Guidance on Transportation Requirements under the Accessible Canada Regulations
Cat. No.: HR4-119/2024E-PDF
ISBN: 978-0-660-70548-4
Clarification of requirements and content to consider
This guidance explains the requirements for all organizations subject to the Accessible Canada Regulations and provides you with suggestions of transportation barriers to consider when preparing your Accessibility Plans.
Did you know?
There are transportation requirements under the Accessible Canada Regulations for all federally regulated organizations, including:
- Organizations that do not operate in the federal transportation network. These organizations still need to consider transportation barriers when they prepare their Accessibility Plans.
- Typical transportation service providers that do operate in the federal transportation network, normally referred to as Transportation Service Providers.
This guidance covers:
- The transportation-related requirements of the Accessible Canada Act and Accessible Canada Regulations that fall under the authority of the Accessibility Commissioner;
- Suggestions for all organizations subject to the Accessible Canada Regulations, including those that operate in the federal transportation network, of content to consider in their accessibility plans to identify, remove and prevent transportation barriers; and
- The obligations of organizations that operate in the federal transportation network to notify the Accessibility Commissioner when they publish their Accessibility Plans.
Does this apply to your organization?
The Accessible Canada Act applies to organizations identified in section 7 of the Act. This includes:
- Government of Canada departments and agencies;
- Crown corporations;
- every portion of the federal public administration designated under subsection 7(3) of the Accessible Canada Act;
- the Canadian Forces;
- parliamentary entities; and
- federally regulated private sector entities.
What are your transportation-related obligations to the Accessibility Commissioner under the Accessible Canada Act and Accessible Canada Regulations?
The Accessibility Commissioner is responsible for inspecting and enforcing the Accessible Canada Regulations for the federally regulated organizations described above. The Accessibility Commissioner also deals with complaints about harm people have suffered because an organization did not meet its obligations under those regulations.
Under the Accessible Canada Regulations, you have obligations to have planning, reporting, and feedback processes aimed at the identification, removal and prevention of barriers.
The Accessible Canada Regulations require you to develop an accessibility plan which includes specific headings, namely, “General”, “Consultations” as well as the following headings which are areas under the Accessible Canada Act:
- (a) employment;
- (b) the built environment;
- (c) information and communication technologies;
- (c.1) communication, other than information and communication technologies;
- (d) the procurement of goods, services and facilities;
- (e) the design and delivery of programs and services;
- (f) transportation; and
- (g) areas designated under regulations made under paragraph 117(1)(b) of the Accessible Canada Act:
When deciding what to include under the transportation heading in your accessibility plans, consider the accessibility of travel policies and procedures as well as the accessibility of the vehicles that you make available for your employees to use. You should also consider transportation accessibility for the people your organization serves.
- To start, you should gather information and raise awareness about transportation barriers encountered by employees and people with disabilities. The identified barriers must fall within your organization’s control or jurisdiction. You should also identify the relevant partners you will need to engage to address these barriers.
- An essential part of your accessibility plan is effective consultations with people with disabilities. Use the feedback received from consultations, and other feedback processes, to begin identifying, removing, and preventing transportation barriers.
Organizations can refer to the following questions to inspire discussion and to expand how they think about accessible transportation:
- Does your organization use a shuttle service?
- Is it accessible?
- Does your organization use taxi services?
- Do you have a process in place to ensure that accessible taxis are available when needed?
- Do you use accessible taxi chits or other accessible booking systems?
- If your organization has a fleet of vehicles, have you ensured that you have access to vehicles that are accessible for both drivers and passengers with disabilities? This may include hand controls, mobility ramps, etc.
Important notes:
- Accessible transportation intersects with other areas in section 5 of the Accessible Canada Act that organizations are required to include in their accessibility plans; for example, built environment (accessible parking spaces); employment (accessible transportation policies, including requirement to travel, travel reimbursement policies, location of meetings); and procurement (accessible vehicles in automotive fleets).
- If transportation-related barriers are identified through consultations or feedback processes that relate to things that are not under your control or within your jurisdiction, you are encouraged to share this information with the appropriate organizations so that they can take action to remove and prevent them reoccurring.
What are the additional obligations of Transportation Service Providers under the Accessible Canada Act?
Organizations operating in the federal transportation network (transportation service providers) that are required to follow any Canadian Transportation Agency accessibility regulations or certain regulations made under the Canada Transportation Act, must also follow the Canadian Transportation Agency’s Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations.
Transportation service providers must ensure that their accessibility plans, progress reports and feedback process descriptions meet the requirements set out in the Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations. Providers must also address the following areas identified in section 5 of Accessible Canada Regulations:
- (a) employment;
- (b) built environment (other than passenger transportation equipment and passenger areas within airports and rail, ferry and bus stations and terminals);
- (g) areas designated under regulations made under 117(1)(b) of the Accessible Canada Act; and
- (c.1) communication - other than information and communication technologies – as this pertains to these Accessible Canada Act areas.
Transportation service providers must also notify the Accessibility Commissioner of the publication of their accessibility plans, progress reports and feedback process descriptions.