The Accessible Canada Act

The Accessible Canada Act will make Canada a world leader in disability inclusion.

The Act is a critical step forward that enables Canada to better meet its human rights obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The Act will require employers and service providers under federal jurisdiction to take proactive measures to identify and remove barriers for people with disabilities and to prevent the creation of new barriers. It will require federally-regulated entities to develop and publish an Accessibility Plan in consultation with the disability community, introduce a feedback mechanism and report on progress annually.

Once in force, the Act establishes a new complaints process. The Accessibility Commissioner will be responsible for receiving and resolving complaints filed by individuals who have been negatively affected as a result of a federally-regulated organization’s failure to comply with the Act.

With the passage of the Accessible Canada Act, the Commission was also designated as a body responsible for monitoring the Government of Canada’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in accordance with article 33.2 of the Convention.