary of our plans to improve accessibility

Here are the actions we’re taking in the next three years to improve accessibility.

Summary of actions for employment

Go to the Employment section to learn more about these plans.

Summary of actions for the built environment

Go to the Built environment section to learn more about these plans.

Summary of actions for information and communication technologies

Go to the Information and communication technologies section to learn more about these plans.

Summary of actions for communication, other than information and communication technologies

Go to the Communication section to learn more about these plans.

Summary of actions for the procurement of goods, services, and facilities

Go to the Procurement section to learn more about these plans.

Summary of actions for the design and delivery of programs and services

Go to the Programs and services section to learn more about these plans.

Summary of actions for transportation

Go to Transportation section to learn more about these plans.

General

About the Canada Water Agency

The Canada Water Agency (the Agency) is a federal government agency that reports to the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Nature and is part of the environment portfolio. We have a mandate to improve freshwater management in Canada by providing leadership, effective collaboration federally, and improved coordination and collaboration with provinces, territories, and Indigenous peoples to proactively address national and regional transboundary freshwater challenges and opportunities.

The Agency became a stand-alone agency in October 2024. As a new agency, we are still setting up our processes and systems, and we receive some support and services from other government departments and agencies.

What we do

We deliver on key elements of the Freshwater Action Plan to:

• improve freshwater outcomes
• restore, protect, and manage waterbodies of national significance
• improve freshwater quality

We also:

• provide policy leadership on approaches to freshwater challenges and opportunities
• make it easier for Canadians to find freshwater resources
• promote collaboration with other levels of government and other countries
• provide opportunities and funding to support Indigenous inclusion and participation in freshwater activities
• report regularly on the state of freshwater quality, quantity, availability and use in Canada
• support the development of the National Freshwater Data Strategy in collaboration with key partners and stakeholders.
• advance the development of a National Water Security Strategy

For more information about the Agency please visit our website at this link: Canada Water Agency

About the Accessible Canada Act

The Accessible Canada Act is a law that intends to reduce barriers for persons with disabilities. This law has a goal to make Canada barrier-free by 2040. This is the Agency’s first accessibility plan that outlines what we will do help achieve this goal. The Accessible Canada Act requires organizations to identify barriers for people with disabilities in seven priority areas and then make plans to remove or prevent those barriers. Accessibility plans should also be developed through consultations with people with disabilities. We consulted people with disabilities when creating this plan.

In future years, we will publish progress reports that describe our progress in addressing the barriers that we have identified and improving accessibility for our employees and stakeholders.  

Feedback

The Agency welcomes feedback from our employees; provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners; stakeholders, and members of the public. You can give feedback about this accessibility plan and any barriers to accessibility you have encountered when interacting with the Agency. The person responsible for receiving and storing feedback about accessibility at the Agency is the Director General, Freshwater Management

You can choose to include your name and contact information when you provide feedback, or you can choose to remain anonymous. If you submit feedback and don’t want to remain anonymous, we will respond in the same way that you communicated with us to acknowledge we received your feedback.

What we do with your feedback

We will review your feedback and develop a plan to address it. Depending on the feedback, we may be able to address it right away or we may need to consider it in our longer-term planning.

A summary of the feedback we receive will be included in our annual progress reports. We will keep a record of your feedback for at least seven years. We’ll keep your feedback and contact information (if you choose to share it) confidential.

Alternative formats

You can request a copy of this plan, or our feedback process, in an alternative format if needed. The formats that we can provide upon request are:

• Print (we will mail a copy to you)
• Large print (we will mail a copy with larger text to you)

Request for print or large print formats will be provided within 15 days.

• Braille (a system of raised dots that people who are blind or who have low vision can read with their fingers)
• Audio (a recording of someone reading the text out loud)

Requests for Braille or audio formats will be provided within 45 days.

How to contact the Canada Water Agency

To provide feedback about accessibility, or request an alternative format, you can contact us in any of the following ways. The person responsible for receiving and storing feedback is the Director General, Freshwater Management.

Mail:
Canada Water Agency
510-234 Donald Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 1M8
Canada

Email: accessibility-accessibilite@cwa-aec.gc.ca

Phone: 905-220-0593

Consultations

As part of our accessibility plan development we consulted with persons with disabilities to help us identify barriers and solutions to improve accessibility at the Agency. We consulted our employees through an accessible online survey and an optional employee focus group. These activities and what we learned are further described below.

Employee accessibility survey

The employee accessibility survey was open for responses between March 2-16, 2026. We asked employees to answer the following questions:

• Are you a person with a disability?
• Have you experienced or observed any barriers to accessibility in your time at the Agency?
  If so, please describe them. Consider the ways information is shared at the Agency, the employee onboarding process, any digital tools that you use in your work, how employees get to the office, etc.
• In your view, what is the workplace culture like in relation to disability and accessibility? Are these topics that are openly discussed and/or considered at the Agency?
• What could the Agency do to improve accessibility for employees with disabilities?
• Would you like to be contacted to further discuss accessibility at the Agency?
  If so, please provide your name and email.

A total of 65 employees completed the survey, representing about 30% of our total workforce. Of the 65 people who responded, 42% identified as having a disability.

Employee focus group

Employees were given the opportunity to participate in a focus group meeting about accessibility at the Agency. Five employees participated in this focus, which was held on March 25, 2026. The focus group was facilitated by an external consulting firm, and participants were asked to keep the discussion confidential. At the focus group, employees were asked some of the following questions:

• Can you describe your experience as an Agency employee with a disability?
• Have you experienced any barriers while working for the Agency?
• Have you ever felt like you couldn’t participate in the Agency’s activities or tasks because of your disability?
• What do you think the Agency is doing well in terms of accessibility?
• What do you think the Agency should prioritise in the future that would improve accessibility at the organisation?

What we heard

Employees reported similar feedback through the employee accessibility survey and focus group. Some of the barriers that our employees identified during these consultations are summarized below.

• The accommodations process can be slow and hard to understand. Sometimes employees must wait a long time to receive accommodations. Not all managers are knowledgeable about how to use the federal government’s Workplace Accessibility Passport to support employees.
• The rules about working in-office, instead of at home, can create barriers for some employees with disabilities.
• Many of the buildings in which the Agency operates are older and do not always meet modern standards for built-environment accessibility.
• Audio visual equipment in meeting rooms is not always up-to-date or doesn’t function well, which can create barriers for employees with hearing disabilities.
• Communications, such as agency-wide emails and other written materials, are heavily text-based and often use highly complex language.
• Hybrid meetings can present barriers for employees with hearing disabilities, especially when the sound quality is poor and captions are not enabled or stop functioning. This can be particularly challenging when meetings are happening in both English and French.
• Managers don’t always have the knowledge or decision-making power needed to support employees with disabilities.
• Some employees shared concerns about disclosing that they have a disability to their managers or colleagues. There are concerns that if they disclose, people might treat them differently.

We used the information that we learned through these consultations to help us shape this accessibility plan. We will focus our efforts in the next few years on addressing the barriers we have learned about and preventing future barriers.

Barriers and our plans to remove them

The following sections of this plan are organized around the priority areas that are set out in the Accessible Canada Act. Those priority areas are:

• Employment
• The built environment
• Information and communication technologies (ICT)
• Communication, other than information and communication technologies
• The procurement of goods, services and facilities
• The design and delivery of programs and services
• Transportation

For each section below we will start with a brief introduction. We will then list the barriers that we have identified, followed by an explanation of our plans to remove the barriers.

Employment

The Agency currently has over 200 employees across Canada. Most employees work on a hybrid arrangement (meaning that they work both from home and from an office location). There is a headquarter office in Winnipeg, Manitoba and regional offices in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Yellowknife, Toronto, Burlington, Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, Moncton and Dartmouth.

Identified barriers

• The Agency’s process to request and receive accommodations is not always clear, and it can take a long time. Employees who have made a request are not always told how long they should be expecting to wait and must sometimes work without accommodations for long periods of time while the request is being processed.
• Some employees with disabilities experience barriers that stem from the rules about working in office instead of at home. This is a requirement across all Canada public service employees, but it can create barriers for people with fluctuating disabilities, or people with attention, concentration and hearing related disabilities.
• Some employees are reluctant to disclose that they have a disability because they are unsure about the organization’s approach to disability and accessibility.
• The Government of Canada Workplace Accessibility Passport is used inconsistently. Not all managers are familiar with the Passport and how to use it.
• Employee onboarding materials are not consistently accessible.

Our plans to remove barriers

• The Agency will continue to provide information to employees and managers about the Duty to Accommodate.
• The Agency will increase accessibility and disability awareness among management and employees through information sharing.
• On an ongoing basis, the Agency will expand the available resources and information about disability and accessibility on our internal website for employees.
• The Agency will continue to share information and updates related to the Government of Canada Workplace Accessibility passport with our employees and managers.
• By June 1, 2029, the Agency will conduct a review of our onboarding and training materials to identify accessibility barriers. Based on this review, we will update the onboarding and training materials, as needed.

The built environment

The Agency has a headquarter office in Winnipeg, Manitoba and thirteen (13) regional offices. The regional offices are in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Yellowknife, Toronto, Burlington, Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, Moncton and Dartmouth. Our offices are not open to the public.

Our office spaces are co-located with Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Agency works with Environment and Climate Change Canada to address any issues in our facilities and offices.

Identified barriers

• The Agency’s head office in Winnipeg was built recently and, therefore, has many modern accessibility features. However, some regional offices are housed in older buildings that were not built with modern accessibility practices in mind.
• Some of the audio and visual equipment that is used in our office spaces is outdated and does not work consistently or as intended. Employees have reported that poor speaker quality, malfunctioning microphones, and poor room acoustics can make it difficult to hear conversations and presentations. This can create barriers for employees with hearing-related disabilities.

Our plans to remove barriers

• The Agency will work in collaboration with the Environment and Climate Change Canada facilities team to continuously identify accessibility barriers in our built environment and remove them. Environment and Climate Change Canada is conducting an accessibility audit of the office spaces, including identifying audio and visual equipment that needs to be updated. This audit is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2027. The Agency will support this effort.

Information and communication technologies (ICT)

The Agency uses a variety of technologies. This includes the organizational website, social media channel and internal platforms and websites that are only used by our employees.

Environment and Climate Change Canada supports the Agency by providing essential information and communication technologies services. The Agency is committed to collaborating with Environment and Climate Change Canada to address any concerns that arise with the accessibility of the technologies that we use.

Identified barriers

• The Agency’s platform for internal communications was not designed with accessibility in mind. This means that there could be accessibility barriers.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada provides IT services for the Agency. To guide this provision of services, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (a written agreement) that outlines how these services are to be provided. Currently, the Memorandum of Understanding does not include information about accessibility, such as how Agency employees can request or receive adaptive technologies.

Our plans to remove barriers

• The Agency will be updating the platform that we use for internal communications with a new one. We will prioritize accessibility in the design of the new platform
• The Agency will continue assessing our current technologies and systems to identify accessibility barriers. We hope to complete these assessments by March 31, 2029. After these assessments, we will develop a plan to monitor our systems and address accessibility barriers on an ongoing basis.
• The Agency will work with Environment and Climate Change Canada to build in accessibility considerations into information and technology related Memorandums of Understanding.

Communication, other than information and communication technologies

The Agency communicates with employees, stakeholders, and the public in multiple ways. We communicate with the public via e-mail, news releases, social media, and through our public facing website. Our employees communicate with each other and with external stakeholders via the phone, e-mail, in-person meetings, virtual meetings, and our internal websites. Some of our communication is highly technical and designed for specialised and expert audiences, but other forms of communication, like the information we provide on our public facing website, is designed for the public and we strive to make it accessible for everyone.

Identified barriers

• Some employees in our communications department have knowledge about how to create accessible documents and plain language communications.  However, other teams or employees may not have this knowledge and may not have the resources needed to ensure communications are accessible and understandable.
• When Agency documents are translated between French and English, accessible communication practices and plain language principals are not always carried over to the translated version.

Our plans to remove barriers

• The Agency will explore what resources are already available to our organization to help support knowledge and learning related to accessible documents and the use of plain language. After we identify what resources are already available to us, we may decide to create additional simple resources for our staff (for example, a tip sheet on plain language) and may also explore the possibility of offering training. This will be finalized by the end of December 2027.
• The Agency will review and update our internal guidance documents about using plain language. We will update this guidance using the best practices that are outlined in the Plain Language Standard published by Accessibility Standards Canada. We will begin the review in 2026, and we will finalize the updates by the end of 2027.
• The Agency is currently undergoing a change to the process of how we translate documents and communications between French and English. As we undergo this change, we will consider ways to improve the consistency of applying accessible communications principles between translated versions.

The procurement of goods, services and facilities

The Agency buys products and services to support our operations. The process of buying is called “procurement”. When accessible products are purchased, more people can use them easily, and it becomes less expensive to fix them later. The Agency currently has an agreement with the Parole Board of Canada, which provides procurement services to the Agency. The Agency is committed to working closely with the Parole Board of Canada to ensure that our procurement process is accessible and that we consider accessibility when we make purchasing decisions.

Identified barriers

• There is limited organizational knowledge and guidance about accessible procurement practices. This can result in accessibility considerations being missed during the purchase of goods, services, and facilities.
• The agreement that we have with the Parole Board of Canada to provide procurement services does not include any specific requirements related to accessibility of the goods and services that we purchase or accessibility of the procurement process.

Our plans to remove barriers

• The Agency will work with the Parole Board of Canada to build in accessibility considerations into procurement related Memorandums of Understanding. 

The design and delivery of programs and services

Most of the Agency’s programs and services are related to protecting freshwater in Canada. Many of these activities involve writing policies and collaborating with other levels of government, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders. We also provide information about freshwater in Canada, as well as reports about the current state of freshwater quality, quantity and availability. Many of these activities are communication related, so the barriers and plans to remove them that have been identified in the Communication, other than ICT section of this plan are also relevant to our programs and services.

We also provide funding for projects that support our mission to protect freshwater in Canada. Relevant organizations can apply for this funding through an online system called the Grants and Contributions Enterprise Management System. This system is operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Identified barriers

• We do not know if the online funding application portal that we use (the Grants and Contributions Enterprise Management System) is compliant with the Canadian Standard on Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services or if it has barriers for people with disabilities.
• We have not reviewed the materials, documents, and information related to funding applications to see if those materials are accessible or easy to understand.
• When funding is granted for a project, grantees (those who receive the funding) need to submit reports about the funding they received. Currently there is very little flexibility with the format and form of these reports, which could pose barriers for some grantees with disabilities.
• People with disabilities are not always involved in the design or delivery of the Agency’s programs.

Our plans to remove barriers

• The Agency will review our funding application process to identify accessibility barriers. We hope to complete this review by March 31, 2027. We will make changes to our funding application process and materials based on what we find in our review.
• The Agency will review the terms and conditions of the grantee reporting requirements to see if it is possible for us to accept reports in alternative formats. The Agency will complete the review and make decisions about next steps by March 31, 2028.
• The Agency will explore opportunities in the future to seek input from our stakeholders with disabilities when updating or creating new programs and services. We will complete this by March 31, 2028.

Transportation

The Agency does not provide any transportation services. The Agency owns two vehicles that are used for work related purposes. Our offices are located, for the most part, in urban areas where employees have multiple options to travel to and from the office. Our travel policies for employees are set by the Treasury Board of Canada. The Agency can make decisions about our work travel practices, so long as they adhere to the policy set out by the Treasury Board.

Identified barriers

• It is unclear if accessibility has been considered in the Agency's current workplace travel practices.

Our plans to remove barriers

• By the end of March 2027, the Agency will review the travel policy that is laid out by the Treasury Board to ensure that we identify and understand any potential implications of that policy for the Agency’s employees with disabilities.
• Whenever the Agency creates new work travel practices, we will consider accessibility and the impact on employees with disabilities.

Conclusion

The Agency is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. Our accessibility plan sets the groundwork for improving accessibility across our agency’s policies, programs, and workplace. We look forward to continuing our accessibility journey, by continuously identifying, preventing and removing barriers for persons with disabilities who work within or interact with our organization. It is important that our work is guided by the feedback and experiences of people with disabilities, and we are dedicated to collaborating with people with disabilities to integrate accessibility into the core of the agency. We invite all Agency employees, partners, members of the public, and the disability community more broadly to share feedback on our plan and on accessibility at the Agency.