Accessibility plans

The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) requires regulated service providers to create, implement and publish an accessibility plan. The purpose of accessibility plans is to create measures to identify, remove and prevent barriers. Accessibility plans should be made in consultation with persons with disabilities, reflect the principles of the ACA and be periodically updated.

Consult the list of providers that notified the CRTC that their initial accessibility plan is available on their website.

Deadlines

Not all service providers have the same deadlines. Providers fall into different “classes” of service that are generally based on the number of their employees. For instance, smaller providers fall into a class of service that has later deadlines than larger providers. See paragraph 4 of Information Bulletin 2022-117 for the definitions of each “class”.

• Classes B1 andT1 and classes B2 and T2: 1 June 2023
• Classes B3 and T3: 1 June 2024
• Classes B4 and T4 and Class T5: No obligation to notify the CRTC that they have published an accessibility plan

Requirements for the accessibility plan

Sections 4 (broadcasting) and 20 (telecom) of the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations (the Regulations) specify that the regulated entity’s accessibility plan must include a header for each of the following elements:

• Subsection 42(1) or 51(1) of the ACA: its policies, programs, practices and services in relation to the identification and removal of barriers, and the prevention of new barriers;
• Subsection 42(5) or 51(5) of the ACA: the manner in which it consulted persons with disabilities in the preparation of the plan;
• Subsection 42(9) or 51(9) of the ACA: how it took into account the principles set out in section 6 of the ACA in the preparation of the plan.

The principles set out in section 6 of the ACA are the following:

1. all persons must be treated with dignity regardless of their disabilities;
2. all persons must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have regardless of their disabilities;
3. all persons must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society, regardless of their disabilities;
4. all persons must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices, with support if they desire, regardless of their disabilities;
5. laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their environments and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by persons;
6. persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws, policies, programs, services and structures; and
7. the development and revision of accessibility standards and the making of regulations must be done with the objective of achieving the highest level of accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Sections 5 (broadcasting) and 21 (telecom) of the Regulations set out the publication requirements for the accessibility plan:

• The entity must publish the accessibility plan on its website, either directly on the homepage or by way of a hyperlink on the homepage;
• The accessibility plan must be in clear, simple and concise language;
• The electronic publication of the accessibility plan must meet the requirements of Level AA conformance as set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

CRTC staff recommends that entities reference all of these elements in their accessibility plan.

How to notify the CRTC of the publication

Service providers must notify us that they have published their accessibility plans and should do so through their My CRTC account. New regulated service providers may need to create an account.

To submit your notice:

1. Access the Forms and My CRTC Account page.
2. Select the Broadcasting Cover Page or Telecom Cover Page as applicable.
3. Log in either through your GCKey account or through a Sign-in Partner.
4. Enter the relevant information for your organization (name, address, etc.).

See Information Bulletin CRTC 2022-227 for more details.

Still have questions?

For more information about the requirements under the ACA and the Regulations, contact us at engagement@crtc.gc.ca.

Date modified:

2023-09-11