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2023 Accessibility Progress Report for the Canada Revenue Agency

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Message from the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner

The Canada Revenue Agency is pleased to share its 2023 Accessibility Progress Report. This report details how much we have done to implement the 42 action items we committed to in the 2023‑2025 Accessibility Plan. As well, it highlights what we have learned through our ongoing consultations with persons with disabilities and through feedback on the accessibility of our programs, services, and operations.

Our vision of being trusted, fair, and helpful by putting people first guides our approach to identifying and removing barriers for persons with disabilities. We recognize that to uphold our organization’s values and provide seamless client service that is inclusive to all, we must make our workplaces, programs, and services fully accessible.

Improving accessibility for clients and employees alike is not only a priority for us today, but it is something we have integrated into our ongoing service strategy. By doing this, we ensure that this is a strong commitment for years to come. By adapting our processes, programs, and services to eliminate the barriers that limit the way that persons with disabilities access and interact with us as the barriers arise, we can make our vision a reality.

The importance of accessibility extends to all aspects of our operations. In the last year, we have made progress in improving accessibility in actions and activities both large and small, and both corporate and grassroots. From redesigning our corporate templates to ensure all documents are accessible by default, to hosting employee-led disability awareness events, to deploying a new mass-notification building information system that is fully accessible for all employees, to exploring the ways in which integrating feedback can better inform the identification and removal of barriers, both individual and systemic, our collective efforts are starting to make an impact.

Although we have made important progress in the first year of putting our Accessibility Plan in place, our work is far from complete. As we move forward, we will continue the important task of identifying, removing, and preventing barriers in our workplaces and in how we deliver our programs and services to Canadians. We will also continue to integrate the voices of persons with lived experience into the design and delivery of our programs and services, and challenge ourselves to innovate and seek new ways to become accessible by default. Most importantly, we will move toward the Government of Canada’s shared vision of creating a barrier-free Canada for all by 2040. Accessibility is more than a legislative obligation, it is simply the right thing to do.

1. General

Important: Alternate formats for the CRA’s Accessibility Plan, Progress Reports, and its accessibility feedback process description can be ordered online or by phone at 1-800-959-8281 for individuals, or 1-800-959-5525 for business owners.

The Canada Revenue Agency receives feedback, including feedback on accessibility, through various channels. Accessibility feedback is client-initiated information about a client’s experiences with the accessibility of our services.

Once we receive the feedback, we acknowledge and address it (unless it was submitted anonymously or sent by fax). Then it goes through internal processes to ensure we monitor, report on, and incorporate it into our accessibility improvement efforts.

Our designate for feedback on accessibility is the Assistant Commissioner of the Service, Innovation and Integration Branch. To learn more about our feedback process, including how to submit service feedback related to accessibility, visit the Submit Service Feedback page. Accessibility feedback can be submitted in the following ways:

Mail

Write a letter or fill out Form RC193, Service Feedback, and mail it to:

Assistant Commissioner, Service, Innovation and Integration Branch
c/o CRA Service Feedback
National Intake Centre
4695 Shawinigan-Sud Boulevard
Shawinigan QC  G9P 5H9
Canada

If you prefer to submit your feedback anonymously, you do not have to include identifying information in your letter or fill out sections 1 or 2 of Form RC193. However, please remember that we are unable to acknowledge or reply to anonymous feedback.

Facsimile (Fax)

Write a letter or fill out Form RC193, Service Feedback, and fax it to the Assistant Commissioner of the Service, Innovation and Integration Branch, c/o CRA Service Feedback, at:

To ensure we uphold your security and privacy, we cannot acknowledge that we received your feedback or respond to it by fax.

Email

Email the Assistant Commissioner of the Service, Innovation and Integration Branch, c/o CRA Service Feedback, at asf-ras@cra-arc.gc.ca.

Important: Do not send any confidential, protected, or taxpayer information (for example, your social insurance number or tax return information) by email. The security of taxpayer information is our top priority. Although email is widely used, it does not meet the security requirements needed to ensure that this confidential information is fully protected.

Online form

Submit feedback electronically using the RC193 Online Form. Individuals, businesses, or representatives can use this form to submit a complaint, a suggestion, or a compliment. The online form lets you complete and submit your feedback all in one place.

Online account

You can submit a complaint, a compliment, or a suggestion online by using the Submit documents option in:

You cannot submit anonymous feedback using your online account at this time.

Telephone

Call us at one of the following numbers:

Once you connect with a contact centre agent, tell them right away you are calling to provide feedback on an accessibility barrier or on the accessibility plan. As well, let them know whether you want to remain anonymous. They will collect your feedback and share it with the correct area.

Teletypewriter (TTY)

Call 1-800-665-0354 if you use TTY. If you use an operator-assisted relay service, please call our regular telephone numbers instead of the TTY number (refer to the Telephone section above for these numbers).

If you need help navigating our online applications, please call us using the E-service Helpdesk TTY: 1-888-768-0951.

2. Executive Summary

American Sign Language (ASL) version of the Executive summary (no audio) (Transcript)

The CRA’s 2023-2025 Accessibility Plan (the Plan) sets out the Agency’s approach to identifying, removing, and preventing accessibility barriers over the next three years. The Plan includes the CRA’s approach to accountability and governance in delivering upon the Accessible Canada Act and highlights the importance of fostering an organizational culture that supports accessibility and inclusion.

The 2023 Accessibility Progress Report provides details on our advancements, both completed and under way, in accessibility and our progress toward building a barrier‑free organization. Since the publication of the Plan, the CRA:

In addition to the 42 action items listed in the CRA’s Accessibility Plan, there are six commitments aimed at strengthening the CRA’s governance and accountability structure for accessibility. All six of these commitments are on track, and include:

As we work on delivering on the commitments we made in the Plan, we remain informed by the lived experiences of persons with disabilities. This includes regularly consulting with our Persons with Disabilities Network, our employees with disabilities, non-profit organizations that help persons with disabilities access our programs and services, and members of the public with disabilities. Through these efforts, we have received insight on the accessibility barriers across our operations from those with first‑hand experiences as well as suggestions on how we can eliminate these barriers.

In those external consultations, we learned that although our clients with disabilities and those who support them can see our improvements, we still have work to do to:

Internally, we found that employees saw a positive shift within the organization toward embracing a culture of accessibility. However, they still wanted more training at the managerial and senior leadership levels to:

Feedback plays an important role in showing us how to improve and become more accessible. It is a means to understand individuals’ experiences and to target areas requiring change, while serving as a way to monitor the effectiveness of the changes we implemented. From the feedback we received so far, a number of themes emerged, including:

We have encouraged our employees, branches, and regions to go beyond the accessibility barriers targeted by the Accessibility Plan. We urge them to pursue innovative solutions to eliminate additional barriers they may encounter or become aware of through feedback. For example:

Earlier this year, the Canadian Human Rights Commission invited us to participate in a voluntary, in-depth assessment to understand how organizations carry out some of their responsibilities under the Accessible Canada Act and its regulations. We participated in this assessment in support of the Commission’s goal of identifying common challenges and areas of improvement and highlighting beneficial practices.

We are empowering our employees to seek out ways to better integrate accessibility features and functions into their day-to-day activities and interactions. Since we put the Plan in place last year, a variety of groups and committees championing accessibility have been created across our organization to support the delivery of accessibility goals. For example, the Quebec Region launched the Regional Access Support Team to provide guidance and share information to employees and managers on hiring, supporting, and better understanding the experiences of persons with disabilities.

These efforts promote a healthier and more inclusive workplace for persons with disabilities by helping eliminate stigmas. The efforts also highlight how employees with disabilities play an important role in how we deliver our programs and services.

Although there is much work to do, we have made important progress in:

From building our expertise on and understanding of accessibility and disability to making important improvements to the accessibility of our programs and services, we are taking action to meet our commitments to Canadians with disabilities.

3. Introduction

The Canada Revenue Agency recognizes that accessibility is much more than a legal obligation – it is a fundamental part of being a world-class tax and benefits administration. Accessibility is key to our People First philosophy, through which we strive to be trusted, fair, and helpful by putting people first.

Annual progress reports are an important way for us to stay accountable for the commitments we made in our accessibility plans. The purpose of the 2023 Accessibility Progress Report is to provide a clear, transparent overview of the progress we have made in delivering on our Accessibility Plan. More specifically, it shows how we are removing targeted accessibility barriers related to the seven areas of the Accessible Canada Act:

As well, this report includes what we have learned through ongoing consultations with persons with disabilities and through our accessibility feedback channels. Monitoring and responding to feedback:

In addition to commitments related to the seven areas of the Accessible Canada Act, we also committed to:

Updates on actions related to these three areas, which go beyond the seven areas of the Act, are also included in this report.

The status of each action item in the CRA’s Accessibility Plan is provided in section 6, including the expected timeline for completion for those that remain outstanding. If an action or timeline has been adjusted since the Plan was published, the revised timeline is provided along with an explanation for why the change was made.

4. Consultations

The Canada Revenue Agency recognizes the importance of the “Nothing Without Us” principle and the role it plays in ensuring that we effectively identify, address, and prevent accessibility barriers.

In 2023, we continued engaging with persons with disabilities (employees and clients) to seek their perspectives on the accessibility of their interactions and experiences with us. Throughout these consultations, we applied Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) to ensure we considered intersectional identity factors (for example, age, education, ethnicity, and economic status) in the design, delivery, and analysis stages of this research.

This section of the report includes information about the consultations we had in 2023 with persons with disabilities as well as insights we gathered about accessibility from other research we carried out.

4.1 External Consultations with Persons with Disabilities

From July 2023 to August 2023, the CRA engaged community organizations helping persons with disabilities access the CRA's services to help assess how it is progressing in delivering upon its first Accessibility Plan. Through these organizations, we also consulted persons with disabilities to seek their perspectives based on their lived experiences and recent interactions with us.

To recruit participants, we published a notice of our consultations on Canada.ca and sent direct invitations to 73 organizations. We then applied the “snowball sampling” method, in which we asked organizations who received a direct invitation to help recruit individuals with disabilities.

In total, we interviewed 25 individuals with disabilities and nine community organizations. Many participants were encouraged by the increase in visibility and momentum of accessibility at our organization. Although they observed small, positive improvements, overall they felt we are still at the initial stages of becoming a fully accessible organization.

Input shared by participants can be categorized into three themes. These themes speak to similar issues as last year’s consultations with persons with disabilities; however, they also provide additional context to these challenges and indicate that some gains in accessibility have been made over the past year.

  1. Disability tax credit (DTC): Participants noted there have been some improvements to the eligibility criteria and the new digital application form, which has made the application process simpler. One community organization shared that it has been working with our outreach officers to educate their members about the application process, and they have seen fewer application rejections from their members. They reported that using the tailored webinars our outreach officers created may have contributed to this, demonstrating that better awareness may result in better understanding of the requirements and better outcomes for clients.

    However, many participants shared that we still need to address some barriers in the DTC application:

    • The new digital application allows doctors to submit completed applications on behalf of applicants. However, some felt this reduced the transparency of the process and the independence of persons with disabilities because they were not able to review the doctor’s portion of the application
    • Several participants also expressed a perception that we lacked transparency in the adjudication and appeals process of the DTC, and
    • We could better advertise the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) because many participants heard about it only years after applying for the DTC
  2. Interacting with the Canada Revenue Agency: Participants expressed a desire for expanded methods of communication such as in-person services, video chat, and access to a dedicated phone line for people with disabilities who need help with their tax filing and applications. Participants added that:
    • Access to technology such as a phone, Internet, or data for mobile phones is often required to contact us. Depending on several factors, such as a person's disability, income, education, or area of residence, clients can have varying levels of access to technology – and people with less access can find it more difficult to get the support they need from us
    • Our phone lines can be difficult to navigate, and wait times are challenging. To facilitate better access, participants suggested that we explore alternate ways for persons with disabilities to validate their identity over the phone
    • Participants reported that our agents often do not accept a caregiver, interpreter, or intervener as a representative who is supporting communication for a client
    • Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing expressed that the current communication channels are inadequate for their needs. Teletypewriter (TTY) is older technology, and agents using TTY are not as responsive as they are with phone calls. Video Relay Service (VRS) is preferred, but VRS time limits can make it difficult to reach the contact centre
  3. Accessing Information: Another theme that re-emerged from last year’s consultations was clients’ experiences accessing information from us:
    • Most participants felt there had been some positive improvement to our website content, in particular or the DTC, but added that most of the content remains difficult to understand
    • Participants expressed a desire for website content tailored to people with disabilities. In particular, they would like to see more detailed and specific examples about the DTC application process and the RDSP
    • Participants felt that many contact centre agents did not have enough training and education about disability and tax filing. They would like to be able to call and get accurate answers to their questions
    • Most respondents reported they often relied on a third party like a community organization or a trusted friend or family member to help them access information

4.2 Internal Consultations with Employees with Disabilities

From March 2023 to April 2023, the Canada Revenue Agency consulted its employees with disabilities to seek their perspectives on:

In total, over 500 employees participated in these consultations and offered their insights through one of 12 group interview sessions or through an online survey. The consultations provided valuable information on the three subject areas:

Our Accessibility Culture

In a culture of accessibility, employees with disabilities are respected and empowered with the right tools so they can perform all aspects of their job without help and with the possibility of advancement.

Regarding our accessibility culture:

Employment Experience of Persons with Disabilities

Managers and senior leaders are at the centre of the experience of employees with disabilities. Only half of the survey respondents reported that they felt their direct supervisor supported their needs.

As well, participants stated that:

Many participants expressed that the accommodation process is too long, often requires a medical doctor’s input, and lacks transparency. They stated that:

For these reasons, employees expressed a desire for changes to accommodation processes and for our organization to create an accessibility resource centre that could enable them to get the things they need to be able to do their jobs more easily.

Employees identified the hiring process as a major barrier for many of them:

Training and Learning Needs for the CRA

Employees with disabilities identified that training and learning are major drivers of cultural change. During this year’s consultations, employees with disabilities identified barriers around two main themes: training on accessibility and disability, and work‑related training.

Regarding training on accessibility and disability, participants shared that:

Participants also commented that work-related training does not always meet the needs of employees with disabilities:

4.3 Additional Research Related to Accessibility Completed in 2023

Service Culture Survey

In June 2023, the Canada Revenue Agency conducted an online Service Culture Survey with employees. We administer this survey biannually to measure our progress in service culture, tailor employee engagement initiatives, and guide our actions moving forward. This year’s edition was completed by 4,739 respondents, including employees, managers, and executives from across all our branches and regions.

New this year, the survey included two questions to better understand employee perceptions on the state of our accessibility culture. The results show that from the perspective of the overall employee population, a majority of our organization’s employees feel that accessibility is an important part of our service culture:

These figures may suggest that for the broader employee population, our efforts to date to engage and raise awareness of the importance of accessibility are being heard. There is still, however, a noticeable difference between the perceptions of employees with disabilities and the overall employee population on the state of our accessibility culture.

We also asked these same two questions as part of our internal consultation with employees with disabilities. Only 60% of employees with disabilities felt that we have made accessibility an important part of our culture, and only 39% of employees with disabilities felt that senior management supports a culture of accessibility. Identifying a gap in understanding and perception is an important first step; however, we will need to do more research to determine the cause of this gap and ways to address it.

Accessibility Testing Exercises

From August to October 2023, the Canada Revenue Agency interviewed 44 persons with hearing, visual, physical, or neurodiverse disabilities to test the accessibility of 12 of our documents (one guide and 11 forms). The research found that many individuals:

Many participants were unaware that alternate formats are available, including large print version. Others confused other types of “forms” to mean other Canada Revenue Agency forms, and most found it inconvenient and time consuming to print forms out and mail them to us.

Participants who rely on screen readers reported that not all forms and guides cooperated with their personal device or software, so they had to ask others for help to complete their form.

We will use the findings of these tests to create improved forms and guides that permit persons with disabilities to locate the information they need and complete forms, and to improve navigation on forms and guides so they can easily meet their tax obligations.

My Account Portal Exit Survey

The Canada Revenue Agency introduced a new version of the My Account exit survey in May 2022. We did this so we could gain more insight about the experiences and needs of clients who use My Account. We updated the survey questions to also gain more insight into the needs of persons with disabilities. As well, we included questions for respondents who identified as being a person with a disability that allowed them to specify:

According to the 2022 and 2023 survey data, the respondents who identified as persons with disabilities reported similar levels of overall satisfaction with My Account compared to those who did not identify being a person with a disability (85% vs 89%). In terms of challenges reported by participants with disabilities:

Other key challenges reported by respondents with disabilities included:

Respondents suggested several improvements to these issues, such as:

5. Feedback

Feedback plays an important role in understanding client experiences and continually improving the Canada Revenue Agency’s programs and services, including improving accessibility and removing barriers for persons with disabilities.

For this report, accessibility feedback refers to client or employee-initiated information we received through channels created to accept feedback about the satisfaction or dissatisfaction encountered in the accessibility of our products or services.

We receive accessibility feedback from persons with disabilities, Canada Revenue Agency employees, our partners, accessibility advocates, and members of the broader public. All of these groups provide valuable insight from diverse perspectives and lived experiences that helps us identify and address barriers.

Currently, we address accessibility feedback on a case-by-case basis, and individual subject matter experts resolve it. However, this model makes it difficult to establish strong reporting mechanisms that allow us to analyze accessibility barrier trends and propose solutions that extend across the organization. Over the past year, we have worked to improve our accessibility feedback mechanisms to inform our decision making and address accessibility barriers in a more holistic way:

As we progress on this front, we will continue to encourage individuals and their representatives to submit feedback and share their experiences with us so we can continue to improve accessibility in all that we do.

5.1 Feedback Received from the General Public

The Canada Revenue Agency’s Service Feedback Program serves as the primary entry point for external clients to provide feedback relating to the accessibility of our programs or services. When someone provides feedback, we log it, categorize it, and send it to the proper program areas for resolution. For the period between January 1 and September 30, 2023, the Service Feedback Program recorded a total of 114 accessibility feedback cases. Seven of these cases were submitted anonymously.

Figure 1: Accessibility cases by delivery method from January 1 to September 30, 2023

Method of Receipt

Text description for Figure 1

Figure 1: Accessibility cases by delivery method from January 1 to September 30, 2023

Delivery method

  • Phone: 54%
  • CRA (Web Un-Authenticated): 23%
  • Email: 12%
  • Fax: 5%
  • Portal unauthenticated: 4%
  • Mail: 3%

Figure 2: Accessibility cases by barrier type, from January 1 to September 30, 2023

Identified Barriers

Text description for Figure 2

Figure 2: Accessibility cases by barrier type, from January 1 to September 30, 2023

Identified barriers

  • Communication: 43%
  • Organizational: 26%
  • Technological: 15%
  • Architectural & other: 8%
  • Attitudinal: 8%

Descriptions of barrier types

Three key themes emerged in the accessibility feedback received from the Service Feedback Program over the last year. First, we need to continue providing more options for clients to personalize their experience when interacting with the CRA. We have learned that increased information sharing between government departments and/or service areas in the CRA would simplify the experience for clients by reducing the steps needed to get help.

For example:

This feedback is consistent with what we heard in previous and current consultations with persons with disabilities and those who support them.

Second, people are having difficulty accessing services or communicating with us because of the complex security requirements. Although safeguarding taxpayers’ information and privacy is of utmost importance, current methods of authentication can create barriers for persons with disabilities.

Feedback from clients on this topic often describes the complexities involved with different systems and the user’s needs, such as the inability for screen readers to authenticate using CAPTCHAs.

Another example is the challenge that some persons with disabilities have in answering verification questions when communicating with the contact centres. In some cases, because of their disability, a caller may not have access to previous tax return documents or other relevant personal information, which prevents them from getting support. Balancing security and service needs requires ongoing exploration for solutions that meet the needs of all. To help alleviate this barrier, we are reviewing our requirements for providing consent and authorizing a representative.

Finally, ongoing efforts to increase awareness about the barriers persons with disabilities face are important in breaking down biases and creating a culture that is more inclusive. The findings show that sensitivity to and understanding of individual situations, and offering accommodations whenever possible, are essential to providing accessible services to clients. For example, when contact centre agents take the time to communicate with clients in a way that consider their individual needs, the experience is more positive and results in compliments from clients to agents.

5.2 Feedback Received from CRA Employees

The Canada Revenue Agency’s external accessibility feedback process has a main program that receives the feedback; however, employees provide accessibility feedback through multiple intake channels managed by individual programs or internal services areas. Right now, these multiple channels are not connected, so this creates challenges in analyzing and reaching a holistic view of accessibility feedback. A review of the key themes that branches and regions have raised showed several common issues that employees with disabilities are reporting. In the months and years ahead, we will work to better integrate our accessibility feedback processes to enable us to more promptly analyze the lived experiences that people are sharing.

First and foremost, the accessibility feedback from employees highlights the need to continue focusing on establishing an accessibility-positive culture. According to the feedback, this starts with fostering a better understanding of what barriers to accessibility are and how to identify them. As well, employees shared that they found great value in learning experiences that focus on the lived experiences of persons with disabilities and the barriers they encounter. For example, over 1,000 participants attended our 2022 event to commemorate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, with over 93% of participants reporting that it increased their understanding of non‑visible disabilities.

This leads to a feeling of empowerment for people wanting to share their own stories, as well as an increased level of empathy and desire to support others. Employees with disabilities also shared feedback on the following themes:

6. Building on the Foundation of Accessibility at the CRA

Along with targeting identified barriers related to the seven areas of the Accessible Canada Act, the Canada Revenue Agency’s 2023-2025 Accessibility Plan lists concrete actions for our policies, procedures, and governance structures. This section provides updates on how we are advancing in these areas.

6.1 Governance and Accountability Measures

The Canada Revenue Agency is working to build an accessible organization by putting governance and accountability measures in place that will ensure we embed accessibility in our decision-making. To do this, the Accessibility Plan included six action items for us to complete over the course of the Plan:

1) Establish a senior executive sponsor for accessibility in the CRA. As an agent of change, the sponsor will influence decision-making, engage colleagues to achieve accessibility objectives, and mobilize resources to ensure that accessibility is at the core of management and decision‑making.

This role will be held by the Assistant Commissioner of the Service, Innovation and Integration Branch.

Progress update: The Assistant Commissioner of the Service, Innovation and Integration Branch is recognized as the executive sponsor for accessibility through its Accessibility Plan and its corporate governance model for accessibility. In the year ahead, the Assistant Commissioner will increase their visibility as the sponsor and engage with senior leadership and employees to advance the CRA’s accessibility agenda.

Furthermore, we will strengthen this role in our corporate policies or directives while we continue to put accessibility governance in place.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

2) Embed accessibility requirements into policy review mechanisms so that all future reviews of CRA policies, directives, programs, service delivery channels, and operational procedures are in line with the Act.

Progress update: We have included accessibility requirements into our policy review mechanisms. As well, we have incorporated changes, such as including the Persons with Disability Network as a partner, to integrate accessibility into all our corporate policy instruments. We will assess these measures in upcoming policy reviews to confirm their effectiveness.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

3) Incorporate accessibility into our planning, decision-making, and implementation processes, such as in our major project investments.

Progress update: We are incorporating accessibility into these processes by revising corporate policy documents and improving best practices. This work will continue into the future, and we will assess this for its effectiveness in 2024.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

4) Develop a feedback mechanism to collect internal feedback on accessibility and strengthen existing external feedback channels.

Progress update: We have reviewed existing mechanisms and are looking at options so we can propose centralized feedback mechanisms to collect internal feedback on accessibility. We updated the RC193 webform and planned task-based webpage improvements to strengthen the existing external feedback processes.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

5) Allocate the funding to deliver on the commitments in this plan and establish a permanent capacity to oversee the CRA’s Accessibility Program.

Progress update: The CRA is allocating resources to continue delivering on the Plan's commitments.

Status: On track

Timeline: April 2025

6) Develop a performance measurement framework for accessibility to measure and report on CRA’s progress in removing barriers.

Progress update: We are developing a performance measurement framework for accessibility. As well, we will incorporate elements of Employment and Social Development Canada’s Performance Indicator Framework for Accessibility Data, the World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Maturity Model, and performance measures used by other government organizations. We anticipate that we will complete the framework by March 2024 and that work to begin measuring against the framework will follow.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2024

6.2 Strengthening Our Accessibility Culture

In its Accessibility Plan, the Canada Revenue Agency identified the need to strengthen our accessibility culture – a gap that our ongoing engagements with persons with disabilities in 2023 has reiterated.

We recognize that all successful organizational changes are supported by a strong organizational culture, especially as we shift from communicating about the need for change to delivering concrete actions. This transition is a crucial step in the change management process and will continue to be an important area of focus in the year ahead.

We are working to drive accessibility culture change forward, increase employee engagement, and increase internal understanding of accessibility. To do this, we are:

Over the past year, efforts to strengthen our accessibility culture included:

Culture change is a lengthy process, but it is an essential part of our transition to a barrier-free organization. By continuing to build upon this work, we will cement a culture of disability inclusion in which we fully support all employees and clients with disabilities and accessibility is embedded our organization. Central to this is ensuring that we recognize employees for the excellence of their efforts to address accessibility barriers and their dedication to making a positive change. For example, employees and managers will be able to send informal “Thank You” certificates to their colleagues in recognition of their contributions to removing accessibility barriers and advancing accessibility.

7. Areas Under the Accessible Canada Act

Since publishing the Canada Revenue Agency’s first Accessibility Plan in December 2022, we have made important strides in strengthening accessibility in all that we do. But we recognize that we are still at the beginning of our journey to becoming barrier-free for all Canadians. This section lists the action items we committed to in our 2023–2025 Accessibility Plan. Each item includes a progress update and the status of how we are doing.

Here is a summary of the status of the 42 action items we committed to through the Plan:

In the following subsections, each action item is listed along with its status, a progress update, and details explaining any delays if applicable.

7.1 Employment

Actions under the Employment section will improve how we recruit, retain, and promote persons with visible and non-visible disabilities.

Barrier 1: Recruitment activities often overlook accessibility and disability inclusion. Among CRA representatives involved in recruitment activities, some lack awareness about how to connect with and recruit persons with disabilities.

Action 1

We will look to remove this barrier by:

  • offering prospective candidates with disabilities more inclusive recruitment activities to encourage them to consider us as an employer of choice;
  • working with universities to host events specifically for persons with disabilities during the academic year;
  • promoting accommodations measures available to prospective candidates;
  • raising the awareness of our representatives to improve their effectiveness in recruiting persons with disabilities;
  • working with on-site management services to provide accommodations for candidates during in-person events; and,
  • promoting career progression opportunities targeted to persons with disabilities.

Progress update: We continue to host and attend inclusive recruitment activities at career fairs targeted at persons with disabilities (for example, the Second Annual Canadian Congress on Disability Inclusion). These activities help us promote our organization as an employer of choice to persons with disabilities, the accommodations we have for persons with disabilities, and career progression opportunities for persons with disabilities.

As well, we are providing guidance documents and training to management to make sure they offer and provide accommodations for candidates during in-person events, that they use accessible virtual conferencing tools with closed captioning, and that marketing materials (for example, handouts) use inclusive language.

Plans are in place to continually review the recruitment process and foster partnerships with organizations that advocate for persons with disabilities. This will ensure equity and inclusivity so that we can attract and retain a diverse workforce.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2024

Barrier 2: Persons with disabilities are not recruited, onboarded, or promoted relative to others in the general employee population.

Action 2

We will deliver on and update yearly a Strategy for Recruitment, Onboarding, and Retention of Persons with Disabilities, which will include initiatives to address recruitment barriers, initiatives to improve retention and promotion of employees with disabilities, and ways to measure progress in strengthening these areas.

Targets and initiatives in the Strategy include:

  • 750 net new persons with disabilities are hired by the CRA by 2025; and
  • identify and remove employment barriers for job seekers and employees with disabilities through the pilot of a CRA Career Centre for persons with disabilities.

Progress update: As part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to hire 5,000 persons with disabilities by 2025, we have committed to hiring 750 net new persons with disabilities.

From April 1, 2020 (when this commitment was made) to March 31, 2023, the CRA has hired 1,011 net new persons with disabilities. While this puts us in excellent position to meet our target, we must continue our efforts to recruit and retain persons with disabilities in the years ahead. To calculate the number of net new hires, we subtract the number of departures from the number of new hires:

  • new hires include all external permanent and term employees for a period of three months (90 days) or more during the reporting period. From April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023, 2,838 persons with disabilities were hired by the Agency.
  • departures include any employee whose employment with the CRA ends during the reporting period. From April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023, 1,827 persons with disabilities departed the Agency.

To maintain the success of our hiring efforts, we will create a career centre for persons with disabilities to lead initiatives to recruit, onboard and retain persons with disabilities.

Status: On track

Timeline: Annual updates in December 2023, December 2024, and December 2025

Barrier 3: The process to accommodate for injury, illness, medical condition, or disability is said to be complex and lengthy, and there is a lack of awareness of the support available for employees and their managers during the accommodation process.

Action 3

We will continue to build awareness in employees and managers by:

  • working with providers to ensure that they comply with our accessibility technology requirements (for example, adaptive technology);
  • developing additional support tools where needed as we evolve for the workplace of the future;
  • promoting the Informal Conflict Resolution (ICR) Program and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to support employees as they are dealing with change related to an accommodation plan or a solution;
  • identifying and putting methods in place to reduce response time for requests for accommodation due to injury, illness, medical condition, or disability;
  • reviewing and creating efficiencies, whenever possible, for workplace accommodations;
  • review the process for employees to obtain adaptive technology in order to find efficiencies and reduce wait times for employees to be accommodated; and,
  • perform a needs analysis to determine the need for potential increase of the procurement and inventory of adaptive technology solutions to support new and existing employees requiring adaptive technology accommodations.

Progress update: We acknowledge that the accommodation process can be complex and lengthy for employees, and falls short of the experience they expect. Therefore, we are committed to continuing to look for opportunities to speed up the accommodations process.

We delivered five general information sessions over the reporting period and revised our onboarding processes for persons with disabilities. As well, we are currently developing training modules on the duty to accommodate and disability management. We expect the modules to be available by the end of 2023.

We are also working with providers to ensure we integrate accessible technology throughout our operations. For example, we are taking steps to ensure that external language training providers use MS Teams, which allows the use of accessible technology, and that future providers’ technology meets our requirements.

We have published new information on accommodations for a variety of different areas. This information includes manager-specific information and training materials on the workplace accommodations process. As well, we have put in place measures to make sure existing accommodations plans and adaptive technologies move with employees.

Status: On track

Timeline: Annual updates in December 2023, December 2024, and December 2025

Action 4

We will implement best practices in assessment accommodations by:

  • developing content on assessment accommodations for our public web pages to increase awareness and understanding;
  • promoting the use of inclusive language, accessible documents, and universal design in assessments;
  • learning from best practices related to assessment accommodations and further expanding guidelines for administering tests; and,
  • identifying how our assessment accommodation process could use the Government of Canada Accessibility Passport.

Progress update: We have developed and published content on assessment accommodations on our external web pages, including an information sheet on accommodation during an assessment. Also, we have launched a new semi-standardized tool, the CRA Writing Task Assessment, to assess written communication. We developed this tool according to universal design principles.

We are redesigning our existing staffing tools to be more accessible and are creating new accessible tools. In addition, se are reviewing staffing feedback mechanisms to ensure materials are accessible and use clear, plain language. This will help us ensure human resource processes are fair and free of bias.

We have thoroughly reviewed the Accessibility Passport and met with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to discuss how we and the federal public service should use it. We proposed adding questions related to accommodations, which Treasury Board will consider when it reviews the Passport.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2024

Action 5

We will support the use of fair and inclusive standardized assessments during staffing processes by:

  • working with assessment providers to ensure they meet our accessibility technology requirements;
  • identifying accessibility barriers experienced by those taking standardized assessments, in consultation with the CRA Persons with Disabilities Network; and,
  • developing stronger, future accessibility and accommodation requirements for CRA’s assessment providers.

Progress update: We are working with assessment providers to develop stronger accessibility features and requirements in our assessment platforms. In addition, we are now working to address potential barriers and find ways to align with the new accessibility standards, including offering supplementary time options as accommodation measures.

We are reviewing, in consultation with the Persons with Disabilities Network, our standardized assessments to identify accessibility barriers experienced by those taking standardized assessments.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2025

Barrier 4: Accommodation needs are not following employees from position to position.

Action 6

To close this gap, we will affirm that accommodation, when possible, follows an employee without them having to resubmit an accommodation request. When they move to a new team or position, their supervisor will review their existing accommodation needs against the new job duties and will ensure the appropriate accommodation measures are put in place.

Progress update: We created an accommodation process for employees that follows them from position to position, without the need to resubmit an accommodation request. In addition, we shared information for managers detailing how accommodation measures move with an employee, when possible, throughout their career with us or within the federal public service.

Status: Completed

Timeline: March 2023

Action 7

We will determine how to integrate the concept of the Government of Canada Accessibility Passport in our process for accommodating injury, illness, medical condition, or disability. We will do this by considering the existing Individual Accommodation Plan (IAP) we use in our process. Both tools can move with an employee to another position within the CRA or another department and can be used to start the conversation about accommodation needs.

Progress update: We continue to use our own IAP and assess how to integrate the electronic version of the Accessibility Passport (not yet available) with our existing processes. The IAP serves a purpose similar to the Passport; our employees may use the paper version of the Passport and human resources agents who help with accommodations can work with it in the CRA.

Status: Delayed because of the postponed launch of an electronic version of the Government of Canada’s Workplace Accessibility Passport.

Original Timeline: June 2023

  • Revised: December 2024
Barrier 5: The current forms and processes to interact with the compensation program are not accessible to all employees.

Action 8

We will replace 14 compensation based webforms and processes with the Compensation Digital Modernization Project. This project includes new fully accessible processes that will be accessible for users of adaptive technology. Once this is completed, web forms and forms-based processes used to interact with the compensation program will be fully accessible to users of adaptive technology.

Progress update: We made eight of the 14 flagged compensation-based webforms fully accessible. And we are working to make two of the four identified processes fully accessible by early 2024. We will complete the remaining six webforms and two processes before the end of December 2024.

We have made all service requests under the Compensation Digital Modernization Project accessible to people who use adaptive technology. Plans are in place to launch an educational campaign on this project once all of the compensation-based webforms and processes within this project are fully accessible. Our branches are collaborating to ensure we complete this action by the end of December 2024.

Status: Delayed due to co-dependencies.

Original Timeline: The first four processes will be implemented by the end of December 2022. Remaining processes will be implemented in a series of launches that will be completed by March 2024.

  • Revised: The first four processes will be implemented by early 2024. Remaining processes will be implemented in a series of launches that will be completed by the end of December 2024

7.2 The built environment

The built environment refers to all CRA-occupied buildings, including how employees use physical workspaces and how the public accesses these buildings when needed.

Barrier 6: Although all CRA buildings have been fit-up to meet barrier-free building codes, not all CRA buildings are fully accessible since the codes are a minimum requirement. This creates barriers when moving through the workspace, accessing the building, and interacting within the space.

Action 9

To meet the goals of the Act, we will evaluate the built environment to ensure that it meets accessibility standards as defined by Accessible Standards Canada. We will also look to determine where we can make accessibility enhancements in all our spaces and how the built environment can positively affect the workplace of the future. We will do this by:

  • consulting continually with the CRA’s Persons with Disabilities Network; and,
  • working on short, medium, and long-term initiatives with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) as our service provider. Together with PSPC, we will make sure we are in line with the PSPC strategy, Accessible Standards Canada’s requirements, and our accessibility goals for the built environment.

Progress update: The CRA is working with the Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to determine the current state of accessibility at all of its buildings by the end of March 2024. To date, the PSPC has performed accessibility assessments in all CRA occupied crown-owned buildings with the exception of one building (4695 Boulevard de Shawinigan-Sud, Shawinigan QC) which are undergoing major re-capitalization by PSPC.

We will use the PSPC’s findings to design parts of our accessibility strategy for improvements. We are meeting regularly with the Persons with Disabilities Network to discuss accessibility elements and provide status updates on accessibility matters.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2024

Action 10

We will plan improvements to the built environment that we can achieve in the short-and medium-term, such as:

  • installing automatic door openers;
  • installing touchless equipment in washrooms;
  • re-evaluating lighting;
  • installing way-finding systems and signage components, such as QR codes, NFC tags, and Braille signage;
  • installing sensory elements, including visual alarms for employees with hearing disabilities (such as visual alarms); and,
  • for new projects, review how to improve circulation space for employees with mobility disabilities (more circulation space surrounding tables in meeting rooms, widths of corridors, and aisles etc.).

The examination, analysis, and alignment with the PSPC strategy will be completed and a planned approach for accessibility enhancements in line with PSPC will be in place.

Progress update: We completed an examination, analysis, and alignment with the PSPC strategy. We found that we align with the PSPC on general principles such as our commitment to remove barriers for persons with disabilities and to have ongoing consultations with representatives from the persons with disabilities community. As well, we align with the PSPC in our commitment to assess the built environment to ensure it not only meets but also exceeds existing standards.

The CRA will continue to work with PSPC to align the planning and implementation of accessibility elements that impact the base building. In the meantime, the CRA is exploring the possibility of incorporating changes, including installing:

  • automatic door openers;
  • touchless equipment in washrooms;
  • way-finding systems and signage components, such as QR codes, NFC tags, and Braille signage; and
  • sensory elements such as visual alarms for employees with hearing disabilities.

Status: On track

Timeline: Analyze alignment with PSPC’s strategy by March 2023; plan approach to implement accessibility enhancements in alignment with PSPC by March 2024.

Action 11

We will upgrade our agency’s fit-up standards to include accessibility items that are over and above minimum requirements based on how we intend to enhance accessibility for employees through consultations with the Persons with Disabilities Network. A plan to respond to recommendations made by the Network will be developed.

Progress update: We are continuing to work on analyzing accessibility enhancements to determine what would be considered over and above the minimum requirements to make recommendations on changes to our fit-up standards. Plans are in place to explore accessibility enhancements related to all access washrooms, automatic door openers, lighting, way-finding and visual alarms.

Status: On track

Timeline: Provide recommendations by March 2024 and develop an Action Plan by March 2025.

Barrier 7: CRA employees who are blind, partially sighted, deaf, or hard of hearing have to rely on their manager or colleagues to get information about the status of their building.

Action 12

We will acquire and deploy a new mass-notification system that is fully accessible for all employees. The system will include different options, such as TTY, email, text message, automated phone call, and mobile application with push notifications, to receive notifications about the status of our buildings. This way, employees will not need to rely on colleagues or management to get information about building status.

Progress update: We acquired a new mass-notification system for all employees and deployed it across the CRA using a staggered approach. The deployment began in October 2023 in the Atlantic Region and finished in the National Capital Region in November 2023.

The system makes communications with employees more efficient, consistent, and accessible. As well, it addresses communication and accessibility gaps to ensure effective and timely communications.

The new system features automatic registry and the ability to select notification preferences from the following options:

  • teletypewriter (TTY)
  • email
  • text message
  • automated phone call, and
  • push notifications in the mobile application (iOS and Android)

Following the successful deployment of the notification system, some accessibility barriers have been identified. The CRA is working to resolve these issues as soon as possible, and a target completion date of March 31, 2024 has been set to ensure that the system is fully accessible.

Status: Delayed

Timeline: December 2023

  • Revised: March 2024

7.3 Information and communication technologies

Actions in the information and communication technologies (ICT) section aim to create a barrier-free digital environment accessible and useable by all CRA employees and clients.

Barrier 8: Internal and external-facing dynamic ICT solutions are not accessible to all users.

Action 13

Over the next three years, we will:

  • complete our review of existing applications to identify existing barriers and work to remove them to make these solutions accessible to all users;
  • research, procure, certify, and deploy accessibility development and testing tools to better enable IT developers to effectively build accessible ICT solutions;
  • issue requests for proposals for enterprise-wide automated accessibility testing solutions to help better identify existing accessibility barriers in ICT solutions; and,
  • work toward making 60% of all internal-facing dynamic ICT accessible to all users by December 2025 and making all ICT accessible to all users by December 2029.

Progress update: We evaluated a representative sample of existing ICT solutions to get a broad view and understanding of the barriers, and the efforts required to make them accessible.

Plans are in place to develop, procure, certify, and deploy applications that centrally track and monitor progress on removing accessibility barriers. We are in the process of securing agency-wide automated accessibility testing solutions. These solutions will help us to better identify existing accessibility barriers in ICT solutions, make them accessible, and support accessible ICT solutions from the start.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

Action 14

We will develop and implement an accessibility compliance, auditing, and tracking system. This system will give CRA employees, IT solution owners, and senior management a single point of entry to report, prioritize, and address accessibility barriers found in our IT solutions.

Progress update: We are in the initial stages of putting an accessibility compliance, auditing, and tracking system in place that we will continue to improve and maintain. The system will give our employees a centralized platform to:

  • report accessibility barriers encountered within IT solutions
  • provide active feedback loops on the progress of removing reported barriers, and
  • track barriers, including those we find when we are in the development phases

Status: Delayed. To ensure the new feedback system is strong enough to integrate into existing reporting system, we need additional resources. Therefore, we have adjusted  the scope of the project.

Timeline: September 2023

  • Revised: March 2024

Action 15

We will review accessibility testing and development tool requirements. As well, we will evaluate, update, and purchase testing and development tools, as required, to ensure that effective testing and development tools are available to create accessible ICT.

Progress update: We are continually looking at accessibility testing and development tools, as well as monitoring the industry, to determine if there are new tools that could help us identify, prevent, and remove barriers within our ICT solutions.

Throughout the year, we review our testing and development tools. When required, we update them to ensure they are current with industry standards. We also develop training material and guides to ensure users know how to use the tools to test accessibility.

Plans are in place to support and keep current on new accessibility testing and development tools. This will ensure we optimally integrate accessibility testing into our software development lifecycle.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

Barrier 9: Accessibility is not fully integrated into our IT governance and policy instruments.

Action 16

We will ensure we incorporate accessibility into ICT governance and corporate policy instruments (directives, standards, and guidelines). This will be consistent with an agency-wide approach to reviewing our policies, directives, programs, service delivery channels, and operational procedures in addition to ensuring we include persons with disabilities into the process whenever possible.

Progress update: We continue to incorporate accessibility into our ICT governance and corporate policy directives, standards, and guidelines to set out functional accessibility requirements that apply to our ICT products and services. Also, we are working with the Persons with Disabilities Network to ensure that current ICT solutions, as well as any solutions we procure or develop in the future, are accessible to all users.

Plans are in place to ensure we meet and exceed our objectives. These plans include establishing a Director-level ICT Accessibility steering committee and a Director General-level ICT Accessibility steering committee to integrate accessibility into our overall IT governance structures.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

Action 17

We will add project gating frameworks for accessibility into IT solution repositories, update the software certification process to include accessibility assessments, develop accessibility statement guidelines for IT solutions, and ensure we include persons with disabilities into the process whenever possible.

Progress update: We are reviewing our IT solution repositories and certification processes to determine the best way to integrate accessibility. We will develop accessibility statement guidelines as soon as we receive information from the Treasury Board regarding guidance and requirements.

Plans are in place to directly embed accessibility into our governance frameworks for IT solutions and ensure we actively consult persons with disabilities in the development process of all ICT solutions that are under way.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

Barrier 10: Static content in internal- and external-facing static ICT solutions is not accessible to all users.

Action 18

We will complete our review of existing static ICT solutions to identify and remove existing barriers and make static ICT solutions accessible to all users. We will do this by:

  • setting baselines through an updated web accessibility assessment;
  • updating, creating, and documenting a process for ongoing IT audits (manual and automatic testing);
  • expanding user experience methodology to include testing with people with disabilities; and,
  • ensuring we consider accessibility at every step of our design and production processes.

Progress update: We are running testing and training processes on our internal and external web pages to help us to form a plan to eliminate accessibility barriers. We are currently resolving issues as they arise to lessen overall risks.

Plans are in place to ensure we write and design all new pages with accessibility in mind so that they are free of accessibility barriers.

Status: Delayed because of a lack of dedicated resources, the large number of web pages and documents with issues that we need to address, the requirement for more training, and the delay in putting a more robust testing or scanning tool in place. By December 2025, we will have established baselines and increased training and knowledge; but, we  realize we will need to include  further action in our next accessibility plan.

Timeline: June 2023

  • Revised: December 2025

Action 19

We will put a process in place to ensure that new static content design patterns (internal and external) are accessible by design and that these design patterns and components follow consistent accessibility standards and are tested for accessibility compliance before deployment.

Progress update: We are establishing processes to ensure the design patterns for new static web content are accessible and to test these patterns for accessibility compliance before using them. In addition, we are training employees on accessible design and using accessible templates for new web content.

Plans are in place to establish baselines, increase training, and address the challenges encountered, and to streamline processes and improve data collection.

Status: Delayed because of limited resources, and the speed of deployment of training and best practices.

Timeline: June 2023

  • Revised: December 2025

Action 20

We will ensure that accessibility is integrated into our guidance materials by including accessibility guidelines in our User-Centered Design Guide for static content design and UX research and testing. This will build a culture of accessibility and guide accessible design.

Progress update: We, with the help of third-party vendors and testing with persons with disabilities, are working to improve and test the overall user experience (UX) on our web pages so we can make navigation easier, simplify their design, and make sure we can easily integrate assistive technologies with the content.

We completed an update to our User-Centered Design Guide, which is currently under review before it is released. In the meantime, we are exploring solutions for areas where we identified significant issues to ensure clients have fair access to information. Plans are in place to promote and install built-in accessibility features into our operating systems.

Status: Delayed because of limited resources and training.

Timeline: June 2023

  • Revised: December 2023

7.4 Communications

Communications, other than ICT, focuses on applying plain language, mailing letters, and communicating with the public.

Barrier 11: Internal and public communication products are not accessible to all users.

Action 21

The CRA will improve the accessibility of internal and external communications materials by:

  • improving accessibility for agency-wide internal and external communications, such as ensuring they are concise and use consistent formatting, providing transcripts or alt-text for videos and graphic elements for our internal and external web pages, and ensuring visual elements are accessible;
  • reviewing key communications materials to identify gaps in providing accessible communications;
  • co-creating communications materials with people with disabilities for people with disabilities;
  • improving awareness that information is available in alternate formats when requested (for example, in response to access to information requests); and,
  • providing accessible options such as sign language interpretation, closed captioning and simultaneous interpretation (including for events such as focus groups, town halls, webinars, and ministerial events).

Progress update: We are identifying accessibility gaps in our information products and creating a multi-year action plan to ensure all content and communications products are fully accessible and easily understood.

In collaboration with the Persons with Disabilities Network, work is under way to improve the accessibility of our communications products, as well as design a designated external web page for persons with disabilities that links to our main page.

We launched a new corporate look, which includes fully accessible templates, and will launch accessibility training courses that all regions and branches can use. Plans are in place to:

  • create videos in accessible formats to educate users on how to navigate forms and guides
  • provide information on benefits and credits for persons with disabilities through videos in accessible formats
  • ensure alternate formats are well promoted in all communications products, and
  • assess the possibility of designing fillable documents in a large-print format

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2024

Barrier 12: Lack of plain language in internal and public communications materials.

Action 22

We will ensure we use plain language for internal and public communications by:

  • improving plain language in all levels of public communications. This includes ensuring that we write speeches and media responses in plain language and that they are accessible; and,
  • making sure we prioritize optimizing content for highly accessed services.

Progress update: We are conducting plain language reviews on all internal and external communications products to ensure they are easy to understand. In addition, we are reviewing our most accessed online pages– with a focus on simplifying language, improving content organization, and using common labels for content.

We are currently optimizing the newly simplified content on highly accessed services and testing it with the public to gauge whether the changes have a positive impact on accessibility.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

Barrier 13: External consultations and stakeholder engagement exercises are not always fully accessible.

Action 23

We will conduct a review of our external consultations and stakeholder engagement exercises to ensure they are accessible. The review will identify actionable items for continuous improvement to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to participation for persons with disabilities, including offering sign language (ASL and LSQ) interpretation for our activities.

Progress update: We are reviewing all our activities to identify how we can improve the accessibility of our consultations and stakeholder engagement exercises. Further, we:

  1. drafted a plan that includes actions to improve the accessibility of consultations and stakeholder engagement exercises
  2. drafted a new guide for our Consultations and Stakeholder Engagement Centre of Expertise to help employees better serve clients and ensure accessibility, and
  3. added an accessibility section in our templates for stakeholder engagement and consultation plans with clients

Plans are in place to include evaluations to determine whether participant accessibility needs were met and to identify areas for improvement.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2024

7.5 The procurement of goods, services, and facilities

The procurement of goods, services, and facilities refers to how the CRA acquires and purchases goods, services, or other items.

Barrier 14: Lack of knowledge and resources about accessible procurement for CRA employees and potential vendors.

Action 24

We will strengthen the information available to employees and vendors about accessible procurement by:

  • communicating obligations under the Act to our vendors, acquisition and credit card holders, external stakeholders, and external industry to increase awareness; and,
  • sending letters to active vendors specifying our accessibility obligations to increase awareness and signal the need for change to signal the need for them to consider that the CRA will seek to procure accessible products and services that support (and align with) its legislative obligations under the Act.

Progress update: We sent out letters setting out the obligations under the Accessible Canada Act to all active vendors whose electronic contact information is readily available. Upon further analysis, we determined that there is no feasible way to reach all the active vendors who don’t have electronic contact information. With this in mind, we have changed our approach:

  • We will include in all the solicitation documents we publicly post similar text to the letters we sent out. The solicitation documents will outline that we will seek to procure accessible products and services that support (and align with) our legislative obligations under the Accessible Canada Act
  • The text in the solicitation documents, however, will go further and invite vendors to submit any accessibility issues or concerns they have about the documents or any of the related requirements in those documents
  • Targeting prospective vendors is a more effective strategy because we have limited discretion to change existing contracts with current active vendors to incorporate accessibility requirements

Plans are in place to publish a similar notice on our external web pages, communicating our obligations under the Act to all vendors, acquisition and credit card holders, and external industries. The notice will increase awareness that we are seeking to procure accessible products and services that support (and align with) our legislative obligations under the Act.

Status: Revised commitment; On Track.

Timeline: Letters sent to 100% of active CRA vendors by March 31, 2023.

  • Revised: Publish an accessibility obligations notice on our external web pages by March 2024

Action 25

We will provide direction to acquisition card holders and cost centre managers to consider accessibility, particularly when renting facilities for off site meetings or events. Communications will be sent to all acquisition card holders and cost centre managers by March 31, 2024, and cyclical reminders will be sent thereafter.

Progress update: We are developing communications for all acquisition card holders and cost centre managers to highlight their responsibilities for considering accessibility in any procurement activities they process outside of a contract. Plans are in place to have internal branches review the communication and get their feedback before we share it.

We are reviewing current training materials for acquisition card holders and cost centre managers to determine whether we need to update them to address accessibility in our procurement process.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2024

Action 26

We will ensure procurement documents are available in accessible formats and convert any inaccessible documents as required. 100% of internal and external procurement templates and documents will be converted to accessible formats by March 31, 2024.

Progress update: We converted 100% of our templates for external procurement documents into accessible formats and are working to identify if we need to convert any remaining internal documents. As well, we are developing guidance materials to support employees in ensuring documents continue to be accessible.

We are developing communications products for contracting officers and cost centre managers to inform them of the transition to accessible procurement documents and highlight their responsibilities. As well, these products will establish an oversight and review process for ensuring that solicitations published as of the 2024‑25 fiscal year are accessible.

Status: On track

Timeline: March 2024

7.6 The design and delivery of programs and services

The design and delivery of programs and services, whether they be internal or external, must be fully accessible to all.

Barrier 15: The disability tax credit (DTC) application process can be burdensome for persons with disabilities and medical practitioners. An electronic means of submitting DTC applications would streamline the process and remove some of these barriers.

Action 27

We will make the DTC application process digital to help applicants access the DTC, as well as reduce the potential for problems that may delay eligibility decisions or cause appeals. We will do this by:

  • making sure DTC applicants will be able to complete their portion of the application form online. If they do not have access to online services, they will be able to complete their portion of the form over the phone. After completing the form, we will send them a unique reference number and instruct them to give it to their medical practitioner;
  • ensuring that medical practitioners can use the same digital application process and that they can digitally transmit data to us in a secure online session;
  • completing our current plain language review of the DTC text. The DTC program will transition all of its external correspondence to a more modern letter creation system, which most of our other tax programs now use. The new system offers several advantages over the older system, including:
    • allowing DTC correspondence to be sent digitally;
    • an e-notification feature that mail is ready for applicants to review;
    • ensures that all correspondence is accessible in the MyAccount portal; and,
  • measuring client satisfaction and collecting suggestions for future development through the feedback mechanism.

Progress update: We made the DTC fully accessible to applicants and medical practitioners in May 2023. Applicants can fill out their portion of the application either online or over the phone. Medical practitioners can use the same digital application process to transmit data to us. Those without internet access can complete the process by phone, either with the support of a telephone agent or by using automated voice services.

We launched an accessible feedback tool in May 2023 to measure applicant and medical practitioner satisfaction and collect suggestions to continue to improve the DTC. As well, we improved external DTC correspondence by using new letter templates designed to improve the accessibility, structure, language, tone, content, and readability of our letters.

Plans are in place to update the accessibility feedback tool in December 2023 to capture information specifically about the digital process.

Status: Completed

Timeline:

  • The DTC application is deemed to be fully accessible by Spring 2023.
  • A feedback mechanism to measure client satisfaction and collect feedback to improve DTC online application will be implemented by Spring 2023.
Barrier 16: Persons with disabilities experience challenges when interacting with us, including when speaking with our contact centre agents.

Action 28

We will start reviewing the channels used by clients to contact us to better identify accessibility barriers and address gaps as part of our work on the modernization of contact centres and our whole-of-agency approach to prioritizing and executing service improvements that are accessible for everyone.

Progress update: We are reviewing our internal and external communications channels to identify accessibility barriers, address service gaps, and better prioritize and execute accessible service improvements. This review includes our phone lines (attended and self-service), teletypewriter (TTY), click-to-talk services, and online chat.

Also, we will launch a direct line for video relay service (VRS) users to our individual tax enquiries line before the 2024 tax season. We are planning to implement this improved service for deaf and hard of hearing individuals as result of the feedback we received from persons with disabilities.

Status: On track

Timeline: Review of channels to be completed by March 2024, including a prioritized list of initial actions, policy or procedural changes required to remove barriers.

Action 29

With the support of an external contractor, we will identify internal accessibility barriers related to the individual and business tax and benefit enquiries contact centres. This work will lead to an in-depth report about the state of Contact Centre systems and processes, as well as a roadmap demonstrating the most appropriate way to move forward in remedying identified issues.

Progress update: Working with an external contractor, we completed our assessment of internal accessibility barriers related to the individual and business tax and benefit enquiries contact centres. We found that we needed to fix font and colour schemes, provide training on adaptive technology and accessibility, and address outdated technology that creates accessibility barriers for persons with disabilities.

Plans are in place to expand on these findings and establish stronger accessibility requirements for contact centre technologies, training, and internal processes.

Status: Completed

Timeline: In-depth report on the state of contact centre systems/processes will be finalized, including a roadmap to address issues identified in the report by February 2023

Barrier 17: Persons with disabilities who use assistive technology are limited in their options to contact us online. As a result, they may not be able to access services.

Action 30

We will strengthen our online service offerings by:

  • introducing chat services, including a chatbot and a live agent chat service, that have the necessary features that persons with vision, hearing, and cognitive disabilities can use successfully;
  • identifying common barriers between chatbots and live agent chat services, identifying the accessibility features that will remedy these barriers, and developing accessible business requirements for IT;
  • recruiting testers with disabilities to test the accessibility level of the chatbot during all stages of development and to provide feedback based on their personal experiences; and
  • dedicating IT accessibility testing teams to test the internal and external user interfaces for the live agent chat service.

Progress update: We identified and logged accessibility barriers between the chatbot, online chat services, and live agents. After reviewing these barriers, we developed accessibility features that will fix these barriers along with an action plan to continually address and identify accessibility gaps.

We have used responses related to accessibility from users’ post-chat surveys to improve our overall online service experience. Plans are in place to further engage with Canada Revenue Agency employees to help guide additional accessibility requirements. As well, we will conduct environmental scans with other tax administrations and government departments to gather best practices and lessons learned about accessibility considerations.

Status: Delayed because of the complexity of new technologies and extensive consultation and testing required.

Timelines: August 2023 (Chatbot) and October 2023 (online chat)

  • Revised: Summer/Fall 2024 (Chatbot) and May 2024 (online chat)
Barrier 18: Few alternatives for providing consent and authorizing a representative.

Action 31

We will find other accommodation measures to serve external clients who are unable to sign forms or represent themselves using our current approaches. We will do this by:

  • evaluating requirements for legal validation;
  • finding a viable way for clients to give consent, for example, in the presence of a witness; and,
  • updating our process to authorize a representative: while there are options that do not require a legal document, many families or guardians have had to pay to get a power of attorney.

Progress update: We are reviewing our requirements for providing consent and authorizing a representative to find accessible accommodations measures. By consulting with the Persons with Disabilities Network and the User Experience Research and Design team, we have identified alternatives to authorizing third-party representatives.

We designed awareness campaigns to better inform stakeholder groups of current alternative options until we complete updates to alternative ways to authorize third-party representatives.

Status: On track

Timeline: June 2025

  • Communications on alternate options for authorization will be issued, including persons with disabilities. The first phase to promote current options completed by September 2023.
  • By November 2024, an options analysis of alternatives to provide secure and accessible authorization options will be completed, developed through engagement with stakeholders including persons with disabilities.
  • A Roadmap to implement the secure solutions identified will be completed by June 2025.
Barrier 19: Not all persons with disabilities can contact us to provide feedback or make a complaint about the accessibility of CRA programs or services.

Action 32

We will ensure that Service Complaints Program webform is available and accessible to all, including persons with disabilities, and will complete a review of the program and of its service delivery channels to ensure they meet the requirements of the Act.

Progress update: We reviewed the Service Complaints Program web form and the Program’s service delivery channels and found that they meet accessibility standards. The Program’s web form, RC193 Service Feedback, is available and accessible to all, including persons with disabilities.

Status: Completed

Timeline: March 2023

Action 33

We will make the Service Complaints process and its associated forms fully accessible, including internal procedures manuals used by employees. Processes and forms will be reviewed with stakeholders and content developers to find interim and long-term solutions to address identified accessibility barriers.

Progress update: We are analyzing accessibility issues associated with its service complaints process, in collaboration with key partners and content developers. And we are developing new and accessible training products for employees.

We are exploring the possibility of moving from mainly Word documents to web-based material, which is more user-centric and accessible.

Plans are in place to take the lessons learned from addressing the accessibility issues found in the training needs analysis and apply them to the review procedures manuals and work tools.

Status: Delayed because of the volume of accessibility issues identified and delays in developing an updated learning tool for new officers. We need more time to create and review the procedures manuals and work tools and to make them fully accessible.

Timeline: March 2023

  • Revised: September 2024
Barrier 20: Accessibility is not fully integrated into all of our corporate policies, directives, decision-making processes, and procedures.

Action 34

We will review all of our corporate policies to identify which policy instruments do not include accessibility components and how we can fulfill any identified gaps. As well, we will review our decision-making processes, including those for investments.

Progress update: In collaboration with the Persons with Disabilities Network, we are reviewing our corporate policies and decision-making processes to identify accessibility gaps.

We are incorporating the necessary changes to ensure that accessibility of corporate policy instruments is part of the instruments’ scheduled review cycles. As well, we revised the existing templates and conducted our annual review of the Foundation Framework for Corporate Policy to ensure the policy integrates accessibility.

Status: On Track

Timeline: March 2025

Action 35

We will deliver our Integrated Service Strategy, which establishes accessibility for everyone as a principle in whole-of-agency service improvements.

Progress update: We developed an Integrated Service Strategy to ensure that we incorporate an accessibility lens when assessing and developing solutions to lessen any negative impacts and unintended barriers to persons with disabilities. The Integrated Service Strategy is a whole-of-agency approach to service improvement as a way to deliver more seamless client experiences with the intention of creating fully accessible services. 

We will measure, monitor, and report on the impacts of implementing this strategy, with oversight from the Board of Management. As we put the Strategy in place, we will engage persons with disabilities and ensure that their lived experiences help shape the future of our approach to service.

Status: Completed

Timeline: April 2023

Barrier 21: Many documents and manuals that the CRA produces do not offer accessibility information or are not offered in accessible formats.

Action 36

We will work to ensure that all documents and resources are fully accessible through the following actions:

  • reviewing forms and processes to find interim and long-term solutions to address identified accessibility barriers;
  • making sure we test user experience content for accessibility in keeping with Treasury Board’s direction and best practices;
  • making sure we offer risk assessment documents in an alternate format; and,
  • using accessible infographics in future statistical reports to make web published data and Open Government reports clearer and more effective to Canadians and to ensure all content is fully accessible.

Progress update: We are reviewing forms and procedures, testing user experience content (such as our web pages and the text, images, graphics, tables, reports, and web forms found online), and ensuring that reports published since December 2022 use accessible infographics by including alt-text for images.

We continue to ensure that agency-wide security awareness tools and resources are made available in accessible formats for all CRA employees.

Status: Delayed because of the volume of content with identified accessibility issues. 

Timeline: March 2024

  • Revised: July 2024

7.7 Transportation

Transportation at the CRA mainly refers to the vehicles it owns, leases, or rents (also known as a “fleet”) that run between its offices, tax centres and other buildings; for example, trucks that it uses to deliver mail between tax centres and offices.

Barrier 22: Accessibility is currently not considered as part of the development and maintenance of fleet management tools and forms.

Action 37

We will support the creation of accessible tools and resources to manage our fleet by:

  • updating the supporting forms and tools;
  • reviewing fleet management forms and tools to integrate accessibility considerations (for example, the business case for acquiring vehicles); and,
  • making sure that the other tools or documents we use to support fleet management are accessible (for example, authorization or taxable benefits forms and logbooks).

Progress update: We reviewed our fleet management forms and tools to ensure the tools and documents used to support fleet management are accessible. Through this review, we flagged four fleet-related forms as in need of conversion to accessible format; we have converted and published three of these forms.

Status: On track

Timeline: Convert 100% of fleet management forms and tools to accessible format by March 31, 2024.

8. Training and Learning on Accessibility

Training and learning on accessibility is crucial for the CRA to become a fully accessible organization. With comprehensive accessibility training, CRA employees will have the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to address accessibility barriers and create accessible experiences for all. With this in mind, the CRA’s Accessibility Plan also made important commitments for the CRA to invest in training and learning on accessibility:

Barrier 23: Insufficient training for CRA employees, managers and executives on how to design and provide barrier-free internal and external services.

Action 38

We recognize how important it is to make sure that clients and employees with disabilities feel respected, understood, and welcomed. We will improve the service provided to persons with disabilities by:

  • identifying ways to include accessibility awareness training and other specialized training in the learning paths of employees, particularly front-line employees who provide services to the public and those who deliver internal services.
  • using accessible online or group training tools to raise awareness of the lived experiences of those with visible and non-visible disabilities.

Progress update: We are working with the Persons with Disabilities Network to develop and promote accessibility awareness initiatives that reflect the needs of persons with disabilities. With this in mind, we are focusing on highlighting the lived experiences of persons with disabilities and hosting mentoring sessions. We conducted  10 mentoring events that included 45 mentors from the Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Networks (EEDI) and close to 200 managers and executives. Most of the attendees said they gained a better understanding of the challenges faced by members of the EEDI groups and as a result felt better equipped to take action to creating a more inclusive environment.

We will launch training and tools for employees to bring awareness to the biases they may have about disability to encourage inclusive and fair interactions with clients and employees. Plans are also in place to deliver targeted training opportunities to increase awareness of management’s responsibilities with respect to employees with disabilities and to provide all employees with an opportunity to discover new ways of instilling accessibility in their work.

We are planning to launch a series of Accessibility 101 training videos aimed at building awareness of disabilities, including non-visible disabilities. We are currently working with subject matter experts, including the Persons with Disabilities Network, to develop this series.

Status: On track

Timeline: We will continually develop and publish products throughout 2023 and 2024.

Action 39

We will provide all employees with relevant accessibility knowledge and tools to provide services to persons with disabilities, whether they be CRA employees or members of the public. This work will include:

  • ensuring that procedural manuals contain the necessary information or links to information required to guide program officers in treating service feedback received from persons with disabilities;
  • creating an Accessibility Hub, which will house recommended resources for CRA employees in designing and delivering accessible programs and services;
  • creating a specialized training program for the compensation centre employees on providing accessible services, co-created with persons with disabilities; and,
  • expanding training offerings related to the Duty to Accommodate for both managers and employees.

Progress update: We are reviewing our procedural manuals, creating specialized training for compensation centre employees, and expanding on training related to the Duty to Accommodate.

As well, we are building an Accessibility Hub that will act as a central repository for information, tools, resources, and updates related to accessibility. The Hub will support employees in fostering a culture of accessibility by:

  • centralizing information about accessibility inclusion
  • curating content for learning development to address training gaps and facilitate employee learning and awareness on accessibility
  • featuring relevant program areas and networks that directly support the accessibility agenda, and
  • highlighting opportunities for employee engagement, including events and consultations

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2024

Action 40

We will launch resources, tools, and guidance for IT employees on IT accessibility. IT employees will have the resources they need to make internal IT solutions accessible. We will do this by:

  • Promoting IT accessibility guidelines internally to IT employees;
  • Providing current and future IT employees with access to IT accessibility training; and,
  • Developing a centralized knowledge base to host all IT accessibility knowledge and promote accessibility to ensure that all IT professionals consider accessibility in all phases of the software development lifecycle.

Progress update: We developed accessibility learning paths and a centralized IT accessibility knowledge base for employees to learn about accessibility, best practices, and how to develop with accessibility in mind.

To stay current with the IT landscape, plans are in place to maintain and update these accessibility learning paths, including “How to Test” guides to ensure that we integrate new learning material and tools as they become available.

Status: Completed

Timeline: September 2023

Action 41

We will launch resources, tools, and guidance for our employees on how to create accessible communications such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and emails. We will equip employees with the resources and information they need to make all communications accessible. We will do this by:

  • promoting accessibility guidelines internally to all employees;
  • making training and support on creating accessible communications available to all employees; and,
  • updating system defaults to enable accessible functionality whenever possible (for example, using accessible fonts, colours, and closed captioning).

Progress update: We are creating training for accessible web content, creating accessible templates and establishing best practices through accessibility guidelines. Plans are in place to implement and promote accessibility features on all operating systems to improve the ways that persons with disabilities interact with our services and products.

We are now including accessibility as a learning priority in our catalogue of learning products for all employees. Work is under way to design on-the-job solutions on how to make accessible documents and host accessible virtual events. As well, we are developing several tools and training materials, including;

  • guides and toolkits for using Microsoft 365 applications in an accessible way (PowerPoint, Word, and Excel)
  • advice and guidance on conducting accessible meetings and events, and
  • best practices and assistance for working with interpreters or requesting their services

Finally, we launched a new corporate look centered on diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. The look includes fully adaptable and versatile easy-to-use templates and icons as well as accessibility guidance and step-by-step instructions.

Status: On track

Timeline: December 2025

Action 42

We will review the existing training offered at the CRA on all topics to assess the degree to which they are accessible and take steps to identify solutions, accommodations or alternatives for training that is not currently accessible.  

Progress update: We reviewed all corporate training for all employees and have begun implementing solutions, accommodations, and alternatives. There are a total of 450 learning products of which 255 (57%) are tagged to be converted to accessible versions. Work continues on reviewing 3,097 French and English branch and regional specific training materials. Due to the amount of barriers identified through this review, implementation of solutions related to the branch and regional specific training materials will require more time than originally anticipated.

Plans are in place to continue to identify solutions and purchase the necessary software to ensure training products are fully accessible.

Status: Delayed due to the scope of the review and limited access to software that can produce accessible products or redesign existing products to ensure they are accessible. Additionally, the solutions require the purchase of new software and to convert or recreate our current products using the new software.

Timeline: December 2023

  • Revised: December 2025

9. Going Beyond the Accessibility Plan

The Canada Revenue Agency continues to work on improving accessibility for both employees and clients, including going beyond the commitments that it has made in its 2022-2023 Accessibility Plan (the Plan). These efforts have an important impact in moving the CRA closer to becoming a barrier-free organization.

Since the Plan was put into place last year, several grassroots accessibility working groups and formal corporate committees to support the CRA’s accessibility goals have been created in Branches and Regions across the CRA. Employees are taking the opportunity to contribute to the CRA’s culture of accessibility, by educating colleagues on what accessibility means and why it is so important. This passion to make meaningful improvements to how the CRA serves persons with disabilities is a tremendous strength, and will make our goal of an accessible Canada by 2040 all the more attainable.

Below are several examples of this accessibility transformation in action:

These improvements highlight that while we are at the beginning of our accessibility journey, employees at all levels are invested in helping ensure that we address accessibility barriers in our programs, services, and functions.

Annex A - Glossary

Accessible Canada Act

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)

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

Source: Summary of the Accessible Canada Act

Accessible Canada Regulations

The Accessible Canada Regulations set out rules and penalties to ensure that organizations abide by the Accessible Canada Act, which stipulates that federally regulated entities must prepare and publish accessibility plans, progress reports, and their feedback processes. Failure to comply with the Act leads to the Regulations being invoked to determine the level of violation and the penalty.

Accessibility plans

The Accessible Canada 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

Source: Summary of the Accessible Canada Act

Accessibility

The degree to which a product, service, program or environment is available to be accessed or used by all.

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Accessibility Centre of Expertise and Agency Secretariat (ACEAS)

The ACEAS serves as the central coordinating body for accessibility at the Canada Revenue Agency and provides organizational leadership and guidance. It works with program and service areas to help them fulfill their legislative obligations under the Accessible Canada Act and foster collaboration across the agency on accessibility in internal and external services.

The ACEAS is responsible for writing the Canada Revenue Agency’s accessibility plans and progress reports, ensuring that feedback mechanisms are in place for accessibility, undertaking consultations with employees and the public, and working with other government departments to share information, best practices, and lessons learned on delivering barrier-free services for Canadians.

Accommodation

The process and implementation of changes to a job, tasks, and/or to the environment in which the job is accomplished that enable employees to perform job duties productively, and maximize participation in the workplace. Accommodation options generally fall under three main categories: adjustments to the work schedule, adjustments to the job duties/activities, and adjustment to the work environment.

Sources: Workplace Management – Glossary of Definitions and Employee accommodation process

Barrier

Anything 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. Barriers can be physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal.

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Change management

Change management refers to the use of a comprehensive and structured approach to prepare and support people to adopt change in order to achieve the intended business results and outcome. Change involves all of us, whether directly or indirectly.

Successful change adoption requires people to modify their behaviours in order to adopt the new tool, process or culture being put in place. In order for projects to be successful, change management recognises the coordination of several key roles in order to achieve the desired outcomes.

Disability type

A form of limitation, be it physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory or other.

In its 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, Statistics Canada used screening questions to identify the following 10 types of disability:

  • seeing
  • hearing
  • mobility
  • flexibility
  • dexterity
  • pain-related
  • learning
  • developmental
  • mental health-related
  • memory

The screening questionnaire also contained a question on any other health problem or condition that has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more. This question was meant to be a catch-all if the 10 disability types did not cover the respondent's situation. This question is associated with an 11th "unknown" disability type.

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Clients

Individuals, businesses or their representatives served by or using services provided by a government department.

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Consultations

Consultation involves communicating with stakeholders to gather comments, opinions, and other information. Stakeholders are the people affected by a policy, program, practice, or service.

Source: adapted from Guidance on the Accessible Canada Regulations - Consulting persons with disabilities

Canada Revenue Agency

Mission

Administer tax, benefits, and related programs, and ensure compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, thereby contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians.

Vision

Trusted, fair, and helpful by putting people first.

Values

  • Integrity - We establish and preserve trust with all stakeholders by applying the law fairly and upholding our standards.
  • Professionalism - We are knowledgeable, accurate, conscientious, innovative, and service-oriented.
  • Respect - We interact with people in a way that makes them feel heard and valued. We listen and respond judiciously.
  • Collaboration - We recognize and act on opportunities to work together to deliver the CRA’s mandate. We consult, and share ideas, fostering innovation to improve the service experience, both internally and externally.

Source: About the Canada Revenue Agency

Department

Any of:

  • the departments named in Schedule I of the Financial Administration Act
  • the divisions or branches of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 of the Financial Administration Act
  • a commission under the Inquiries Act that is designated by order of the Governor in Council as a department for the purposes of this Act
  • the staff of:
    • the Senate
    • the House of Commons
    • the Library of Parliament
    • the Office of the Senate Ethics Officer
    • the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
    • the Parliamentary Protective Service
    • the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
    • any departmental corporation named in Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Disability

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.

Source: Accessible Canada Act

Diversity

The inclusion of different types of people. A diverse workforce in the public service is made up of individuals who have an array of identities, abilities, backgrounds, cultures, skills, perspectives and experiences that are representative of Canada’s current and evolving population.

Source: Building a Diverse and Inclusive Public Service: Final Report of the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion

Employee

Any person employed by a regulated entity described in paragraph 7(1)(e) or (f) of the Accessible Canada Act and includes a dependent contractor as defined in subsection 3(1) of the Canada Labour Code, but excludes:

  1. a person employed under a program designated by the employer as a student employment program, and
  2. a student employed solely during the student’s vacation periods

Source: Accessible Canada Regulations

Feedback

Client feedback is defined in the Policy on Service and Digital as: “Information coming directly from recipients of services about the satisfaction or dissatisfaction they feel with a service or product, and is a critical part of service improvement. It can take several forms, including: in-service client feedback, client satisfaction surveys, user experience testing, and consultations.”

Accessibility feedback is client- or employee-initiated information about the satisfaction or dissatisfaction they encountered relating to the accessibility of Canada Revenue Agency services or products. Ongoing consultations (such as client satisfaction surveys and user experience testing) must also be held by the CRA.

Accessibility feedback process

A process for receiving feedback about the following and for dealing with that feedback:

  1. the manner in which the regulated entity is implementing its accessibility plan, and
  2. the barriers encountered by persons that deal with the regulated entity

Source: Accessible Canada Act, Part 4, subsection 43(1)

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is a process for:

  • understanding who is affected by policies, programs, initiatives, or issues
  • identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted, and
  • anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative

GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Source: What is Gender-based Analysis Plus - Women and Gender Equality Canada

Hiring

Appointments that added to the employee population in the past fiscal year that involve:

  • permanent and term employees
  • terms of three months or more
  • students
  • term employees whose employment status has changed to permanent

Staffing measures the flow of employees into the public service and may include more than one appointment per person per year.

Source: Human Resources Branch, CRA

Inclusion

The act of including someone or something as part of a group. An inclusive workplace is fair, equitable, supportive, welcoming and respectful.

Inclusion recognizes, values and leverages differences in identities, abilities, backgrounds, cultures, skills, experiences and perspectives that support and reinforce Canada’s evolving human rights framework.

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Lived experience

Personal knowledge of the world gained through direct, first-hand interactions in day-to-day contact. The knowledge gained is based on individuals’ perspectives, identities, and personal history as well as how they live and respond to the world around them.

Source: Lived experience - Oxford Reference
Source: Lived experience of people with disabilities | Australian Institute of Family Studies

“Nothing Without Us”

A key principle of the Accessible Canada Act that means that persons with disabilities should be consulted when developing laws, policies, and programs that affect them.

In keeping with this principle, the Government of Canada works with persons with disabilities and organizations that advocate on their behalf to better understand the full diversity of the community it serves.

Source: Guidance on the Accessible Canada Regulations- Consulting persons with disabilities

Neurodivergent/Neurodiverse

Neurodivergent is a term that refers to a person with neurological functioning or behavioural traits that differ from what is considered typical. For example, people with autism, dyslexia, or attention‑deficit/hyperactivity disorder are considered neurodivergent.

The term "neurodiverse" is often mistakenly used to refer to a neurodivergent person. However, "neurodiverse" refers to the variety of neurological traits possessed by a group. Therefore, a person cannot be neurodiverse.

Source: Human Resources Branch, CRA

Persons with disabilities

Persons who have a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and who:

  1. consider themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or

  2. believe that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment

    Persons with disabilities include persons whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace, as well as clients engaging with Canada Revenue Agency programs and services.

Source: adapted from the Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

Note: For the purposes of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Accessibility Plan, a person with a disability is anyone who identifies as having a disability based on the definition in the Accessible Canada Act.

Persons with Disabilities Network

The Canada Revenue Agency’s Persons with Disabilities Network plays an important role in shaping accessibility at our organization. The Network is composed of employees with disabilities who have lived experience with accessibility barriers, have insights and experiences to share in helping remove barriers, and are also taxpayers themselves.

Promotions

An appointment to a position at a higher pay level either within the same occupational group or subgroup or in another group or subgroup.

Source: Glossary: Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada

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