Canada: Accessibility Compliance Milestone Coming June 1
May 22, 2023
Per an article in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), many federally regulated businesses in Canada with at least 100 employees must publish an accessibility plan by June 1, 2023 detailing how they will remove barriers for employees and members of the public with disabilities. The date marks the first compliance milestone for the Accessible Canada Act (ACA), which seeks to make the country barrier-free by January 1, 2040.
The Canadian government is pursuing this goal so that individuals with disabilities can feel more comfortable using public services and working for federally regulated organizations. The Accessible Canada Act and the Accessible Canada Regulations strive to achieve this by identifying, removing and preventing barriers in employment, buildings and other public spaces Non-compliance can lead to steep penalties for employers.
The Act, which took effect in 2019, defines a barrier as anything that "hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment”.
Review news release on SHRM's website.