American Sign Language version of the 2024 progress report executive summary

(Sign language interpreter against black background signing the text of the executive summary)

PSPC Progress report on Accessibility for 2024

Executive summary

Public Services and Procurement Canada is pleased to report on the progress made on accessibility over the last year. This 2024 Accessibility Progress Report supports PSPC's commitment to removing barriers to accessibility for its employees, and in the programs and services it delivers to government and the Canadian public.

This Progress report follows the publication of the 2023 to 2025 Accessibility Plan and the 2023 Accessibility Progress Report. It highlights the work done to improve accessibility at PSPC in fiscal year 2023 to 2024 under each of the 7 priority areas of the Accessible Canada Act, as well as the PSPC priority of an accessible culture. The 8 priorities are:

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

The section Accessibility plan: Eight priorities of this report provides information on achievements and activities over the last year.

Each of the priorities in this report is aligned with one or several key performance indicators. Annex B: Key performance indicators in this report provides the indicators, desired outcomes and results achieved in fiscal year 2023 to 2024 for each priority area of the Accessibility plan.

In keeping with the “Nothing Without Us” guiding principle of the Accessibility strategy for the Public Service of Canada, persons with disabilities have been consulted broadly in the development of this report. These valuable insights have been instrumental in helping us better understand barriers and adjust our practices to improve accessibility for everyone.

Consultations took place in spring 2024. We heard from over 1,600 employees across the department, as well as PSPC's Accessibility Advisory Panel, made up of experts from external organizations representing persons with disabilities. A summary report on the common themes, issues and suggestions from the consultations was developed to share with participants and more widely across the department, including with senior management. The PSPC Accessibility Office within the Policy, Planning and Communications Branch continues to engage with partners and stakeholders to address issues and to share ideas and best practices raised by participants.

In addition to the consultations, a department-wide survey invited employees to share their thoughts on accessibility at PSPC. A summary of the consultations and survey feedback can be found in Annex A.

The feedback process developed as part of PSPC's 2023 to 2025 Accessibility Plan has been in place since December 2022. It invites respondents to contact the Accessibility Office by telephone, mail or email or by using the online contact form. A summary of the responses submitted for the period from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 can be found in the Feedback section of this report.

Feedback about specific practices and policies were immediately shared with relevant branches, while other feedback, especially more general feedback, was included in an annual report to each branch in fall 2024. Several pieces of feedback have also been marked for future consideration when developing PSPC’s next Accessibility plan.

At PSPC, we care about the feedback we receive and are trying to address accessibility gaps in innovative ways. For example, in an effort to get accessible information technology (IT) equipment to employees faster, the My IT store was streamlined to allow employees with disabilities to request low-value IT equipment without extensive evaluation. A dedicated Accessibility and Inclusivity Office for Real Property Services was created to deliver accessibility initiatives in the built environment with input from individuals with disabilities and using the highest quality expertise and resources. These are just a few examples found in this report of how branches across PSPC are working to improve accessibility in everything we do.

We are grateful for all the feedback, advice and consultation input we received from persons with disabilities, allies and partners. We encourage everyone to continue learning from each other and working together to create a fully inclusive and accessible environment. While work culture changes take time, each action helps PSPC employees feel included and appreciated. As we approach the end of this 3-year cycle, we realize that there is still a lot of work to be done. As we prepare the next Accessibility plan, we must continue to build on this collaboration and commitment to change to reach our goal of a fully accessible department by 2040.