The Accessible Canada Act and Government Procurement - YouTube

The Accessible Canada Act was passed in June 2019.

It is meant to remove and prevent barriers to accessibility

in all areas of federal jurisdiction.

The Act specifically identifies seven areas for addressing accessibility:

Employment

Communications

Procurement of goods, services and facilities

Information and communications technology

The built environment

Program and service design and delivery

and Transportation

Accessibility is about an interaction between a person and their environment.

And a person with an impairment experiences disability when they are faced with a barrier.

A barrier is anything that hinders the full and equal participation in society

of persons with a physical, mental, intellectual, learning,

communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.

The Accessible Canada Act means that PSPC must,

as the largest public buyer of goods and services in the country,

assure Accessible Procurement.

What does Accessible Procurement mean?

It means we should always:

Consider accessibility requirements for all procurements;

Include accessibility criteria as part of the specifications, unless not applicable;

Ensure documentation is on file confirming accessibility has been considered.

In October 2019, the new accessibility requirements

of the Treasury Board Contracting Policy came into effect.

It requires client departments to include accessibility

when they buy on behalf of the Government of Canada.

It says that client departments have to include accessibility criteria

when specifying requirements for goods and services

and ensure that deliverables incorporate accessibility features.

It means developing inclusive and accessible procurement requirements from the start

rather than seeking accommodations after the fact.

We have to be inclusive by design and accessible by default.

We must work to prevent barriers,

provide accessible programs and services to Canadians

and create inclusive workplaces for public servants.

The TBS contracting policy also states that if a department determines

that is not appropriate to include accessibility criteria as part of commodity specifications,

or if it is unable to obtain goods or services that comply,

the client or technical authority must ensure that clear justification is on file.

Why are these changes important?

Because persons with a disability are your coworkers and your clients.

According to the Canadian Survey on Disability conducted by Statistics Canada,

an estimated one in five Canadians, approximately 6.2 million people,

aged 15 years and over reported having at least one disability.

24% of women and 20% of men

reported having at least one disability.

13% of youth aged 15 to 24,

20% of adults aged 25 to 64 years

and 38% of seniors aged 65 years and over

reported having at least one disability.

Even those of us who do not report having a disability can expect to experience

a temporary or mild disability at some point in our lives.

We could find ourselves on crutches, develop arthritis

or experience an episodic disability.

In thinking about accessibility

we are potentially thinking about every Canadian at some point in their life.

The four most commonly reported disability types are:

Pain related, flexibility,

mobility, mental health related.

Other disability types include:

Seeing, hearing,

dexterity, learning,

memory, and developmental.

Going forward it is always important to remember:

To be clear about end users' accessibility requirements.

That including accessibility from the beginning can cost less

than adapting, modifying or replacing a product or service later on.

That we should never assume accessibility does not apply.

As example, in producing this video a range of creative attributes were taken into consideration:

Colours with good contrast were utilized.

Font sizes and styles were reviewed.

Fast flashing content was avoided.

Closed captioning was implemented

and a text-based transcription of the video was made available.

Please contact the Accessible Procurement Resource Centre

through their general mailbox for any questions on accessible procurement.