Record of decisions for Board of director's Regular Meeting – December 10 to 12, 2024 – Virtual

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

1. Welcoming remarks and roll call

• 47-1 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to open the meeting at 12:05 p.m. EST.

2. Land acknowledgement

3. Board meeting agenda – (Document 3A)

• 47-2 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the agenda with modification that item 12 (CEO Report) and item 19 (Board Self-Evaluation Report) are swapped in their order of presentation.

4 to 8. Consent Agenda

• 47-3 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the consent agenda with all items that were presented for approval:
  • Record of Decisions of Board meeting of September 17-19, 2024

9. Business arising: Conflict of interest – Follow-up

• Board members were asked to recuse themselves from any discussions which could be a conflict of interest for themselves, or for the organization they are affiliated with, in relation to receiving funding from ACS’s grants and contributions program.

10. What’s Happening

• No items to report for this meeting.

11. Chairperson’s report – (Document 11A)

• The Chairperson gave a summary of his involvement as well as reporting on Board Directors’ participation at various events representing the work of the organization.
• A revised version of the document “Roles, responsibilities and communication of the Board and CEO” will be presented at the March 2025 Board meeting.

19. Board performance self-evaluation report (Documents 19A and 19B)

• 47-4 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the draft report on Board performance self-evaluation as presented which outlines the next steps to move forward.
• Action: A final report will be presented at the March 2025 Board meeting.

13. Board meeting calendar 2025-2026 (Document 13A)

• 47-5 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the 2025-2026 Board meeting calendar as follows:
  • ASC Annual Public Meeting - Virtual: June 11, 2025 (June 12 as alternate date)
  • Regular Board Meeting – In-person: June 2 to 6, 2025 in Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • Regular Board Meeting – Virtual: September 9 to 11, 2025 (12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST)
  • Regular Board Meeting – In-person: November 24 to 27, 2025 in the National Capital Region
  • Regular Board Meeting – Virtual: March 3 to 5, 2026 (12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST)

14. External Affairs Committee Chair appointment (Document 14A)

• 47-6 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board appoint Director Lucille Berlinguette-Saumure as the Chair of the External Affairs Committee (EAC) until September 9, 2026, expiry date of her term as member of the EAC.
• The Board of Directors thanked Director B. Adair for his work as the Chair of the External Affairs Committee for the past years.

21. CEO performance assessment update – Process and form (Step 2 of 3)

• Board members will proceed with the Acting CEO’s 6-month period performance assessment. The CEO commitments for 2024-2025 are still in alignment with the previous CEO and present Acting CEO. The assessment process will begin in February 2025.

20. External evaluation of the Board of Directors

• 47-7 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board agree to defer the Board external evaluation and to suspend all related provisions of the By-law and Governance policy.

17. Discussion with National Research Council – ASC’s code change requests to the National Building Code

• Board members welcomed the presentations by Thomas Ferguson and Gian-Luca Porcari from the Construction Research Centre of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), complemented by presentations by Brigitte Potvin and Vicki Komisar both technical advisors for Codes Canada at the NRC.

18. ASC Annual report 2024-2025 and Annual public meeting 2025 – Theme and approach (Document 18A)

• 47-8 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve:
  • The 2025 ASC Annual public meeting and the 2024-2025 ASC Annual report theme to be “Innovation through knowledge: Fostering accessibility together” in English, and “Innovation par le savoir: Favoriser l’accessibilité ensemble” in French.
  • Option C in document 18A with a carefully managed process, as the approach to the next Annual public meeting.

12. CEO report (Document 12A)

• CEO presented his report.

22. Items pulled from the Consent agenda

• No items to report for this meeting.

23. Adjournment

• 47-9 Motion presented and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 3:58 p.m. EST.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

24. Welcoming remarks and roll call

• 47-10 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to open the meeting at 12:05 p.m. EST.

25. LSQ interpretation during Board meetings

• Board members agreed that currently there is no requirement for LSQ French sign language interpretation during Board meetings.

26. Overview of ASC’s strategic plan and reports (Document 26A)

• Board members were presented with a complete review of ASC’s strategic plan 2023 to 2026 and a list of the comprehensive reports published by the CEO’s office for public and governmental accountability.

27. ASC’s Roadmap to 2040 – Review

• Board members agreed that the Internal Affairs Committee will proceed to merge ASC’s Roadmap to 2040 with the Accessible Canada Directorate’s roadmap.
• Action: The Internal Affairs Committee will review the process involved in the merging of the two roadmaps and will present a proposal for approval at the March 2025 Board meeting.

29. Instruments to advance ASC standards – (Document 29A)

• Board discussed possibilities to advance the existence and guidance of standards and technical guides through various mechanisms to reach a wide audience within the government of Canada and other sectors.

30. Recommendation for CSA/ASC-B651:23 Accessible design for built environment as a policy and directive change (Documents 30A-30B-30C)

• 47-11 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve that the Government of Canada update their “Policy on the Planning and Management of Investments” to include specific reference to the Accessible Canada Act.
• 47-12 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve that the standard CSA/ASC B651:23 - Accessible Design for the Built Environment be adopted by the Government of Canada in their “Directive on the Management for Real Property”.

32. Update regarding the Minister’s housing roundtable

• Update presented by Director B. Adair on his participation with the Minister’s housing roundtable discussion on the potential for developing accessible-ready housing for persons with disabilities.

31. Discussion with Federal housing advocate regarding accessible-ready housing

• Board members welcomed the presentation by Marie-Josée Houle, Federal housing advocate with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

33. Update regarding the G7 Ministers’ meeting on inclusion and disability

• Presented by Director M. Haan on her participation in the discussion panel of the first G7 Ministers’ meeting on inclusion and disability. Canada will be hosting the 2025 G7 Ministers’ meeting on inclusion and disability.

34. Discussion regarding code change requests to the National Building Code of Canada

• Board members exchanged on opportunities to recommend code changes on accessible housing requirements.

35. Adjournment

• 47-13 Motion presented and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 3:33 p.m. EST.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

36. Welcoming remarks and roll call

• 47-14 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to open the meeting at 12:02 p.m. EST.

37. CAN-ASC 1.1 Part 1: Employment Standard: Recommendation to the Minister for adoption and regulation (Documents 37A and 37B)

• The present Employment standard is Part 1 of 2 which covers the complete employment life cycle. Part 2 will be presented in 2025.
• 47-15 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve Accessibility Standards Canada submission of CAN/ASC-1.1:2024 Employment standard to the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities and to be recommended for adoption into regulation.

38. Conflict of Interest pertaining to Accessibility Standards Canada’s Grants and contributions program

• Board members were informed that if they, or someone from their place of employment, consider applying for a research grant with Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC), they are not permitted to be part of any discussions on research priority areas selection process as part of ASC’s grants and contributions program. If Board members are part of the yearly selection process of additional priority areas related to the ASC’s grants and contribution program, they or their place of employment will not be an eligible recipient.
• Note: Director Sarah Moore confirmed that she chooses to recuse herself from all discussions and related documentation on topics related to the research grants application selection process, including not being part of the discussion on the next item of the Board meeting agenda.

39. Grants and contributions program – Research priority areas selection for the Grants and contributions program 2026-2027 (Step 1 of 3) (Document 39A)

• Director Sarah Moore recused herself from this discussion.
• In addition to the research priority areas presented, Board members provided other suggestions such as common inclusive language, guiding governance, inclusive hybrid meetings.
• Action: Board members may provide in writing additional suggestions for the priority areas selection prior to January 3, 2025, as part of the step 2 of step 3 process. Board members will vote for the 2026-2027 selected priority areas at the March 2025 Board meeting.

40. Advancing accessibility standards research program – Annual report (Document 40A)

• Board members were presented with the trends and highlights of ASC’s grants and contributions research program for the past year.

41. Joint standard with “UL Standards and Engagement” (Documents 42A and 42B)

• This item was presented for information purpose and not for approval.
• Board members welcomed the presentation by Mark Ramlochan from UL Standards Engagement, a standard development organization.

42. Jointly develop standard with the CSA Group Z1003-3 (R2018) – Psychological health and safety in the workplace – Prevention, promotion and guidance to staged implementation (Document 43A)

• 47-16 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve Accessibility Standards Canada to jointly develop the second edition of CSA:Z1003 Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace standard with the CSA group.

43. ASC Transportation priority area approach (Document 44A)

• ASC anticipates the completion of the four phases of the transportation standard and jointly developed standards with CSA group. This will result in 6 to 8 transportation related standards.
• The travel journey for all transportation would result in a harmonized venture at the federal, provincial and municipal level to be consistent with the “one travel journey” approach.

44. Standards development update (Document 45A)

• Update was provided to highlight the publication of the employment standard and the upcoming launches of the public review for the Accessible-ready housing standard and the technical committee recruitment process for the accessible tourism standard.
• Action: To explore ways to revise the standard development update document to improve colour coding.

45. Communications quarterly report (Document 46A)

• An overview of the organization’s social media platforms was presented outlining ASC’s work, awareness days, Centre of expertise website, and opportunities for the public’s involvement in the work of the organization.

46. Generative discussion topics

• Board members agreed to discuss this item during the in-camera session.
• 47-17 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to proceed to the in-camera session with invitation to the Acting CEO.

47. In-camera session

• No actions reported from the in-camera session.
• 47-18 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to close the in-camera session.

48. Other business

• The Generative Discussion item will return to the agenda for the March 11-13, 2025, virtual Board meeting.

49. Concluding remarks and adjournment

• 47-19 Motion presented and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 4:07 p.m. EST.