CAN-ASC-3.2 Equitable Communication – Notice of intent

Standards development organization

Accessibility Standards Canada

Contact information

Email: 

Info.Accessibility.Standards-Normes.Accessibilite.Info@canada.gc.ca

Mailing address:

320, St-Joseph Boulevard
Suite 246
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3

Telephone:

1-833-854-7628

Work program

The work program lists all of Accessibility Standards Canada’s in-progress and completed standards. It is available on our site.

Designation number

CAN-ASC-3.2

Standard type

National Standard of Canada – Domestic 

Standard development activity

New standard

International Classification for Standards (ICS) codes

• 03.040 – Labour. Employment
• 03.080 – Services  
• 03.200 – Leisure. Tourism  
• 11.180 – Aids for disabled and handicapped persons in general  
• 33.020 – Telecommunications in general 

Comment Period Start Date

2025-09-16

SDO Comment Period End Date:

2025-10-08

The purpose of CAN-ASC-3.2 is to develop a standard that goes above mandatory minimum technical specifications and produces equity-based technical requirements to achieve equitable communication. The Accessible Canada Act identifies 7 priority areas, including communication (other than information and communication technologies).  

There are common areas where persons with disabilities may face barriers related to accessibility in communication. These include, but are not limited to: 

• Events or situations where people who use sign language, or who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or partially sighted, can’t get communication help in a way that they can understand.  
• Touch screen devices, like smart phones and tablets, that don’t let users ask for help or communicate in different ways. 
• Important information that is only shared in one way, like through audio announcements, instead of providing it in other methods like text or video.  
• Instructions given that are only spoken and don’t include other ways to help people understand, like sign language or written text.  
• Not having communication supports available without advance notice or booking.  
• Support persons not being allowed to enter certain areas to help with communication.  

To address these barriers, the technical committee will be responsible for developing requirements to address barriers in different types of interpersonal or group communication. These types of communication include the following:  

• Two-way communication that happens at the same time. This can include, but is not limited to:  
  • In person conversations 
  • Remote audio calls 
  • Remote video calls 
  • Remote text chats 
  • Hybrid methods that mix in-person and remote communication 
• Two-way communication that happens at different times. This can include, but is not limited to:  
  • Email (that expect a response)  
• One-way communication that happens at the same time. This can include, but is not limited to:  
  • Live announcements  
  • Recorded announcements 
• One-way communication that happens at different times. This can include, but is not limited to:  
  • Email (that does not expect a reply) 

This standard will align with or will be referenced by relevant technical requirements of other Accessibility Standards Canada standards. These include: 

• CAN/ASC-1.1:2024 – Employment 
• CAN-ASC-2.2 – Emergency Egress (Exit) 
• CAN-ASC-2.3 – Model Standard for the Built Environment – Accessibility for federally regulated entities as defined in the Accessible Canada Act. 
• CAN-ASC-2.4 – Wayfinding and Signage 
• CAN-ASC-2.5/ICC A118 – Acoustics in the Built Environment 
• CAN-ASC-2.6 – Existing Built Environment - Accessibility for federally regulated entities as defined in the Accessible Canada Act 
• CAN-ASC-2.7 –Heritage Buildings and Sites 
• CAN-ASC-2.9 –Accessible Childcare Centres 
• CSA/ASC B651 – Accessible Design for the Built Environment 
• CAN-ASC-3.1 – Plain Language 
• CAN-ASC-4.1 – Accessible Procurement 
• CAN-ASC-5.2.1 – Part 1: Design and Delivery of Accessible Programs and Services: Accessible Service Delivery – Accessibility for federally regulated entities as defined by the Accessible Canada Act 
• CAN-ASC-5.3 – Accessible Tourism 
• CAN/ASC - EN 301 549:2024 - Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services (EN 301 549:2021, IDT) 
• CAN-ASC-6.2 – Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence Systems 
• CAN/ASC-6.3 – AI Authoring Tools 
• CAN-ASC-.7.1.1 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Transit Facilities 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.2 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Transit Facilities 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.3 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Airports 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.4 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Airports 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.5 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Subway Stations 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.6 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Subway Stations 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.7 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Bus Stations 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.8 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Bus Stations 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.9 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Passenger Rail Stations 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.10 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Passenger Rail Station 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.11 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Ferry Ports 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.12 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Ferry Port 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.13 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Design and Construction for Cruise Ship Ports 
• CAN-ASC-7.1.14 – Accessible Travel Journey: Built Environment, Use and Maintenance for Cruise Ship Ports 

Project need 

The Accessible Canada Act has a goal to create a barrier free Canada by 2040. To inform the development of the Accessible Canada Act (ACA), between June 2016 and February 2017, the Government of Canada conducted extensive consultations with Canadians. These consultations included participation and input from interested parties, including 6,000 Canadians and 90 organizations and identified barriers to accessibility for Canadians with disabilities in seven key areas.  Following the consultations, the ACA was created and came into force in June 2019 and includes these seven priority areas to address the barriers identified during the consultations. Accessibility Standards Canada was created under the ACA and has a mandate to contribute to the realization of a barrier free Canada through the development of standards to prevent, identify, and remove these barriers to accessibility for Canadians with disabilities in the seven priority areas in the ACA.

The strategic need for this standard aligns with the Communication priority area identified in the ACA and is intended to remove barriers related to accessibility in communication (other than information and communication technologies). This strategic need has also been confirmed with the Governor in Council appointed Board of Directors, who are primarily people with disabilities and who have approved the development of this standard. 

In addition to these identified needs, Accessibility Standards Canada’s standards are developed following the principle of “nothing without us”. This means that Accessibility Standards Canada’s standards are developed with research that has been led by people with disabilities or lived experience and participation of people with disabilities on our technical committees which contribute to the development of equity-based requirements that take into account the needs and perspectives of people with disabilities. This also means that the public review process for this standard will be accessible, allowing even more people with disabilities to be part of the standards development process. 

Posted on 

2025-09-16