Summary of the Accessible Canada Act

Introduction

The Government of Canada consulted with Canadians from July 2016 to February 2017 to find out what an accessible Canada means to them. On June 20, 2018, the Government introduced Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada (the Accessible Canada Act) in Parliament. The Accessible Canada Act received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019, and came into force on July 11, 2019.

Definitions from the Act

Barrier

“means anything—including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice—that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.”

Disability

“means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment—or a functional limitation—whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.”

Preamble

In the preamble, the Accessible Canada Act recognizes the existing human rights framework that supports equality for people with disabilities in Canada. This includes:

• the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• the Canadian Human Rights Act, and
• Canada’s commitments as a State Party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Accessible Canada Act builds on this framework through a proactive and systemic approach for identifying, removing and preventing barriers to accessibility.

Purpose

The purpose of the Accessible Canada Act is to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040. This involves identifying, removing and preventing barriers in federal jurisdiction in the following priority areas:

• employment
• the built environment (buildings and public spaces)
• information and communication technologies
• communication, other than information and communication technologies
• the procurement of goods, services and facilities
• the design and delivery of programs and services, and
• transportation (airlines, as well as rail, road and marine transportation providers that cross provincial or international borders)

Communication, as a priority area, includes the use of:

• American Sign Language
• Quebec Sign Language (Langue des signes québécoise), and
• Indigenous sign languages

The Act recognizes these sign languages as the primary languages of Deaf people in Canada.

Principles

The Act is to be implemented in recognition of, and in accordance with, the following principles:

• everyone must be treated with dignity
• everyone must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the life they are able and wish to have
• everyone must be able to participate fully and equally in society
• everyone must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices, with support if they desire
• laws, policies, programs, services, and structures must take into account the ways that different kinds of barriers and discrimination intersect
• persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws, policies, programs, services, and structures, and
• accessibility standards and regulations must be made with the goal of achieving the highest level of accessibility

Application

The Act applies to organizations under federal responsibility, including:

• the Government of Canada, including government departments, agencies and Crown corporations
• parts of the private sector that the Government of Canada regulates, such as:
  • banks
  • the federal transportation network, including:
    • airlines
    • rail, road and marine transportation providers that cross provincial or international borders
  • the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors
• the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Act also applies to parliamentary entities, with a tailored approach to respect parliamentary privilege. Parliamentary entities include the:

• House of Commons
• Senate
• Library of Parliament, and
• Parliamentary Protective Service

The Minister

The mandate of the Minister responsible for the Accessible Canada Act is to create a barrier-free Canada by January 1, 2040. To make this happen, the Minister may, among other things:

• support and conduct research to identify, remove and prevent barriers
• implement policies and programs that address accessibility
• gather, analyze and publish information related to accessibility, and
• work with provinces and territories to coordinate efforts on accessibility

The Chief Accessibility Officer

The Accessible Canada Act creates the new position of Chief Accessibility Officer. This person will:

• advise the Minister
• report on:
  • results achieved under the Act, and
  • systemic and emerging accessibility issues

Planning and reporting requirements

The Act requires that organizations:

• prepare and publish accessibility plans:
  • make accessibility plans to identify, remove and prevent barriers in the priority areas in their:
    • policies
    • programs
    • practices
    • services
  • update their plans every 3 years or as specified in regulations, and
  • consult people with disabilities when creating and updating their plans
• set up a feedback process: have a way to receive and deal with feedback about their accessibility
• prepare and publish progress reports:
  • make regular progress reports that describe the actions the organization has taken to implement their accessibility plans
  • include information in their reports on feedback received and how the organization took the feedback into consideration, and
  • consult people with disabilities when preparing their reports

Creating accessibility standards

The Act established Accessibility Standards Canada (referred to in the Act as the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization) to help create a barrier-free Canada. Accessibility Standards Canada’s mandate is to:

• develop and revise accessibility standards
• recommend accessibility standards to the Minister to be made into regulations
• provide services and information related to its accessibility standards
• support and conduct research on accessibility, and
• share information and best practices about identifying, removing and preventing barriers

A Chief Executive Officer and a board of directors lead the organization. The majority of board members are to be people with disabilities.

Standards, unlike regulations, are voluntary. However, if the Government makes a standard into a regulation, the standard becomes mandatory.

Enforcing accessibility

The Accessibility Commissioner enforces the Act in all priority areas for most organizations, including:

• the Government of Canada
• parliamentary entities, and
• banks

The Accessibility Commissioner also enforces the Act in specific priority areas, such as employment and the non-passenger built environment, for organizations in the:

• federal transportation network
• broadcasting sector, and
• telecommunications sector

The Accessibility Commissioner can use a range of tools to ensure that organizations are meeting their obligations under the Act, including:

• inspections
• production orders (ordering an organization to provide records and reports)
• compliance orders (ordering an organization to correct a contravention, and to take steps to ensure the contravention does not happen again)
• notices of violation (notices setting out a warning or requiring an organization to pay a penalty of up to $250,000 per violation), and
• compliance agreements (when an organization agrees to correct a violation within set terms)

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is responsible for enforcing the Act in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors for the priority areas within their jurisdiction.

The Canadian Transportation Agency is responsible for enforcing the Act within the federal transportation network for the priority areas within their jurisdiction.

Complaints

If an organization has not complied with a regulation under the Act, individuals can file an accessibility complaint if they:

• experienced physical or psychological harm, property damage or financial loss, or
• were otherwise adverserly affected

These complaints will generally go to the Accessibility Commissioner, who will deal with complaints in all the areas for which they are responsible.

The Canadian Transportation Agency will deal with complaints related to accessibility in the federal transportation network. The federal transportation network includes:

• airlines, and
• rail, road and marine transportation providers that cross provincial or international borders

The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board will deal with complaints related to accessibility for most federal public servants and parliamentary employees through the grievance process.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will deal with complaints related to accessibility in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors.

Accessibility complaints under the Accessible Canada Act are different from discrimination complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Organizations that meet requirements under the Accessible Canada Act could still be subject to discrimination complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Monitoring progress

Parliament is to review the Act 5 years after the first regulation is made, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Minister will launch an independent review of the Act 5 years after the parliamentary review. The independent reviewer(s) must consult with the public, including people with disabilities and organizations subject to the Act. The Minister will initiate independent reviews of the Act every 10 years thereafter.

National AccessAbility Week

National AccessAbility Week is an annual event to celebrate the contributions of people with disabilities. It also promotes inclusion and accessibility in communities and workplaces across Canada. The Act states that National AccessAbility Week will be celebrated each year starting on the last Sunday in May.