Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy 2023 to 2027

The 2022 to 2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy presents the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act. This is the first Federal Sustainable Development Strategy to be framed using the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It provides a balanced view of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development.

The purpose of the Federal Sustainable Development Act is to create a legal framework that makes decision-making related to sustainable development more transparent and accountable to Parliament. In line with this, Accessibility Standards Canada supports the goals laid out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. We are putting this support into action through the activities described in this departmental strategy.

The Act sets out 7 principles. As required by the Act, these principles were considered in the development of both the federal strategy and our departmental strategy. The federal strategy is aimed at promoting coordinated action on sustainable development across the government. It does this by advancing Canada’s 2030 Agenda National Strategy. That strategy is supported by both the United Nations’ Global Indicator Framework(GIF) and the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our departmental strategy also captures sustainable development initiatives that fall outside the scope of the federal strategy. In addition, it is intended to inform Canada’s Annual Report on its 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government invited the public to comment on the draft 2022 to 2026 Federal Sustainability Development Strategy. This consultation was required under the Federal Sustainable Development Act. It was held from March 11 to July 9, 2022. The draft strategy was also shared with appropriate committees in both houses of Parliament, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, and the Sustainable Development Advisory Council for their review and comment.

More than 700 comments were received from a range of stakeholders. This included comments from local communities, all levels of government, non-governmental and Indigenous organizations, academics, and businesses. Individual Canadians of different ages and backgrounds also commented.

More information on the results of the public review can be found in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Consultation Report.

What We Heard

Canadians Want to Be Part of the Solution on Matters that Affect Them

Accessibility Standards Canada identified priorities and issues that affect Canadians with disabilities.

Our mandate is to develop or revise accessibility standards. The key to achieving this is funding research that informs our standards. This starts by listening to Canadians. This ensures we develop standards that support and address the barriers that people with disabilities face.

The disability community’s overriding principle, “Nothing without us” helps us to focus our programs. It is the reason why we ensure that people with disabilities are informed about the standards we develop. It is also why we ask people with disabilities to comment on the work we do and why we involve people with disabilities at all stages of standards development. This includes the process of deciding which standards should be developed.

Lived Experience Is as Important as Research

The lived experience of people with disabilities is as valuable as research. It is therefore vital that we consider the lessons learned from such lived experience when developing standards. We make it a priority to seek feedback from the Canadian public on each standard we develop.

What We Did

Ensured Technical Committees Are Inclusive

Technical committees drive the standards development process. We take an inclusive approach when forming a committee. We encourage Canadians from diverse backgrounds, including technical experts, people from disability communities, and industry representatives to join our technical committees. We seek to achieve proportional representation of the Canadian population on every committee. We issue public requests for members. Membership is open to all Canadians regardless of gender, ethnicity or race, sexuality, social or economic status, political affiliation, or any other factor.

Held Annual Public Meetings

Our programs are informed by the priority areas stated in the Accessible Canada Act. They are also informed by the feedback we receive from disability groups and the public. To ensure the public, including people with disabilities, participates in our work, we hold an annual public meeting every year. These meetings are used to share our priorities with Canadians. They are also an opportunity to hear about our standards and provide feedback on what we do and the impact of our work.

Conducted Public Reviews of Standards

We hold a public consultation during the development of a standard. This is a mandatory part of our process; no standard can be finalized until it has been reviewed by the public. These public reviews give people with disabilities and other stakeholders a chance to get involved, engage with us, and provide feedback on our standards.

The following table lists the standards currently under development. It also lists the expected dates for public reviews.

Table 1: Standards Under Development

We are committed to developing standards that will contribute to sustainable development goals that help to eliminate inequities, reduce poverty, and improve the overall health and well-being of people with disabilities across Canada.

Launched the Pan-Canadian Forum

In October 2022, Accessibility Standards Canada and British Columbia’s Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction co-hosted the first Pan-Canadian Forum on Accessibility Standards. The Forum was well attended. Representatives from every province and territory participated either in person or virtually. The Forum was an opportunity for provinces and territories to come together to share information, discuss priorities, and work toward common goals. Each jurisdiction shared information about its work in accessibility and/or accessibility standards.

The Forum had two successful outcomes. Firstly, we identified shared priorities and areas of collaboration and alignment. Secondly, we established two task groups. Both groups include representatives from all provinces and territories. One group is creating a guide for accessibility in northern, rural, and remote communities. The second group is creating a guide on adaptive housing and associated costing.

Supported Employment for People With Disabilities

To address financial insecurity and poverty among people with disabilities, we developed a standard on employment. This standard seeks to encourage the active and inclusive participation of people with disabilities at every phase of the employment journey. It addresses multiple areas. This includes recruitment, onboarding, retention, accommodations for individuals, return-to-work policies, performance management, career development, advancement, and exit.

When it comes to hiring people with disabilities, Accessibility Standards Canada leads by example. An estimated 25% of our employees are people with disabilities. To support them, we created a model office space that offers best practices in accessibility.

We participate in interdepartmental networks and working groups that focus on hiring people with disabilities. For example, we worked closely with the federal interdepartmental Human Resources Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities. We also worked with the Employment Accessibility Resource Network, which focuses on increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Created a Tailored Approach to Indigenous Engagement

Accessibility Standards Canada recognizes that every Indigenous group and community is unique. Therefore, our approach is to incorporate place-based perspectives. This enables us to harness Indigenous knowledge systems to tailor programs to needs. We are also tailoring our engagement strategy to facilitate agreements on adopting and harmonizing standards.

As part of this strategy, we will promote our research funding program to Indigenous Peoples, territories, nations, organizations, and communities. This will be done to increase research on accessibility issues that are specific to Indigenous Peoples.

We also strive to include Indigenous individuals on our technical committees; currently, 5% of members self-identify as Indigenous.

Accessibility Standards Canada is committed to contributing to federal sustainable development goals that fall within its mandate. We will continue to listen to Canadians through our annual public meetings and public reviews of the standards we develop.

We will continue to build inclusive technical committees and publicly invite Canadians to join them.

We will continue to build partnerships and engage with all our stakeholders. These include disability groups and communities, the private sector, governments (local, municipal, provincial, territorial), and other federal agencies. This aligns with Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Goal 17. This goal encourages establishing partnerships with multiple stakeholders to ensure sustainable development goals are met.

We will increase research funding for projects focused on addressing the accessibility barriers faced by Indigenous people. We will step up our outreach to Indigenous communities. These efforts are meant to build bridges toward Indigenous reconciliation and reduce inequalities. This will help us contribute to Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Goal 10.

We have planned activities to meet the goals of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. These include increasing training to support green procurement and the assessment of climate change impacts. We will review our policies and practices to ensure our consumption of office supplies and furnishings aligns with Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Goal 12, which focuses on waste reduction responsible consumption and production.

When an approved Accessibility Standards Canada initiative (such as a policy, plan, or program) has undergone a strategic environmental assessment, we will publicly announce the results. This is to show that we considered the potential environmental effects before deciding to proceed.