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Accessible Canada Act

    Creator: Legislative Services Branch

    Date Updated: January 17, 2023

    Overview

    The Accessible Canada Act is “An act to ensure a barrier-free Canada” (Consolidated Federal Laws of Canada, Accessible Canada Act, 2019). The act’s purpose is to create an accessible Canada by 2040 by identifying, removing, and preventing accessibility barriers.

    The act impacts multiple areas of business and organizations, including employment, buildings, technologies (information and communication), communication, procurement of items and services, design and delivery of programs, and transportation.

    The information on this page is summarized from the Accessible Canada Act.

    Principles of the Accessible Canada Act

    The Principles of the Accessible Canada Act state that, regardless of a person’s disability or disabilities, all people have the right to:

    • Be treated with dignity.
    • The same opportunities to build the lives for themselves that they wish to have.
    • Equal access and participation in society.
    • Equal opportunities to make their own choices.
    • Have the laws, policies, programs, services, and structures consider them, the environment they interact with, and the discrimination that persons with disabilities experience.
    • Be involved with the development, design, and revision of the laws, policies, programs, services and structures to create a fully accessible environment for persons with disabilities.

    Review the Accessible Canada Act.

    References

    Legislative Services Branch. (2019, July 11). Consolidated Federal Laws of Canada, Accessible Canada Act. Accessible Canada Act. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/A-0.6/