Canada’s Cutting-edge Approach to Accessibility and Inclusion

Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2010 with a commitment to further the rights of persons with disabilities. The Accessible Canada Act was passed in 2019 with the goal of realizing a barrier-free Canada by 2040. The Act led to the creation of two central roles—the Accessibility Commissioner (AC) and the Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO)— and the setting up of Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC). 

Stephanie Cadieux is the first CAO of Canada. She acts as a convener, collaborator, challenger, and champion for accessibility. The CAO’s office monitors and reports on accessibility outcomes. A key principle adopted under the Act is "Nothing without us”, which means that persons with disabilities should be consulted when developing laws, policies and programs that impact them. 

Dr. Jutta Treviranus is the Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre, Toronto, and chair of two standards committees with the ASC on AI and ICT. Setting a new bar for accessibility standards, Canada is developing research- and equity-based accessibility standards in collaboration with researchers and people with disabilities in critical areas such as AI, ICT, built environment, employment, procurement and transportation. 

Dr. Sambhavi (Sam) Chandrashekar is the Global Accessibility Lead at D2L Corporation and the Vice Chairperson of ASC’s committees on AI and ICT. In this fireside chat session, Sam will chat with Stephanie and Jutta about how Canada envisions, plans and implements accessibility to serve as an exemplar in accessibility and inclusion.