Accessibility Progress Report 2024 for the Public Service Commission of Canada

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• General
  • Contact us
• Executive summary
• Areas of focus
  • 1) Employment
  • 2) Built environment
  • 3) Information and communication technologies
  • 4) Communication other than information and communication technologies
  • 5) Procurement of goods, services and facilities
  • 6) Design and delivery of programs and services
  • 7) Transportation
• Consultations
• Feedback
• Conclusion
• Appendix A: Progress Report Summary

Introduction

The Accessible Canada Act, which came into force in 2019, aims to make Canada barrier free by 2040. The legislation, established by Accessibility Standards Canada, benefits all Canadians, especially persons with disabilities, by proactively identifying, removing, and preventing barriers to accessibility in 7 priority areas:

• employment
• built environment
• information and communication technologies
• communication other than information and communication technologies
• procurement of goods, services and facilities
• design and delivery of programs and services
• transportation

In 2021, the Accessible Canada Regulations came into effect, establishing the rules that federally regulated entities must follow when publishing accessibility plans, setting up feedback processes and developing progress reports. As a federal agency, the PSC is therefore responsible for producing an accessibility plan as well as an annual progress report. Furthermore, as an agency providing support and central services to federal agencies, the Public Service Commission of Canada supports departments and agencies in recruiting talented people from coast to coast to coast through the use of innovative and modern services, tools and practices. In accordance with its mandate, the PSC departments and agencies in hiring qualified individuals into the public service. We oversee and ensure the integrity of federal government hiring. We protect the non-partisan nature of the public service while respecting employees’ rights to participate in political activities. Lastly, we deliver recruitment programs and assessment services. Due to this mandate, the activities of the Public Service Commission impact those of the entire federal public service and the Canadian population.

General

This is the second progress report since the implementation of the Public Service Commission Accessibility Plan. This report aims to present the work that we have done so far, that is currently underway and yet to be done since the publication of the Accessibility Progress Report 2023.

The PSC makes every effort necessary to comply with the requirements and needs described in the Accessible Canada Act. It takes into account results, feedback and ongoing consultation with employees, persons with disabilities and other subject-matter experts.

Contact us

Feel free to send us your feedback, questions, concerns and suggestions on this plan and progress report and on other matters related to accessibility. Anyone may contact us to:

• provide feedback or ask questions
• request a copy of our Accessibility Plan in one of the alternate formats described in subsection 8(2) of the Accessible Canada Regulations.
• request the description of our feedback process in one of the alternate formats described in subsection 9(5) of the Accessible Canada Regulations.

Our contact information is as follows:

Human Resources Management Directorate
Corporate Affairs Sector
Public Service Commission of Canada

Address: 22 Eddy Street, Gatineau, Québec K1A 0M7
Email: accessibilite-accessibility@cfp-psc.gc.ca
Telephone: 1-833-925-5719

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Contact: Human Resources Director General

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Executive summary

The Accessibility Plan progress report summarizes the activities and actions taken throughout 2024 to make sure our environment, programs, services, workplaces and practices are free from real or perceived barriers.

Progress in different areas was reviewed and a summary is presented in Appendix A, which includes a table showing action timelines.

Thanks to contributions from several people, we were able to take into account the needs identified during consultations and analyses, in order to transform and improve the environment and establish a culture of accessibility by default for the Public Service Commission and the clients we serve. Identifying possible improvements and the steps taken to address barriers is a continuous process that now forms a part of our departmental activities.

Areas of focus reflecting the pillars of accessibility in Canada

1) Employment

Vision
Access to employment opportunities and accessible workplaces.

Barriers

• There is a general lack of awareness of accessibility considerations in employment
• Managers lack knowledge about accessible assessments in hiring, and their training is inadequate
• Employment documents, tools and resources are not always in an accessible format

People management strategy

Status: completed

The Public Service Commission’s people management strategy, which was in force until March 2024, continued to foster people management effectiveness; it is one of the key pillars of this strategy, which aimed to build accessibility into human resource tools, programs and processes by default. Thanks to our efforts, the PSC is one of the only agencies to have fulfilled its contribution to the PS Accessibility Strategy’s hiring objective by the end of fiscal year 2022 to 2023. Building on this success, the PSC committed to appointing 25 new people with disabilities by 2025 and continuing to go beyond the set objectives. In total, the PSC appointed 41 employees who identify as disabled since the implementation of the people strategy. However, these efforts must not be relaxed. They should be continued in terms of accommodation measures, work equipment, and the work environment in this new hybrid formation, all while continuing our ongoing collaboration and sharing of lived experiences.

The new people management strategy that is currently in development will ensure that we rely on the continuity of best practices from the previous strategy and the results of the 2024 PSES, as well as not only increasing awareness of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility among managers and employees, but also contributing to a cultural change within the PSC so that each service or program integrates these components into all of their decision-making processes, to create an inclusive and accessible organizational culture.

Employment systems review

Status: completed

Over the past two years, we have implemented sustainable and inclusive solutions to eliminate a number of systemic barriers at the PSC. Although the results of the final report of the Employment Systems Review (ESR) were positive, eight actions were recommended to eliminate specific barriers in HR practices.

These efforts did not just involve HR: partners across the entire agency were involved in implementing these measures. Although we made progress in the all of the domains identified for all 8 recommendations, we would like to take this opportunity to inform you of the results of the last two completed recommendations:

• Diversity of all assessment boards: a follow-up mechanism was implemented to monitor the diversity of all assessment boards in the staffing process, including adding the “Assessing Talent” section to the Guide: Improving the Representation of Employment Equity Groups in Staffing Processes.
• Analyzing performance ratings for the Indigenous community: the analysis presents us with an equitable distribution of performance ratings for this designated group. However, we will frequently investigate the distribution of performance ratings for all designated groups to understand future trends.

Each of these recommendations results in an ongoing commitment to improve our organizational people management policies and practices to identify and correct racism and systemic barriers at the PSC. Although the eight (8) recommendations were implemented following the Employment Systems Review, the PSC is continuing to analyze the workforce and to propose measures to review all of the agency’s new or amended policies and practices, to determine whether they present barriers for designated groups.

New accessibility champion at the PSC

Status: ongoing

In May 2024, the PSC updated its champions program by adding a new accessibility champion, currently held by a senior manager, for a two-year mandate. Since her appointment to this role, the champion has developed a solid relationship with the program area, in order to develop the agency’s culture and leadership by targeting effective practices, challenges, and areas for improvement.

She also collaborated with key internal stakeholders, such as the diversity and inclusion champion and the director of accessible communication, while establishing links with external partners, including the special advisor to the deputy head (DH) and persons with disabilities champion, the co-leaders of the Persons with Disabilities Champions and Chairs Committee (PwDCCC), the Office of Public Service Accessibility (OPSA), and ESDC’s persons with disabilities champion.

In collaboration with the accessibility program team, the champion collected valuable information on accessibility programs within the PSC. Furthermore, she sought to obtain guidance and instruction from internal and external champions.

Accessibility initiatives were promoted through the PSC’s weekly newsletter, the “PSC Express,” in order to increase staff mobilization, as well as to increase their active participation in, motivation for, and commitment to collaboration.

This new accessibility champion role will help promote accessibility best practices, raise awareness of the importance of inclusion, and foster collaboration with teams from across the agency in order to implement significant changes. This role will help make our workplace, our products, and our services accessible to everyone.

Guide to Recruiting Neurodivergent People

Status: completed

In February 2024, the Office of Public Service Accessibility (OPSA) published a Guide to Recruiting Neurodivergent People, intended for hiring managers, human resources specialists, and senior executives. This guide aims to make the recruitment, onboarding, and promotion processes more inclusive and more effective for neurodivergent people. The information in this guide was collected from partners from the Public Service Commission of Canada, Shared Services Canada, and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, following their participation in the neurodiversity recruitment pilot. Although this guide emphasizes the recruitment of neurodivergent people, the lessons of the neurodiversity recruitment pilot apply more generally to the recruitment of any person with a disability. The guide can be consulted on the accessibility hub hosted by the OPSA on GCpedia.

Accessibility Passport

Status: ongoing

In May 2023, our Executive Management Committee approved the implementation of the Government of Canada Workplace Accessibility Passport. In the Public Service Commission, the launch took place in late November 2023. A message was sent to all employees, including a specific message for managers, and an Intranet page was created to collect all Passport-related resources. This government-wide initiative aims to address the barriers encountered by federal public servants and applicants with disabilities when they would like to obtain the tools, support and accommodation measures that they require to be fully successful in their careers. The passport enables employees to voluntarily record barriers, the solutions they have found, and the conditions of the agreement they have reached with their manager to implement these solutions. Certain actions may be unique or little known since they are defined based on the needs of a specific person. The passport makes it easier to carry out these actions at work if the person needs to change teams or departments, as it is a way to communicate valuable information.

Training sessions were provided to Public Service Commission managers in February 2024, focusing on properly using the passport and the duty to accommodate. Changes were also made to the recruit onboarding program, including information about the accessibility passport, to strengthen our commitment to create an inclusive and quality workplace.

The Persons with Disabilities Network is fully committed to this initiative and to ensuring the launch is successful. As this action is fully in line with reducing accessibility barriers, we ensured that everything was updated this year.

In 2024, the Office of Public Service Accessibility (OPSA) of the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada (TBS) launched the pilot phase of the digital passport on the TBS Applications Portal (TAP). Once the pilot is completed, all PSC employees will be able to access this new version, which will:

• allow them to have better control over their personal information for the accommodation solutions required in their workplace so that they can fully contribute
• put a centralized and organized location at their disposal to record work situations, barriers, and solutions
• allow central agencies to analyze trends and challenges in removing barriers

Medical exemptions for official language proficiency

Status: ongoing

Under the Public Service Official Languages ​​Exclusion Approval Order, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has the exclusive authority to approve exemptions from the second official language proficiency requirements for medical reasons for organizations subject to the Exclusion Approval Order.

As of July 1, 2024, hiring departments and agencies are responsible for the costs associated with second official language assessments, previously offered by Health Canada and paid for by the PSC. The PSC has entered into a service contract with an independent medical examiner to conduct these assessments. An important aspect of this change is that the processing time for these applications is now less than 3 weeks, compared to 3-6 months previously.

Over the next few months, the PSC plans to assess the use of this external contract and to explore potential changes to the current model for medical exemptions, particularly:

• Exploring long-term procurement solutions to support agencies if Health Canada stops providing this service
• Along with the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), reviewing the possibility of increasing flexibility to allow proactive assessments of medical exemptions, for example as part of professional development and talent management processes

Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities

Status: ongoing

In 2019, the Public Service Commission (PSC) launched the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities (FIPCD), a national recruitment program providing two-year internships in the federal public service for 125 persons with disabilities.  

The FIPCP intends to empower persons with disabilities through internships, helping them to develop their professional skills and to increase their employability in the federal public service, while providing ongoing support to their managers.

From 2019 to 2024, the program proudly supported 126 interns in 39 federal agencies:

• Cohort 1 (2019-2021) of the program led to the hiring of 20 interns by eight agencies. The retention rate for Cohort 1 is 90%, with 18 hires out of 20 internships.
• Cohort 2 (2021-2023) of the program led to the hiring of 60 interns by 29 agencies. The retention rate for Cohort 2 is 70%, with 42 hires out of 60 internships.
• For Cohorts 3 and 4, 46 interns were hired in 24 agencies in collaboration with 20 supported employment agencies. The internships took place in 17 cities in 9 provinces, and covered 11 classification groups (AS, BI, CR, EC, EG, FB, IS, IT, ONF, PM, and SP). The interns in these cohorts are still working and should complete their studies in March 2025.
• At the end of the fiscal year (2023-2024), out of 80 people who completed their internship, 77% obtained employment in the public service.

The program is based on a learning and growth model, which is continuously evolving thanks to feedback from persons with disabilities. In November 2023, a program assessment was published with excellent recommendations. One of them is that the lessons learned and best practices from the program should be widely communicated to federal departments and agencies and all public servants as soon as possible. This is based on the fact that the FIPCD was designed as a pilot and learning was a key objective. Although the program is small in scale, it collects essential data on what works well and what could work better, and on opportunities to strengthen the design and implementation processes. A number of stakeholders, whether interns, hiring managers, or members of upper management, expressed a desire to have this valuable information widely disseminated and applied across the entire federal public service. Furthermore, collaboration between federal departments and agencies is one of the guiding principles of the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada. It led to a new recruitment strategy focusing on agencies, inviting them to submit internship application and to add new sources of talent.

The 2024 budget proposed funding to continue the program, and it was approved by the TBS In October 2024. The long-term approach involves integrating the program into the PSC’s centralized operations.

Spotlight on macrosimulations

Status: ongoing

While they were not mentioned in the 2022 Accessibility Plan, macrosimulations are offered to all departments and agencies, and worth mentioning here.

To support public service agencies in hiring people with disabilities, each year since fiscal year 2020 to 2021, we have offered macrosimulations to estimate the number to be recruited to close the representation gap by the end of fiscal year 2024-2025. In February each year, letters with yearly hiring objectives are sent to the deputy ministers and human resources heads in charge of each department and agency (including institutions that are not subject to the Public Service Employment Act). These letters include a summary of the progress made in each department and agency, as well as a ranking of institutions based on their level of compliance with previously set targets.
The Public Service Commission obtained the following results:

• in terms of representation of people with disabilities, in 2022 to 2023 we were fifth out of the 24 departments and agencies that closed the representation gap for people with disabilities
• we were first among departments and agencies with more than 500 employees
• in 2022 to 2023, we hired 4 net new employees with disabilities, which increased the cumulative workforce of net new hires of persons with disabilities to our agency to a total of 52 persons since fiscal year 2020 to 2021
• in 2022 to 2023, the representation of people with disabilities (14.7%) was above their workforce availability estimate, according to Statistics Canada calculations (9.3%)
• our hiring target for people with disabilities for next fiscal year will be known as soon as the macrosimulation model is updated with data from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Employment Equity Data Bank 2023 to 2024

This macrosimulation service was launched following the establishment of a government-wide objective to hire 5000 people with disabilities by 2025. We sent letters to deputy ministers a bit differently this year. There were two tables: one for agencies who filled the representation gap, and one for those that still had hiring targets for the years to come. This service will be maintained by our Data Services and Analysis Directorate for the benefit of all client organizations.

2) Built environment

Vision 
Move freely around buildings and public spaces while maximizing space.

Barrier

• Lack of quiet zones.

Workplace modernization

Status: project underway (completion date: 2025)

The Public Service Commission (PSC) works closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to respond to government of Canada priorities to reduce office space in the NCR and in the regions. The current budget context did not prevent the PSC from being proactive and innovative in continuing its efforts to achieve its objectives to reduce the amount of space per person. For example, promoting good work etiquette about the use of conference or focus rooms can really improve efficiency and mutual respect within teams.

The 12th floor was designed for the creation of unassigned offices as a key method to reduce workspaces. Several small-scale pilots are underway in the NCR and will help confirm the needs of the PSC, which is targeting a gradual reduction in space per person by 2025, from 23 m² to approximately 9 m² per person. Over the next year, the facilities team will review a study of office population density in order to provide solid evidence.

• Unlit area on the 12th floor: Space already available for a pilot
• Light switch installation in the Montréal office
• Quiet areas: Search for quiet areas for unassigned floors

To better respond to obligations to accommodate and make PSC offices more accessible and inclusive, lockers will soon be installed. This will better respond to the needs of employees who require accommodations, while also contributing to a reduction in the amount of space being used. Furthermore, surveys will be conducted to collect valuable feedback and, consequently, to adjust the measures to further improve the accessibility and inclusivity of PSC offices.

The initiatives currently underway show the PSC’s strong commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. Here is a summary of the key points:

• Space reduction: A long-term occupation plan emphasizes inclusivity and accessibility.
• Unassigned offices: Creation of offices designed to be inclusive, with agile and adaptable equipment.
• Renovated washrooms: Improved washroom accessibility.
• Communication and awareness: Efforts to inform and raise awareness of facilities changes.
• Reservation system modernization: Project underway by the IT team to modernize the reservation system.

These measures are intended to create a more inclusive working environment that responds to the diverse needs of employees.

3) Information and communication technologies

Vision
Accessible digital content and technologies.

Barrier

• Accessibility limitations in some of our computer tools.

Current activities

Status: ongoing

As in other departments, we are highly dependent on certain computer tools, such as M365, MyGCHR, and GCDOCs. Some accessibility limitations have been identified with these systems, and we are working continuously with providers and other departments to find alternative solutions and new features that can help remove potential barriers.

To prevent any possible barriers, our Information Technology Services Directorate continues to improve existing systems, make new systems accessible by design, and evaluate all other technology requests based on industry accessibility requirements. However, a new process for receiving technology requests enabled us to include a section on accessibility, to provide information about accessibility needs and to suggest new solutions. 

The Information Technology Services Directorate continues to ensure that the new systems meet modern accessibility standards, including for hardware and software developed internally or acquired on the market. These efforts support the departmental plan on services and digital for the period from 2024 to 2026. 

We consult and collaborate regularly with Shared Services Canada’s Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology Program. The goal of the program is to evaluate tools according to accessibility standards to ensure that the workplace is made more accessible. As well, the Information Technology Services Directorate continues to work with partners to determine, review and process accessibility requirements for priority projects such as the Candidate Assessment Tool, an inclusive and accessible platform that public servants and members of the public can use to take certain Public Service Commission tests.

4) Communication other than information and communication technologies

Vision 
Provide accessible and inclusive services and products for everyone.

Barrier

• The format of Public Service Commission documents, tools and resources is not always accessible.

Ongoing support

Status: ongoing

Our Communications and Parliamentary Affairs Directorate continues to provide support and advice to PSC employees and acts as a key partner for document accessibility.

As we become aware of existing barriers in our tools and resources, PSC employees continue to communicate with the CPAD to help them mitigate the accessibility problems that they encounter in their documents.

Centre of Expertise for Accessible Documents

Status: completed

Although the Centre of Expertise for Accessible Documents achieved its mission, one resource from the Centre of Expertise remains in place as an accessibility advisor to provide consultation services to PSC employees. These consultation services include document accessibility assessment and responding to document accessibility information requests. Consultations are treated as learning opportunities, where the assessor meets with the client and teaches them to correct the barriers identified in the document. Over 130 requests were processed between January and November 2024.

In addition, the Centre of Expertise for Accessible Documents initiated a consultation on updating the Intracom page of accessible documents. The Persons with Disabilities Network was initially consulted to include their perspective and their opinion on how the webpage could be improved following an online survey. The consultation is still underway and intends to update the information that is available for all PSC employees. 

In 2024, the Centre of Expertise was also able to finalize the organization of individual coaching sessions for a total of 56 agency executives. The coaching sessions provided a framework to review and approve documents in terms of accessibility. A practical tool was developed to accompany the coaching sessions and was promoted on our website for all employees.

The Centre of Expertise also collaborated with the Information Technology Services Directorate (ITSD) to ensure that the colour contrast analysis tool is installed by default on computers for all PSC employees. This tool allows users to check whether the colours used in documents comply with the WCAG AA accessibility level. This tool was promoted in newsletters, training videos, and demonstrations to internal teams.

In summary, we have maintained active dialogue with the Persons with Disabilities Network to ensure that our activities align with their needs and comments. Feedback continues to be positive and leads us to conclude that our activities are contributing to a positive change.

5) Procurement of goods, services and facilities

Vision
Ensure purchases of accessible goods, services and facilities.

Barrier
No barriers have been noted so far.

Current activities

Status: ongoing

The procurement services team ensures that all the goods and services purchased at the PSC are inclusive by design and accessible by default. In government procurement, the team takes into account accessibility, which is now mandatory under the Treasury Board Contracting Policy.

By systematically integrating accessibility criteria, we ensure that goods and services are accessible for everyone, which is essential for creating an inclusive environment. Documentation of decisions on whether or not to include accessibility criteria in procurement is an excellent practice to ensure transparency and accountability.

When accessibility criteria do not apply, or no accessible good or service is available on the market, the accessibility criteria must be included in the Justification Form (not limited to this template format) for including accessibility criteria in procurement. The team is continuing the work that has already begun, and ensures that it will properly train and raise awareness among new employees who join the PSC. Close collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada is evidence of a serious commitment to following the Treasury Board Contracting Policy.

The Supply Team Leader will incorporate the ideas of accessibility and justification into the presentation material and contract oversight, in order to further raise awareness among employees.

6) Design and delivery of programs and services

Vision
Services that are accessible to all.

Barrier

• Lack of information about accessibility as part of the programs and services offered to clients.

Public service hiring

Status: completed

Through strategic direction and advice, we help departments and agencies recruit qualified people from within and from outside the public service, to help build a workforce that reflects the diversity of Canada. We offer recruitment programs and assessment services that support the government of Canada’s strategic recruitment priorities and the renewal of the public service, by leveraging modern tools to reduce barriers that limit access to employment opportunities in the Canadian public service. 

In 2024, we supported the renewal of the public service by drawing on targeted and diversified recruitment and assessment strategies, including:

• Updating and promoting guides for inclusive assessment methods for interviews, examinations, and reference checks:
• Widespread promotion of the Inclusive Recruitment Toolkit on social media and by numerous presentations to departments, agencies, and functional communities, and during events organized across the Canadian government
• Consultations with key internal and external stakeholders on updating and reworking the “Managers Toolkit for Hiring Persons with Disabilities”. The updated toolkit will provide the most recent information on recruiting persons with disabilities, including best practices, specialized resources, and advice for strengthening awareness and mobilization initiatives for hiring managers and human resources professionals.
• Implementation of products and services that analyse assessment methods in order to reduce bias and barriers.
• Collaboration with our partners across the government and with community associations to hire persons with disabilities, Indigenous persons, members of visible minorities, and racialized groups:
• Implementation of awareness and mobilization activities in the context of partnerships with associations, teaching institutions, and organizations that support persons with disabilities, in order to attract talent to the public service. These include the Canadian Association of Supported Employment, Autism Nova Scotia, Ready, Willing and Able, March of Dimes, and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind
• Establishment of a partnership with the Office of Public Service Accessibility (OPSA) and the National Managers’ Community (NMC) to promote the hiring of persons with disabilities and diversified candidates through a Managers' Workshop: Creating an Inclusive Workplace, which had 900 participating managers, and which addressed how to recruit and support employees with disabilities and how to create bias-free, inclusive, and diversified work environments.
• Organization of targeted awareness activities for members of official language minority communities and employment equity, to encourage them to self-declare and to apply for employment in the public service:
• Mobilization of employment equity designated students, official language minority communities, and job seekers through our Outreach and Partnership Services, and participation in job fairs and events, a list of which can be found on the PSC Calendar of Events. The various presentations include information on how to apply for government of Canada jobs and how to self-declare.
• Continuing to implement the “Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities” program, the Virtual Door to Talent with Disabilities, and the “Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity” and “Indigenous Career Pathways” programs.
• Support for students with disabilities through "Employment Opportunities for Students with Disabilities" program, which includes onboarding help, a mentorship program, workshops, and support services:
• Over the summer of 2024, 120 students registered for activities. Five student events were organized, including opening and closing sessions with deputy minister Tina Namiesniowski, champion for federal public servants with disabilities
• The mentorship program included 110 mentors, with a twinning pilot implemented for mentoring purposes, which twinned 38 students based on their interests and lived experiences
• An information session for managers was organized to provide information on subjects such as the duty to accommodate, how to access adaptive technology, and other adaptive services, as well as the Accessibility Passport for accessibility in government of Canada work environments, since accommodations continue to be a barrier for many students.
• The Virtual Door to Talent with Disabilities, a single window for pools and inventories of candidates with disabilities, enabling hiring managers not only to meet their needs for a qualified workforce, but also to diversify their teams:
• Inventory of graduates with disabilities, bringing together more than 90 former students with disabilities who are ready to be hired through the student bridging mechanism
• Careers in biology for persons with disabilities, a pool of assessed candidates interested in careers in biological sciences (the goal is to fill BI-2 positions)
• Policy and Data Analysts, an inventory of partially assessed persons with disabilities with varied experience with policies or data analysis (to fill EC-1 to EC-5 positions)
• Access to candidates in Public Service Commission pools and inventories and who have declared as belonging to an employment equity group by checking the appropriate box when they filled out the submission form.

In addition, we have reviewed all the templates and tools used in our various programs, pools, and inventories, including communication with managers, to find opportunities to simplify language, eliminate government jargon, and confirm that the formatting is accessible. This exercise was shared with the teams in question, who will contact external stakeholders. We received support from assessment specialists and accessibility ambassadors, to ensure that we were using a coherent approach and updated methods.

Accommodation measures

Status: completed

We continue to play a considerable role thanks to our specialized team that provides assessment accommodation measures and training to eliminate barriers in assessment methods. This service offer includes developing accommodation measures for Public Service Commission tests as well as for tests developed by any other federal government department or agency.

This organizational function has had a positive impact on the perception and experiences of persons with disabilities who work for or are looking for a job in the federal public service. In 2024, the Personnel Psychology Centre was particularly active in the area of inclusion and accessibility, as the following initiatives show:

• Contributed to improving assessment accommodation:

• Collaboration with partners (OPSA, OCHRO, TBS) to remove barriers reported by persons with disabilities during the SLE oral exam
• Improved accessibility of the PSC’s exam platform, the Candidate Assessment Tool (CAT), which increased the efficiency of exam administration and allowed candidates to manage their profile for assessment accommodations.

• Developed and led workshops on how to conduct a bias and barrier assessment in an assessment context

• Received feedback from participants for the revised version of the “How to Conduct an Evaluation of Biases and Barriers in Assessment” workshop. Fourteen sessions will be organized between October 2024 and March 2025

• Collaboration with the OPSA to coordinate efforts to improve awareness and understanding of the Accessibility Passport and the Assessment Accommodation Profile in the CAT.
• These amendments, implemented throughout the year, will help improve access to employment-related information and resources.

In support of these efforts, the PPC is continuing to provide expert advice and direction to human resources professionals and hiring managers on identifying and mitigating bias and barriers in order to foster inclusive assessments in appointment processes.

Public Service Resourcing System

Status: completed

As part of its efforts to improve the accessibility and inclusiveness of the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS), the Services and Business Development Sector is currently working on changes to the template for postings created in the PSRS. These changes are intended to simply the titles of the various sections in the postings and to structure the information to make it more accessible for different assistive technologies. Final approval for the changes is underway, and the completion date for this initiative is yet to be determined.

Furthermore, the recent Java update has allowed for developments that were originally left out of the project. Currently, the Information Technology Services team is working on a project for proposed improvements to the posting interface, which will significantly increase accessibility for administrators and candidates. The development phase should still take several months. We are aiming for late 2024-2025, but it is very likely that the project will be completed in early 2025-2026.

As part of our efforts to increase accessibility and inclusiveness, and through the Policy and Communication Sector, we will improve the headings on the Applying for Government of Canada jobs: How to apply page on Canada.ca.

Several changes will be made to the project to update the template used for the creation of postings in the PSRS:

1. Left justification to facilitate reading by assistive systems
2. Simplified vocabulary used for different sections to facilitate understanding by candidates
3. Introduction of a few words before each link (so that the person can understand what the link is about)
4. Add headers where there were none. For example, for the contact person: email, phone number, etc.
5. New appearance and user-friendly interface currently being assessed

7) Transportation

Vision
A barrier-free federal transportation network.

Barrier

• This is more of a gap than a barrier (it involves awareness of accessibility in employee transportation).

Status: ongoing

Our responsibilities and authority over transportation are limited. According to the stipulations in the Accessible Canada Act and the Accessible Canada Regulations, the Public Service Commission pays attention to its employees’ transportation.

We ensure that we provide safe and accessible options to all employees who need to travel as part of their duties. As well, to make travel planning easier for new employees, we list transportation options for getting to the Public Service Commission’s offices in the onboarding kit, which makes it easier to find transportation to the worksite.

During the year, actions will be taken to increase employee awareness and to make more information available about transportation rights and options at work.

Consultations

We published and promoted our accessibility plan on our website, as well as internally with employees and managers, including through the weekly PSC Express newsletter. All employees were invited to submit their comments, and they were given the accessibility team’s email address.

Public Service Commission teams consulted with their clients and other people who receive their services. These consultations were mentioned in the relevant areas of focus.

The implementation of rounds of consultation with the Persons with Disabilities Network and various sectors of the Public Service Commission allows for greater participation to help us collect comments and suggestions, and to learn whether they had encountered accessibility issues at the Public Service Commission. We are continuing to collect this valuable information, which will be integrated into our next accessibility plan.

The PSC encourages all of its employees to provide their comments on the draft Accessible Canada Roadmap. This open consultation will end on January 8, 2025 and is intended to formulate a national vision for what a barrier-free Canada would look like by 2040. We hope that the diverse voices in our agency will contribute to advancing accessibility across the country.

Feedback

Our accessibility plan and the accessibility team’s email address have been posted on our website since December 2022.

The HR accessibility team quickly answered all emails and made sure to consult the relevant experts. There are several collaborators within the Public Service Commission who work at different levels on accessibility-related questions and requests. Our new accessibility champion will play a crucial role in the promotion and integration of accessibility in the PSC. The champion ensures that the initiatives are not limited to raising awareness, but also include concrete actions to remove barriers, such as the creation of a formal accessibility working group, to improve its ability to respond and to provide recommendations to senior management on preventing and removing barriers and on collaborating with stakeholders, including persons with disabilities, to ensure that their needs are taken into consideration.

As well, our consultations with the diversity and inclusion sub-committees and with our client departments and agencies enabled us to gather comments and ideas, which we have integrated into the solutions put forward in this progress report. More recent comments will be implemented over the next year and will be used as a basis for later improvements to accessibility, which will be presented in our next progress report.

Conclusion

The Public Service Commission, which is responsible for promoting and safeguarding a merit-based, representative and non-partisan public service that serves all Canadians, in collaboration with stakeholders, is proud to help transform practices and culture in order to build a barrier-free country by 2040. As an agency responsible for supporting an inclusive public service, we understand the importance of setting an example in terms of accessibility and of continuing to identify and eliminate barriers, so as to meet the needs of all.

We plan to keep engaging all levels of our organization and beyond, to continue to promote open dialogue on accessibility, to collect feedback, and to implement the required changes. We will also advance these initiatives to continue this transformation and fully integrate persons with disabilities. In accordance with the “Nothing without us” approach and with the related best practices, people should take part in the design and implementation stages of the various tools and programs, so as to benefit from information-rich data from the earliest stages, and lead to significant time savings and improvements in content.  

Our next Accessibility Plan will highlight new gains and changes promoting accessibility, in a context that is rooted in a culture of openness and accessibility.

Appendix A: Progress Report Summary

Aussi disponible en français sous le titre Rapport d’étape sur l’accessibilité 2024 pour la Commission de la fonction publique du Canada.
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