Accessibility Standards Canada's 2024 to 2025 Departmental Plan at a glance
A departmental plan describes a department’s priorities, plans and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.
This document is a summary of our departmental plan. A departmental plan describes a department’s priorities, plans and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years. It shows our mandate, vision, mission, operating context, key priorities for the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year and highlights of our expected results.
Accessibility Standards Canada was created through the Accessible Canada Act. We are an accredited standards development organization. Our mandate is to help achieve a Canada without barriers by January 1, 2040.
Vision, mission, raison d’etre and operating context
Vision
- Everyone, including people with disabilities, can expect a Canada without accessibility barriers, and
- be sure that opportunities and services are fully accessible.
Mission
People with disabilities lead Accessibility Standards Canada to create a Canada without barriers. We work with people with disabilities to:
- create modern accessibility standards in priority areas,
- revise current accessibility standards,
- lead research, and
- support society to reach the highest level of accessibility.
For more details see our mission and values statement.
Raison d’être
Who we are and what we do is available on Accessibility Standards Canada’s About us page.
For more information, see the mandate letter for the Chairperson of the Board of Directors.
The Board guides the organization’s work in accordance with the organization’s mandate.
Mandate
Our mandate is set out in section 18 of the Accessible Canada Act.
Accessibility Standards Canada’s mandate is to contribute to the realization of a Canada without barriers, on or before January 1, 2040, through, among other things:
- the development and revision of accessibility standards.
- the recommendation of accessibility standards to the Minister.
- the provision of information, products and services in relation to the accessibility standards that it has developed or revised.
- the promotion, support and conduct of research into the identification and removal of barriers and the prevention of new barriers.
- 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 About Us page. See GC InfoBase for the Accessibility Standards Canada’s Departmental Results Framework.
Key priorities
Our priorities for the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year are as follows:
- Advance 16 standards.
- Identify research priorities for the 2026 to 2027 funding cycle.
- Increase support for our work, we will build new and strengthen existing relationships with stakeholders. Activities include:
- expanding our outreach to individual and institutional researchers to collaborate on research that informs the standards.
- engaging with various entities (private and public; local, national, and international). We will do this to:
- help us develop new and/or revise existing standards, and
- encourage these stakeholders to participate in the public review of the standards we develop.
- establishing and strengthening relationships with all provinces and territories to harmonize standards.
- Establish 2 new technical committees to develop accessibility standards on tourism and purchasing processes.
- Strengthen human resources support systems to improve career success and staff retention. Train employees on how to create career development and mentoring plans. Foster a robust succession plan by encouraging staff to get experience in different areas (cross-functional teamwork). This will give employees a better overall view of the organization so they can become leaders in the future.
Refocusing Government Spending
In the 2023 Budget, the government committed to reducing spending by $14.1 billion over the next 5 years, starting in 2023 to 2024, and by $4.1 billion annually after that.
As part of this commitment, Accessibility Standards Canada will exercise prudence and seek ways to reduce overall spending. We will explore options to reduce travel related and professional services expenses.
Highlights
A Departmental Results Framework consists of an organization’s core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.
Core responsibility: Accessibility Standards
Plans for the development of accessibility standards
During fiscal year 2024 to 2025, we will:
- advance 16 standards.
- publish 2 new standards, information and communication technology products and services and a model standard for the built environment – accessibility for federally regulated entities as defined in the Accessible Canada Act.
- conduct public reviews on 2 standards, plain language and emergency egress (exit).
- develop the acoustics in the built environment standard jointly with the International Code Council.
- revise the accessible design for self-service interactive devices including automated banking machines (CSA/ASC B651.2) standard. This standard was developed jointly with the CSA Group last year.
- establish 2 new technical committees to develop accessibility standards on tourism and procurement.
More information about Accessibility Standards can be found in the full departmental plan.
Departmental Results & Indicators:
|
Departmental Results |
Related Performance Indicators |
|---|---|
|
Standards in priority areas contribute to the removal of accessibility barriers. |
Number of new or revised standards in priority areas. These are standards that we developed, co-developed, or funded. |
|
Research informs the next generation of standards. |
The percentage of funding invested by the organization in research and development projects. These are projects that influence:
|
|
The organization’s work in standards increases opportunities for collaboration in advancing a Canada without barriers. |
Number of collaborative activities with:
|
|
Organizations and the public access online information about:
|
Number of unique views of this information. This information is generated from funded projects or our other work. For example:
|
Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025
- Planned spending: $21,340,259
- Planned full-time resources: 58
Quality of Life Framework for Canada
Our core responsibility-accessibility standards-contributes to the domains under the Quality of Life Framework for Canada, specifically, prosperity, health, society, environment, and good governance. See the full departmental plan for details.
or more information on our plans, how we plan to achieve results, risks and resources available, read the full departmental plan.