2019 to 2020 Annual report: Together, toward an accessible Canada

Our first annual report tells Canadians and members of Parliament about the creation and work of Accessibility Standards Canada. This new public organization stems from the Accessible Canada Act (the Act). The Act became official on July 11, 2019, after a long process of talks with persons with disabilities. This date marks the official creation of Accessibility Standards Canada.

The Act will allow us to move to a system where persons with disabilities no longer have to fight for basic access. This system will actively and consistently reduce accessibility barriers. It will change the structures that repeat these barriers. Although it will not happen overnight, this work will make our country more accessible and inclusive for the six million Canadians with disabilities. It is an honour for our organization and our partners to be a part of this change.

Accessibility Standards Canada has a key role: to be a federal leader in creating accessibility standards. In addition, Accessibility Standards Canada supports and promotes research on accessibility standards. It also promotes accessibility best practices. Most importantly, Accessibility Standards Canada fulfills its role by working together with persons with disabilities and many other partners.

Accessibility Standards Canada has an inclusive vision and philosophy. We abide by the principle: “Nothing about us, without us.” We are proud to be part of the first federal organization led by a majority of persons with disabilities. To maximize its impact, the organization has to rely on the experience and knowledge of experts including:

• persons with disabilities and their organizations
• Indigenous people, their organizations and governments
• provincial, territorial and municipal governments
• technical experts, researchers and industry representatives

I am humbled to lead a group that brings such a diversity of experiences and a keen commitment to the cause of accessibility. As a board, our job is to guide the organization and decide its strategic direction. We also have to make sure that Accessibility Standards Canada’s work reflects the priorities of persons with disabilities. Lastly, we have to make sure the organization is a model of transparency.

In the past few months, Accessibility Standards Canada went through several steps to become a separate organization and stand on its own. We have started our work with determination. I wish to thank the Chief Executive Officer, Philip Rizcallah, and his entire team, for their dedication. They worked extremely hard to help set up the organization and support the work of the board. We are just about to create our very first standards. Motivated by our desire to improve people’s access and lives, we will continue full speed ahead.

Paul-Claude Bérubé

1.1: Vision, mission, mandate, values and principles

Vision

Our vision is a Canada:

• that does not have barriers
• where persons with disabilities can be sure that they have the same access to opportunities and services as everyone else

Mission

Persons with disabilities lead Accessibility Standards Canada to create a Canada without barriers. We work with persons with disabilities to:

• create new modern accessibility standards in key areas
• revise current accessibility standards
• lead research
• support everyone to reach the highest level of accessibility

Mandate

Our mandate is to help make Canada a place without barriers, by January 1, 2040. We will do this by:

1. creating and updating accessibility standards
2. recommending accessibility standards to the Minister
3. providing information, products and services about the accessibility standards we create and update
4. funding and doing research to identify and remove barriers and to stop new barriers from being made
5. sharing information about the best ways to identify and remove barriers and about how to stop new barriers

Values

These 6 value statements guide our work:

1. we value the knowledge and experience of persons with disabilities. we expect those we collaborate with to demonstrate this same value
2. we value the diversity of society. Our work respects human rights and focuses on including everyone
3. the consistency of a Canada without barriers is important. Persons with disabilities can expect equal level of access across the country
4. we value universal access. Services, products and places are designed to be accessible to everyone
5. we value 2 way communication in an open, accessible, timely, and clear manner and in all areas of our work
6. disability experience and research have the same value when making decisions

These values are based on the principles outlined in the Accessible Canada Act.

Principles

We support and follow the principles in the Accessible Canada Act:

1. all people, regardless of their disabilities:
   • should be treated with respect
   • deserve an equal chance to create the life that they can and wish to have
   • should have access without barriers to full and equal participation in society
   • should have meaningful options. They must be free to make their own choices, with support if they wish
2. laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account:
   • the disabilities of people
   • the different ways that people communicate and react with their environments
   • the many types of isolation and discrimination people face
3. persons with disabilities must be involved in creating:
   • laws
   • policies
   • programs
   • services
   • structures that affect them
4. new and revised accessibility standards and regulations must try to have the highest level of accessibility for persons with disabilities

Definition of a departmental corporation

Accessibility Standards Canada is a departmental corporation. Departmental corporations are special government entities included under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act. This act provides a legal framework for financial management within the Government of Canada.

Those corporations operate at arms length from ministers and typically have a management board. They get their funding largely through budgets voted in Parliament.

ʺNot many government workers will ever have the chance to build a new department. […] Even though the job has not been easy, we feel honoured. The excitement of our team overcomes the hard parts and the unknowns we face each day.ʺ Philip Rizcallah, CEO

1.2 A departmental corporation in the making

There is no instruction book to build a new government organization. Every organization is different: different laws, different rules, different mandate, different size, and different structures. Not many government workers will ever be able to build a new department. It is a unique opportunity but it can be challenging when the organization has to be created from nothing. The job has not been easy, but we feel honoured to be making a difference for Canadians with disabilities.

First phase

In March 2019, we started with a blank canvas and one employee. At first, we were part of Employment and Social Development Canada. Nevertheless, we had to get ready to take off on our own, not knowing our departure date. There were policies and laws that would frame that canvas, but nothing else. With the help of other government colleagues, we had to design and build everything. There were many unknowns.

Before we could think about what the organization should do and how it should do it, we had to think about its foundations. We asked ourselves what kind of support the organization would need. We do not usually think about those foundations and supports. It is like the plumbing in our houses; we take it for granted. It is amazing, once we stop and think about those foundations and supports, how much is required. We had to think about the following aspects:

• what types of jobs we will have
• how we will hire those employees
• how we will pay those employees
• how the organization will be governed
• how we will make sure that our organization is led by persons with disabilities (live up to the saying “Nothing about us, without us”)
• how the organization will work with the public
• what kind of social media presence we should have
• what computer system we will use
• where the organization will be located
• how we should design that location
• what we will call the organization

This is just a small sample of the questions we had to ask and answer. There are many questions in each area such as:

• finance
• procurement (buying things)
• human resources
• accommodations
• security
• information technology
• information management
• access to information and disclosure
• privacy
• governance
• communications

Before we could start working, we had to answer these questions, or at least part of these questions. Our organization focuses on accessibility, so we had to spend more time thinking about things to be sure that the chosen solutions model accessibility.

Take our location for example. Our office is currently at a temporary location. It is accessible but it is far from the model of accessibility we want it to be. However, we are excited to have the opportunity to build our accessible new location from the ground up. Of course, in everything we do, we will include the very best accessibility practices.

Implementation phase

On July 11, 2019, the Accessible Canada Act received royal assent and this officially created our organization. It was the beginning of the journey, because creating a new department depends on many important milestones, which require different levels of approval. We needed the following:

• a governance structure
• a strategic direction
• our own budget
• an applied title (which is the name commonly used by a department)

As we were putting these foundational pieces in place, we devoted many efforts to create our core programs and corporate services. Behind all this work, we have made a lot of progress in many areas, including the following:

• we created the structure for the organization and defined the jobs we will need
• we began hiring people for the organization. We have hired almost half of the 50 positions. We expect to reach a full staff by end of fiscal year 2021 to 2022
• we signed service level agreements with other government departments. They will provide us with services like human resources, finance and the necessary computer programs
• we created our own corporate services in areas such as procurement and communications
• we defined our objectives and our strategies to get there
• we renovated and moved into our temporary location
• we found a permanent location and completed its initial design
• we have created the internal rules, processes and guidelines to make sure we take proper care of government resources
• we have put in place information technology solutions, programs and accounts

Looking back

Looking back a year ago, we had almost nothing. We had a computer, a phone and an office that someone let us use. Twelve months later, we have become a government organization. We can do almost everything all departmental corporations must do. Normally those organizations are much larger than we are.

With our approximately 25 employees, we have accomplished a lot in a very short timeframe. Our team is up for the challenge, and eager to learn. They want to help build an organization that will change Canada. We are fortunate to count on other government departments and colleagues who have freely shared their expertise and experiences. We thank them loudly for their help.

We are not finished our work. We will continue to improve our processes and programs, to better serve Canadians. We will always be looking at things with accessibility in mind. Our work will never end. As we focus on creating an accessible Canada, we are humbled by our mandate and proud of what we achieved so far.

Governance structure

As a departmental corporation, Accessibility Standards Canada has some independence:

• the Minister may issue general directions
• the board of directors sets the organization’s direction
• the Chief Executive Officer puts this direction into action

Our main mandate is to create and review accessibility standards, which apply to:

• the federal government
• organizations that are regulated by the federal government (for example: banks)

These standards will prevent, identify and remove accessibility barriers.

Once created, we will submit the standards to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. The Minister may adopt them into regulations. Removing accessibility barriers will ensure that the Canadian society fully includes persons with disabilities.

3.1 Areas for standards development

During the meetings that led to the Accessible Canada Act, Canadians identified which areas were the most important for improving accessibility. Canadians identified the following 7 areas:

• employment (jobs)
• the built environment
• information and communication technologies
• communication, other than information and communication technologies
• the procurement of goods, services and facilities
• the design and delivery of programs and services
• transportation

3.2 First sets of standards

In December 2019, the board of directors agreed on 4 priority areas to develop the first sets of standards. The priority areas are:

• emergency egress (exits)
• employment (jobs)
• plain language
• outdoor spaces

For each of the above 4 sets of standards, we are collecting information and looking at areas where gaps exist. This process will help identify key areas for standards development.

ʺWe are excited to start working with persons with disabilities and other experts to create the very best accessibility standards.ʺ Paul-Claude Bérubé, Chairperson

3.3. Working with partners

Our organization will continue to work with the following partners to review and create standards:

• persons with disabilities
• representatives from industries
• other partners, to review and create standards

As such, we are preparing to launch an online process to ask people if they are interested in volunteering on our 4 technical committees. These committees will create the first sets of standards.

5.1 Communications

Our organization began communicating with the public in August 2019, shortly after the Accessible Canada Act received royal assent. We did not have a communications team at the time. With ESDC’s help, we produced our first communications and created our website.

We created a communications team in September 2019. The team supports all corporate programs and services. The team came up with the organization’s first communication strategy. The board approved the strategy in November 2019.

Over the last few months, we created our visual identity and adopted our common name. We also increased our Web presence and added videos to our website in Langue des signes Québécoise (Quebec Sign Language) and American Sign Language. We built tools to communicate and engage with the public and intend on continuing to do so. We recently started a newsletter. We also created our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

5.2 Collaboration with stakeholders

Over the last few months, we started to engage with stakeholders.

ʺI am looking forward to the development of standards on employment. It will have an incredible impact on society. I believe we all win when we adopt inclusive practices in the workplace and I would love for the world to see that. It is also important to fund research to produce the best possible and evidence-based standards.ʺ Steve Mantis, Chair, Research-action committee, Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups

In February 2020, we came up with a plan to create our list of partners. Since then, we have been working to build our partner database.

While our first annual public meeting was canceled due to COVID-19, we are currently exploring virtual ways to get feedback. This feedback will help us plan our overall strategy for reaching out to partners.

7.1 Creating standards

In the next few months, we will choose members for the first 4 technical committees that will create the standards. It will take us between 12 to 24 months to develop a set of standards. Some of these standards could be recommended to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion to be made into regulations.

7.2 Engagement strategy and consultations

Collaboration with the disability community and other stakeholders is key to our mandate. That is why we are currently developing an engagement strategy. This strategy will have many tactics, as we want to hear from stakeholders across the country and on an ongoing basis. This will be key to inform our work moving forward.

Participants will be able to give their opinions on:

• our priorities in creating standards
• our priorities for the research program
• how we can best collaborate with stakeholders

7.3 Our future offices

Right now, we are designing our new offices. They will be located at 320 St-Joseph Boulevard in Gatineau, Quebec. We are working with an interior design company to make sure that the project includes universal design principles. The goal is to create a modern and inclusive workplace; a workplace that is a model of accessibility. We plan to complete the project and move into our new offices in October 2020.