Transcript – Proposed Accessible Canada Act Overview

With the introduction in the House of Commons on June 20, 2018 of Bill C-81: An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada, the Government of Canada has followed through on its commitment to introduce accessibility legislation to bring about real change for Canadians with disabilities in all areas of federal jurisdiction.

If passed, the Accessible Canada Act will lead to more consistent experiences of accessibility across Canada. With the Act, the Government of Canada would eliminate and prevent barriers to accessibility in federal jurisdiction.

This would benefit all Canadians, especially those with disabilities. The bill proposes a framework for developing, implementing, and enforcing accessibility standards in priority areas, and monitoring implementation. To do this, the Government of Canada would create new standards to identify, eliminate and prevent accessibility barriers.

Once adopted into regulations, these standards would promote accessibility in the priority areas we heard about in a public consultation on disability issues: employment; the built environment; information and communication technologies; the procurement of goods and services; the delivery of programs and services; and transportation.

If passed, the bill would create a new organization to develop these standards. The Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization would be the first of its kind in Canada; exclusively dedicated to developing accessibility standards. It would be led by a Board of Directors with the majority of members being persons with a disability.

To develop accessibility standards, the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization would form technical committees that include experts, persons with disabilities and representatives from sectors or organizations that would be required to meet the standards.

Standards would be published and the Government may decide to make them mandatory through regulation. Organizations in the federal jurisdiction - departments, agencies, crown corporations - would be required to prepare an accessibility plan.

These plans would describe the organization's strategies for improving accessibility. Organizations would have to publish the plans, respond to feedback from their employees and customers and publish annual progress reports. The plans would be created in consultation with persons with disabilities as per the principle of "nothing about us, without us".

Responsibility for implementation of the Act would not rest solely with one Minister. The Act would build on the Government's existing expertise and experience in relation to accessibility in the federal passenger transportation network and broadcasting and telecommunications services.

The Minister of Transport and the Canadian Transportation Agency would continue to be responsible for ensuring accessibility for passengers in the federal transportation network, with enhanced mandate responsibilities and powers.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission would continue to be responsible for accessibility in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, with new responsibilities for overseeing accessibility plans and progress reports.

The Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility would be accountable for the implementation of the Act in all other sectors, and would be accountable for accessibility of employment and the built environment across all sectors, including transportation, broadcasting and telecommunications, with the exception of passenger vessels and passenger terminals - which will remain the responsibility of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Given that several ministers would have responsibilities under this Act, a new Chief Accessibility Officer would be appointed by the Governor in Council to advise the Minister and monitor the implementation of the Act across all sectors.

The Chief Accessibility Officer would advise the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility on any emerging or systemic accessibility issues and how to address them.

A new Accessibility Commissioner would be appointed directly by the Governor in Council. This Accessibility Commissioner would be part of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and would be supported by a dedicated Accessibility Unit. The Accessibility Commissioner would perform compliance activities under the Act and related regulations, in sectors other than transportation, broadcasting and telecommunications.

The Act would authorize the Accessibility Commissioner to undertake a number of proactive compliance activities, including inspections, compliance audits, compliance orders, notices of violation, and administrative monetary penalties.

Any individuals who believe they have been harmed as a result of an organization not complying with a requirement of the law would be able to make a complaint to the Accessibility Commissioner, the Canadian Transportation Agency, or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission - or, in the case of federal public servants, to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Employment Board - to seek remedy for the harm they experienced.

Remedies could include reimbursement of expenses and lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering for complaints that are founded. If, for example, a company is non-compliant with a regulation, and a person encounters a barrier on a train as a result, that person would have the opportunity to seek compensation for lost wages and pain and suffering.

The existing complaints process under the Canadian Human Rights Act, which authorizes the Canadian Human Rights Commission to deal with complaints related to discrimination, would not change.

Finally, to demonstrate results for Canadians, all of the organizations involved in implementing the Act would have to report publicly on their activities. And to ensure the Act is achieving its intended purpose, a parliamentary review would be conducted within five years after the first regulation came into force. Five years after the day the parliamentary review is completed, and every tenth anniversary thereafter, the Minister would ensure that an independent review of the Act is conducted.

To coordinate efforts on accessibility, the Government of Canada would collaborate with provinces, territories, municipalities, industry and people with disabilities. This act would complement and build on existing legal protections and rights for people with disabilities such as the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and accessibility Acts in place in several provinces.