Accessibility Standards Canada: 2021 to 2022 Departmental Plan

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From the Minister

It is important to me and to the Government of Canada to regularly inform Canadians about the important work being done to create a disability inclusive Canada. This is the 2021 to 2022 departmental plan for Accessibility Standards Canada. It describes what we want to accomplish together, and how that can be achieved.

Our government wants a future that is accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities and all Canadians. The Accessible Canada Act was an important and concrete step towards achieving this goal. The Act reflects the input, views and ideas of persons with disabilities across the country, as well as many disability organizations.

Accessibility Standards Canada is a leader in Canada, and an important partner to the Government when it comes to eliminating barriers to inclusion. The organization embodies the principle of ʺNothing without usʺ, which is reflected in the diverse representation on the Board of Directors. Like many people, I believe persons with disabilities need to be included in every decision making process.

Accessibility Standards Canada’s mandate is to contribute to a barrier-free Canada by 2040. It works to:

• develop and revise accessibility standards;
• provide information, products and services about new and revised standards;
• support and conduct research on accessibility barriers; and
• share best practices for removing and preventing accessibility barriers.

This is one of several organizations working towards a barrier-free Canada. It will be critical for the organization to work with other partners who have accessibility mandates under the Act. This includes:

• Employment and Social Development Canada;
• the Canadian Transportation Agency; and
• the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Our government also plans to appoint new officials who will have roles under the Act:

• an Accessibility Commissioner; and
• a Chief Accessibility Officer.

Building off of the collaboration we saw in the development of the Accessible Canada Act, Accessibility Standards Canada is consulting Canadians every step of the way. The organization is also drawing on the experience and expertise of: Indigenous people, their organizations and governments, Provincial, Territorial and municipal government, technical experts, and industry.

There remains a lot of work to do to make Canada truly inclusive. We have made great progress and need to continue this important work to accomplish even more. It will take all partners working together to achieve lasting change. I am confident that together we can do this.

From the Chairperson

The members of the Board of Directors are proud to be leading Accessibility Standards Canada into its third year. We are still in the early years of helping to reshape our society into one that is truly accessible and inclusive for all. The Board is responsible for charting the direction of this new organization. 

Our Directors represent a variety of disabilities experienced by people living in Canada. We have a lot of experience and expertise to use in bringing a disability lens to the activities and affairs of the organization. We remain committed to the strategic plan that we set in 2020. This plan is in line with the vision, mission and values that we set for the organization.

Accessibility Standards Canada’s entire focus is on accessibility standards. This includes information, products, services and research about standards and accessibility barriers. That makes it one of only a few such organizations in the world. The Board decided on the priorities around four areas for standards in 2019: 

• employment;
• plain language;
• emergency egress (exit); and
• outdoor spaces.

Technical committees are currently developing these standards. We should have our first standards completed and recommended to the Minister early in the 2022 to 2023 year.

Accessibility Standards Canada is committed to connecting with Canadians and partners all over Canada. We consulted with Canadians for the first time in fall 2020. We asked Canadians for views on:

• in-person and online engagement;
• research areas for our grants and contributions program; and
• priority areas for standards.

The Board valued this input. It helped us determine our priority areas for future standards. Our second set of standards includes:

• emergency measures (particularly in the time of a pandemic);
• wayfinding including signage (finding out where you are and how to get to your desired destination);
• procurement; and
• acoustics (sound quality).

Input from Canadians also helped us determine future research areas. The research we fund will be critical for the organization in achieving its mandate. The Board has identified six areas for funding in 2021 to 2022: 

• design and delivery of programs and services;
• built environment with a focus on Heritage buildings;
• accessibility in Indigenous communities;
• information and communication technology; 
• communication (other than plain language); and 
• procurement.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board and its standing committees have met virtually. While this did not stop us from making progress, it did stop us from holding meetings in different Canadian cities. We also had to postpone our first annual public meeting. We now plan to hold that meeting virtually in 2021. Our Directors cannot wait to meet with Canadians.  

The Board has started to create a long-term plan for what it means to contribute to a barrier-free Canada by 2040. We will have this plan in place early in the 2021 to 2022 year. 

Our organization has an important role to play along with other partners within government and outside of government. We look forward to the year ahead. We will build on the ambitious agenda that we have set for ourselves and for the organization.

From the Chief Executive Officer

I feel privileged to be the Chief Executive Officer of Accessibility Standards Canada. This new organization, established in July 2019, has already made a lot of progress. Much of our early work went into getting set up but we quickly turned our attention to our mandate. The year ahead will be another milestone year for our young organization. 

We will have a new office space this year. This office will be one of the most accessible workspaces in North America. We will also have a full staff by March 2022. Our goal remains to have a workforce that reflects Canada’s diversity. This includes hiring more persons with disabilities. We have set the goal to exceed labour market availability. We lead by example in putting the principle “Nothing without us” into practice.

The work to develop standards started last year on a first set of four standards. We created four technical committees that are working to develop the standards. We plan to publish those draft standards for consultation by the end of 2021 to 2022. 

We will be creating four more technical committees next year to work on standards in the four new priority areas. Like the current committees, these ones will include various experts, including: 

• persons with disabilities; 
• industry representatives; and 
• other partners. 

Our plan is to publish those draft standards for consultation in 2022 to 2023. We will continue to look ahead and consider new areas for standards. 

We are working to become an accredited standards development organization this year. This will help to position the organization as a leader in creating model standards.  

The organization recently established a new partnership with the National Research Council in respect of accessibility standards in the built environment. This collaboration will start in early 2021. We will also continue to meet with provincial and territorial governments. The goal is to create a seamless experience of accessibility in Canada.

The Advancing Accessibility Standards Research grants and contributions program launched in 2019 to 2020. The program has funded 24 research projects in six priority areas so far. These key partnerships will inform standards development and the removal of accessibility barriers. We will publish reports about the completed projects in 2021 to 2022. 

We have launched a competitive call for proposals to fund projects in 2021 to 2022 and future years. We will start to review submissions in early 2021 and implement funding agreements.

We will continue to build partnerships and communicate with our stakeholders and Canadians. We have completed our first public consultation. We will seize all opportunities to ask for feedback on our programs and priorities. Our communications team will continue to expand our communication tools. They are working to improve the accessibility of all our communications.

While our organization is small in size, we are committed to having a great impact. I am confident that our dedicated Board, staff and technical committee members will make great strides in 2021 to 2022.

Plans at a glance 

The Accessible Canada Act created Accessibility Standards Canada. It was created to help make Canada accessible by January 1, 2040. It will do this by: 

• developing and revising accessibility standards;
• providing information, products and services about new and revised standards;
• supporting and conducting research on accessibility barriers; and
• sharing best practices for removing and preventing accessibility barriers.

The Prime Minister gave the Minister a Mandate Letter in 2019. It highlights how important the organization’s work is. The letter asks the Minister to: 

• keep leading the Government’s work on disability inclusion; and 
• support the organization in getting set up in consultation with the disability community.

Accessibility Standards Canada celebrated its first year in July 2020. The organization focused on building capacity in its first year. It also focused on hiring new people and particularly persons with disabilities. The work to get set up carried into 2020 to 2021.

The organization started working on achieving its mission in 2020 to 2021. The organization will focus on this in 2021 to 2022. Planned activities include:

• Creating model accessibility standards by:
  • supporting the current four technical committees; 
  • posting four draft standards online for public feedback;
  • creating and supporting four new technical committees; and
  • becoming an accredited (fully recognized) standards development organization.
• Supporting research to inform standards and to help remove accessibility barriers by:
  • assessing finished research projects; 
  • posting finished research reports online;
  • putting funding agreements in place with those awarded grants or contributions; and
  • choosing research priorities for 2022 to 2023.
• Sharing information with the public by:
  • growing its web and social media visibility online;
  • using feedback from the public to improve web accessibility; and
  • promoting guidelines and reports posted online by the organization.
• Collaborating with others to improve accessibility by:
  • having an annual public meeting online in 2021;
  • asking Canadians for feedback on programs and priorities; 
  • taking the next steps in its stakeholder engagement strategy; and 
  • signing an agreement to work with the National Research Council.

For more information on Accessibility Standards Canada’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources” section of this report.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources

This section contains detailed information on Accessibility Standards Canada’s planned results and resources for its core responsibility. 

Accessibility Standards 

Description 

The following description is taken from the organization’s departmental results framework.

Accessibility Standards Canada:

• Develops and revises accessibility standards by:
  • establishing technical committees; and
  • providing support and research to them;
• Promotes, supports and conducts research to inform the development of standards;
• Shares information with organizations and the public about standards;
• Provides products and services about standards; and
• Provides best practices used to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers. 

Technical committees reflect diversity and are made up of:  

• People with disabilities;
• Indigenous people; 
• Representatives from industries that would have to follow standards if they were made into regulations; and
• Other experts.

Planning highlights

Accessibility Standards Canada will work to achieve these departmental results under its Core Responsibility:

1. Standards in priority areas contribute to the removal of accessibility barriers;
2. Research informs the next generation of standards;
3. Organizations and the public access online information about: 
   • accessibility standards; 
   • products;
   • services; and
   • best practices to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers.
4. The organization’s work in standards increases opportunities for collaboration in advancing a Canada without barriers. 

1. Standards in priority areas contribute to the removal of accessibility barriers 

Creating accessibility standards is a key part of Accessibility Standards Canada’s mandate. The organization is working to create model accessibility standards and revise current standards. These standards will focus on the priority areas chosen by the Board of Directors. The Board makes their choice based on recommendations from staff as well as feedback from stakeholders and the public. The standards will describe how an organization can:

• identify;
• remove; and 
• prevent barriers to accessibility. 

The organization will recommend standards to the Minister. The Minister may turn them into regulations. Once standards are made into regulation, federally regulated organizations will need to follow them. Creating standards takes time and is an ongoing process. It can take two years or longer to make a new standard. The organization has come up with a long-term plan for this work.   

It will work to create standards in eight areas in 2021 to 2022. These include: 

• Standards that the organization started to create in 2020 to 2021:
  • employment;
  • plain language; 
  • emergency egress (exit); and
  • outdoor spaces.
• Standards that the organization will start to create in 2021 to 2022:
  • emergency measures (particularly in the time of a pandemic);
  • wayfinding including signage (finding out where you are and how to get to your final location);
  • procurement; and
  • acoustics (sound quality).

The organization will take important steps to achieve this departmental result in 2021 to 2022: 

• support the four technical committees that have started to create standards;
• start to recruit members for four new technical committees; 
• collaborate with other stakeholders on creating bi-national standards; 
• collaborate with other stakeholders on creating joint, coordinated standards;
• review current standards and areas where it should create new standards; 
• continue working to become an accredited standards development organization by:
  • finishing the accreditation process with Standards Council of Canada;
• provide leadership as the first accessibility standards development organization in the world by:
  • building its online presence as an accredited standards development organization;
  • becoming well known as an international leader in accessibility standards development.

2. Research informs the next generation of standards

Supporting research is also a key part of Accessibility Standards Canada’s mandate. The organization supports research to gather information for: 

• standards development; and 
• removing accessibility barriers. 

The organization started the Advancing Accessibility Standards Research grants and contributions program in 2019 to 2020. The program has funded 24 research projects in six priority areas so far. These projects will run for one to three years.

Accessibility Standards Canada opened a new competitive call for proposals in January 2021. The goal of this call is to fund research projects in 2021 to 2022 and future years. The priority research areas for 2021 to 2022 are:

• design and delivery of programs and services;
• built environment with a focus on Heritage buildings;
• accessibility in Indigenous communities;
• information and communication technology; 
• communication (other than plain language); and 
• procurement.

The organization will take important steps to achieve this departmental result in 2021 to 2022: 

• make a decision on research priorities for 2022 to 2023 and future years;
• put funding agreements in place with organizations for 2021 to 2022 and future years; 
• assess the final research reports from research projects completed in 2019 to 2020; 
• post the results of finished research projects online; and
• assess the progress reports from research projects that started in 2020 to 2021.

3. Organizations and the public access online information 

Accessibility Standards Canada started being more visible online in 2020 to 2021. It also began other communications activities. It is important that the organization maintains and grows its resources.

The organization will take important steps to achieve this departmental result in 2020 to 2021: 

• share information  through its social media accounts and press releases;
• grow its web and social media visibility on its eight platforms;
• improve web accessibility by:
  • using feedback from the public about its accessibility statement; and
  • creating different communication formats for users;
• work with other organizations to promote accessibility best practices;
• promote the accessibility guidelines for COVID-19; and
• promote reports about the research projects it has funded. 

4. The organization’s work in standards increases opportunities for collaboration in advancing a Canada without barriers

Accessibility Standards Canada started to create partnerships in 2020 to 2021. These partnerships include working with organizations within government and outside of government. The goal is to work together towards an accessible Canada.

Working with these partners will help the organization progress on creating accessibility standards. It will also help influence other organizations to use the standards once they are developed.

The organization will take important steps to achieve this departmental result in 2021 to 2022: 

• ask Canadians and stakeholders for feedback on its programs and priorities; 
• hold its first annual public meeting online in 2021;
• work to become an accredited standards development organization by completing the accreditation process with Standards Council of Canada;
• accelerate the development and impact of standards through collaboration with other Standard Development Organizations;
• work with the National Research Council:
  • to build an impact assessment tool; and
  • on a communication and outreach strategy for provinces and territories (built environment);
• put its stakeholder engagement strategy in place to engage: 
  • provinces and territories; 
  • Indigenous peoples and governments; and
  • youth.
• involve persons with disabilities and other experts in creating standards. 

Gender-based analysis plus

Accessibility Standards Canada encourages people from diverse communities to apply to its standards development technical committees. The selection process makes certain that there is balance between members, while ensuring the correct level of expertise is there, to complete the work of the technical committees. 

Our initial technical committees are made up of:  

• Persons with disabilities;
• Organizations of and for persons with disabilities; 
• Representatives from industries that would have to follow standards if they were made into regulations; and
• Other experts.

Accessibility in Indigenous communities is one of Accessibility Standards Canada’s priority areas for research in 2021 to 2022. Currently there is one funded project in this area. The organization will communicate with heads of Indigenous organizations and groups to inform them when the call for proposals is launched. They will be asked to share it within their network and to encourage organizations to submit proposals.

Experimentation

Accessibility Standards Canada is committed to finding new ways of doing business that ensures inclusion and is barrier-free. Programs are still new. This year is a good time to try different ways to involve the public and create technical standards. Based on this experience, the organization will adapt how we do things in future years, as needed. 

Planned results for Accessibility Standards

Departmental result	Departmental result indicator	Target*	Date to achieve target	2017 to 2018 actual result**	2018 to 2019 actual result**	2019 to 2020 actual result***
Standards in priority areas contribute to the removal of accessibility barriers.	The number of new or revised standards in priority areas. These are standards that the organization: developed; collaborated in; or funded	1 to 3 suites (groups)	March 2025	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Research informs the next generation of standards.	The percentage of funding invested by the organization in research and development (R&D) projects. These are projects that influence accessibility standards. These are also projects that influence standards development priority setting.	75%  and 85%	March 2026	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Organizations and the public access online information about: accessibility standards; products; services; and best practices to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers.	The number of unique views online of this information.  This information is generated from funded projects or other work by the organization and could include (for example): technical papers; reports; presentations; peer-reviewed articles; or guidelines.	7,000 to 12,000	March 2023	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
The organization’s work in standards increases opportunities for collaboration in advancing a Canada without barriers.	The number of collaborative activities with: people with disabilities; representatives of disability organizations; provincial/ territorial governments; national/ international bodies; other standard development organizations; or industry.	10 to 15	March 2025	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable

*Note: Accessibility Standards Canada based its targets on its first Departmental Results Framework. It developed that framework before the organization received funding from Parliament. The organization will review these targets and dates in 2021 to 2022. At that time, there will be more employees and thus capacity.

**Note: The actual results are not available for previous years because Accessibility Standards Canada was only created in 2019.

***Note: Actual progress against these results will be shown in the 2022 to 2023 Departmental Plan.

Financial, human resources and performance information for Accessibility Standards Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase. 

Planned budgetary financial resources for Accessibility Standards 

2021 to 2022 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2021 to 2022 planned spending	2022 to 2023 planned spending	2023 to 2024 planned spending
20,065,557	20,065,557	20,866,247	21,130,379

Financial, human resources and performance information for Accessibility Standards Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase. 

Planned human resources for Accessibility Standards

2021 to 2022 planned full-time equivalents (employees)	2022 to 2023 planned full-time equivalents (employees)	2023 to 2024 planned full-time equivalents (employees)
56	56	53

Financial, human resources and performance information for Accessibility Standards Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase. 

Internal Services: planned results 

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights 

Communications

Accessibility Standards Canada plans to carry on using communications to engage the public. It will improve and grow its tools to communicate with the public. This includes its: 

• web presence;
• social media presence; and 
• partner lists.

Real Property

Accessibility Standards Canada will work towards being a model of accessibility standards. This year, the organization will have a new office space. It will be one of the most accessible workspaces in North America.  It will carry on working with the following partners to put an accessible work environment in place:

• Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC);
• Public Services and Procurement Canada; and 
• Shared Services Canada.

Information Technology (IT)/ Information management (IM)

Accessibility Standards Canada will collaborate with ESDC to research and put accessible business tools and hardware in place. This will improve the use of basic technology for employees with disabilities. Work continues on accessible file sharing for information and storage purposes. This will improve options for employees and improve communications with the public.

Internal Services in general

Having accessible internal services within Accessibility Standards Canada is important. As the organization creates these, it will look for ways to improve accessibility. Part of this will be to consider providing some internal services that it currently contracts out, based on:

• economy;
• service; and 
• accessibility.

Planned budgetary financial resources for Internal Services

2021 to 2022 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2021 to 2022 planned spending	2022 to 2023 planned spending	2023 to 2024 planned spending
5,896,832	5,896,832	5,730,845	5,675,118

Planned human resources for Internal Services

2021 to 2022 planned full-time equivalents (employees)	2022 to 2023 planned full-time equivalents (employees)	2023 to 2024 planned full-time equivalents (employees)
18	18	18

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2018-2019 to 2023-2024 

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time. 

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for Accessibility Standards Canada’s Core Responsibility and Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Core Responsibility and Internal Services	2018 to 2019 expenditures (spending)	2019 to 2020 expenditures (spending)	2020 to 2021 forecast spending	2021 to 2022 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2021 to 2022 planned spending	2022 to 2023 planned spending	2023 to 2024 planned spending
Accessibility Standards	Not applicable	1,843,725	8,689,929	14,168,725	14,168,725	15,135,402	15,455,261
Subtotal	Not applicable	1,843,725	8,689,929	14,168,725	14,168,725	15,135,402	15,455,261
Internal Services	Not applicable	2,117,103	8,496,642	5,896,832	5,896,832	5,896,832	5,675,118
Total	Not applicable	3,960,828	17,186,571	20,065,557	20,065,557	20,065,557	21,130,379

The Act creating Accessibility Standards Canada received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. For this reason, no expenditures (spending) are reported for 2018 to 2019. Due to the timing of the organization getting its funding (December 2019), only a portion of the resources available were used in 2019 to 2020.

There is a significant increase in forecast spending for 2020 to 2021 since it is the first full year of operations for the organization. Planned spending is increasing in 2021 to 2022 and again in 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024. From there, the resources will reach a steady state. This ramp-up in funding allows the organization to have a gradual increase in operations. It also allows sufficient time to establish the right organizational structure and processes to ensure all objectives are met.

Planned human resources 

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (employees) for the Core Responsibility in Accessibility Standards Canada’s departmental results framework and for Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services

Core Responsibility and Internal Services	2018 to 2019 actual full‑time equivalents (employees)	2019 to 2020 actual full‑time equivalents (employees)	2020 to 2021 forecast full‑time equivalents (employees)	2021 to 2022 planned full‑time equivalents (employees)	2022 to 2023 planned full‑time equivalents (employees)	2023 to 2024 planned full‑time equivalents (employees)
Accessibility Standards	Not applicable	3	21	38	38	35
Subtotal	Not applicable	3	21	38	38	35
Internal Services	Not applicable	4	20	18	18	18
Total	Not applicable	7	41	56	56	53

 

The Act creating Accessibility Standards Canada received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. For this reason, no full-time equivalents (employees) are reported for 2018 to 2019. Also, full-time equivalents (employees) are prorated in 2019 to 2020 with the amount of working days of employees on strength in the year. This is because most employees were hired in December 2019 when the organization received its funding. Over 25 employees were on strength on March 31, 2020. They only represented 7 full-time equivalents. This is because they were hired between December 2019 and March 2020.

The organization continued its gradual increase of employees in 2020 to 2021 to match the increase in workload and deliverables. The organization will continue to increase its capacity in 2021 to 2022. At this time, the organization will reach a steady state and have the right organizational structure.

Estimates by vote

Information on Accessibility Standards Canada’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2021 to 2022 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of Accessibility Standards Canada’s operations for 2020 to 2021 to 2021 to 2022. 

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future-oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on Accessibility Standards Canada’s website.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ending March 31, 2022 (dollars)

Financial information	2020 to 2021 forecast results	2021 to 2022 planned results	Difference (2021 to 2022 planned results minus 2020 to 2021 forecast results)
Total expenses	14,560,300	19,130,651	4,570,351
Total revenues	0	0	0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers	14,560,300	19,130,651	4,570,351

 

The fiscal year 2020 to 2021 is the first full year of operations for the organization. Planned expenses are increasing in 2021 to 2022 as operations are expected to ramp-up to full capacity. Funding for the grants and contributions program will also ramp-up in 2021 to 2022.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

Institutional head: Mr. Philip Rizcallah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Chairperson: Mr. Paul-Claude Bérubé

Ministerial portfolio: Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

Enabling instrument: The Accessible Canada Act

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2019

Other: Accessibility Standards Canada is supervised by a ten-member Board of Directors, including a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson.

The organization's Board of Directors:

• sets its strategic direction; 
• supervises and manages its activities; and
• provides advice to its CEO, also a Governor in Council appointee. 

Most of the Directors are persons with disabilities and reflect the diversity of disabilities experienced by Canadians.

The CEO holds the rank and powers of a deputy head of a department. He is responsible for:

• the day-to-day operations of the organization;
• managing the interface with the Minister responsible for Accessibility;
• establishing relationships and partnerships within all levels of government;
• leading the research and development program;
• leading the technical codes development; and
• directing the human, financial and material resources.

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on Accessibility Standards Canada’s website.

For more information, see the Chairperson of the Board’s mandate letter and for the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter. 

Mandate

The following is the organization’s mandate as set out in the Accessible Canada Act.

The Standards Organization’s mandate is to contribute to the realization of a Canada without barriers, on or before January 1, 2040, through, among other things:

1. the development and revision of accessibility standards;
2. the recommendation of accessibility standards to the Minister;
3. the provision of information, products and services in relation to the accessibility standards that it has developed or revised;
4. the promotion, support and conduct of research into the identification and removal of barriers and the prevention of new barriers; and
5. the dissemination of information, including information about best practices, in relation to the identification and removal of barriers and the prevention of new barriers.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on Accessibility Standards Canada’s website.

Reporting framework

Shown below are Accessibility Standards Canada’s: 

• departmental results framework; and 
• program inventory. 

These are approved for the 2021 to 2022 year. Internal services support the accessibility standards core responsibility and departmental results.

Departmental Results Framework 

Core Responsibility: Accessibility Standards 

Departmental Result: Standards in priority areas contribute to the removal of accessibility barriers. 

• Indicator: The number of new or revised standards in priority areas. These are standards that the organization:
  • developed;
  • collaborated in; or
  • funded.

Departmental Result: Research informs the next generation of standards.

• Indicator: The percentage of funding invested by the organization in research and development (R&D) projects. These are projects that influence accessibility standards. These are also projects that influence standards development priority setting.

Departmental Result: Organizations and the public access online information about: 

• accessibility standards; 
• products;
• services; and
• best practices to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers. 

Indicator: The number of unique views online of this information. This information is generated from funded projects or other work by the organization and could include (for example):

• technical papers; 
• reports; 
• presentations; 
• peer-reviewed articles; or 
• guidelines. 

Departmental Result: The organization’s work in standards increases opportunities for collaboration in advancing a Canada without barriers.

• Indicator: The number of collaborative activities with:
  • people with disabilities; 
  • representatives of disability organizations; 
  • provincial/territorial governments; 
  • national/international bodies; 
  • other standard development organizations; or
  • industry.

Program Inventory

Program: Standards Development 

Program: Outreach and Knowledge Application 

Changes to the approved reporting framework since 2020 to 2021 

Accessibility Standards Canada has edited its framework for 2021 to 2022. The framework was edited for plain language. The organization did this to improve: 

• readability; and 
• accessibility. 

Structure	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022	Change	Reason for change
Core responsibility	Accessibility Standards	Accessibility Standards	Plain language edits	Accessibility
Program	Standards Development	Standards Development	Plain language edits	Accessibility
Program	Outreach and Knowledge Application	Outreach and Knowledge Application	Plain language edits	Accessibility

 

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Accessibility Standards Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase. 

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on Accessibility Standards Canada’s website:

• Departmental sustainable development strategy
• Details on transfer payment programs 
• Gender-based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

Accessibility Standards Canada’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2021 to 2022. 

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and the Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis. The tax measures presented in this report are solely the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address

Accessibility Standards Canada 

111 Sussex Drive, Terrace Level, Suite 010 – Confederation Room, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2

Telephone: 1-833-854-7628

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

Website: Accessibility Standards Canada

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires) 

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle) 

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of a department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité ministérielle) 

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel) 

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel) 

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats) 

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation) 

The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare, the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct form innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

full time equivalent (équivalent temps plein) 

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])

An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability. 

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2021–22 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2020 Speech from the Throne, namely: Protecting Canadians from COVID-19; Helping Canadians through the pandemic; Building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; The Canada we’re fighting for.  

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale) 

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

The process of communicating evidence based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision-making, accountability and transparency.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme) 

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all of the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

strategic outcome (résultat stratégique)

A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made