Frequently asked questions about the Accessible Canada Regulations

The requirement to publish a first accessibility plan applies at different times, depending on the type and size of the organization.

• Federal departments and agencies, Crown corporations, and Parliamentary entities must publish their first plans by December 31, 2022
• The Canadian Forces and the RCMP must publish their first plans by December 31, 2022
• Large federally regulated private sector entities with an average of 100 or more employees must publish their first plans by June 1, 2023
• Small federally regulated private sector entities with an average of 10 to 99 employees must publish their first plans by June 1, 2024

Note: Small federally regulated private sector entities with an average of 9 or fewer employees are not required to publish accessibility plans. For First Nations Band Councils, the requirement to publish accessibility plans and all other planning and reporting requirements do not apply for 5 years from when the regulations came into force in December 2021.

You can find the information in Guidance on accessibility plans - Section 4. Preparing your accessibility plans.

The Accessible Canada Regulations require that, at a minimum, organizations allow people to send feedback by mail, telephone, and email. They also require that organizations accept feedback sent “by any other means the entity uses to communicate with the public.” These means include social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. So, if you communicate with the public through specific social media platforms, you must allow people to provide feedback through those specific platforms.

You can find the information in Guidance on accessibility plans - Section 4. Preparing your accessibility plans – Requirements for publishing your plan.

The Accessible Canada Regulations require that entities publish their accessibility plans and a description of their feedback process either:

• directly on the homepage or home screen of their digital platform (such as their website); or
• put a link to those documents on their homepage or home screen

Organizations without an online presence must keep paper copies of these documents displayed together at all of their business locations. These copies must be clearly visible and accessible to the public in the reception area or entrance of their businesses.

The regulations do not require that you publish accessibility plans and descriptions of the feedback process in the same document.

You can find the information in Guidance on accessibility plans – Section 5. Recommendations.

Some federally regulated entities have to follow the Accessible Canada Regulations and either:

• the Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations; or
• the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) Accessibility Reporting Regulations

As long as organizations comply with all the planning and reporting regulations they are subject to, they don’t have to publish separate sets of accessibility plans, progress reports and descriptions of feedback process.

In such cases, organizations must remember to notify both the Accessibility Commissioner and the other applicable regulator when they publish their documents.

You can find the information in Guidance on accessibility plans – Section 2. Accessibility plans: key concepts.

Under the “General” heading of accessibility plans, organizations must provide the position title of the person responsible for receiving feedback. It is not necessary to include the person’s name.

You can find the information in Guidance on accessibility plans – Section 4. Preparing your accessibility plans – Required heading: "General".