Introduction
We are pleased to share the Canadian Human Rights Commission's Accessibility Plan for 2026-2028. It was created with valuable input from a wide range of contributors, including Commission employees, civil society groups, and community members.
This plan builds on our first one from 2022. Since then, we have made significant progress in terms of inclusive hiring practices, built environment and information and communications technologies. And yet – there is more work to do.
There are further steps we need to take to achieve the outcomes we want, and to eliminate new barriers that have been identified as situations change. For example, we have implemented a hybrid return-to-office policy that balances working from home and working at the office. As people's needs change, we must adapt. We are committed to remaining flexible and responsive.
This 2026–2028 plan shows our strong commitment to creating a healthy, inclusive, barrier-free environment, and to supporting Commission employees and the people we serve.
We are proud of our progress and deeply committed to the work that remains. As we move forward, we will keep listening to those with lived experience and are committed to the belief that Canada is stronger when every person can take part fully, without barriers.
Aspects that shaped our plan
Since the launch of our first Accessibility Plan, several important ideas and outside factors have helped us update our thinking and approach:
- Feedback from people with disabilities: Feedback from people with disabilities and civil society groups, as well as the idea of “Nothing Without Us,” continues to guide our work.
- Organizational effectiveness: In 2025, we worked to make the Commission a more modern and effective organization. We created a strategic plan that sets priorities and identifies needs. A key priority is making sure inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and anti-racism are part of everything we do.
- Fiscal stewardship: The Commission focuses on responsible spending and cost-effective ways to deliver results for people in Canada.
- Size and scope: The Commission has about 300 employees. Like other similar-sized organizations, we aim to do as much as possible within our resources.
- 2024 Public Service Employee Survey results: The survey showed areas where we can improve. Key among them: workload management, confidence in leadership, workplace culture, and inclusion. These issues also affect accessibility. For example, employees reported stress from having too much work and not enough staff. More employees requested accommodations in 2024 than in 2022, but fewer felt comfortable asking their supervisors. Of those who asked, more saw accommodations put in place, but overall satisfaction stayed the same.
- Integrated approach to IDEA-AR: We understand that inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, anti-racism (IDEA-AR), and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) are all connected. When we embed these principles in our policies and practices, they make the workplace fairer and more accountable. This Plan complements our existing Anti-Racism Action Plan and is foundational to our ongoing work, to embed IDEA-AR and GBA+ in all that we do.
- Measuring progress: We want to show real results in making the Commission more accessible and inclusive. Good data and tracking our impact help us see how our actions are working.
General
This plan was made with ideas from many different people. We want to thank people with disabilities, our employees, the people who use our services, and community groups for helping us. They have helped us find and remove barriers. Your feedback on our accessibility work is very important. We want you to keep sharing your ideas with us.
How to provide feedback
The Commission has designated the Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Anti-Racism (IDEA-AR), to receive your feedback on behalf of the Commission.
We invite your comments, ideas and feedback on:
- Our 2026–2028 Accessibility Plan
- How we are putting the plan in place
- Any barriers that you may encounter (e.g., when interacting with us, or when accessing our programs and services)
- Our feedback process
You can provide feedback in the following ways, and you may choose to include your name and contact information:
- Send an email to info.com@chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
- Call by telephone at 1-888-214-1090 or by TTY at 1-888-643-3304
- Use Video Relay Service at Canada VRS
- Mail us at: 344 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 1E1
We will confirm that we have received your feedback. Your feedback will help us improve accessibility at the Commission and will be reflected in our progress reports.
How to request information in alternate formats
You can ask us for our plan or information about our feedback process, in the following alternate formats:
- large print
- Braille
- audio
- an electronic format that is compatible with adaptive technology for persons with disabilities
We will provide the format you ask for as soon as possible. Braille and audio formats may take up to 45 days. Print, large print and electronic formats may take up to 15 days.
- Send an email to info.com@chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
- Call by telephone at 1-888-214-1090 or by TTY at 1-888-643-3304
- Use Video Relay Service at Canada VRS
- Mail us at: 344 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 1E1
How we developed this plan
We took several steps to collect information and feedback about accessibility at the Commission. This helped us find barriers, look at how things are working, and decide what should be included in our plan. Our goal is to remove barriers and stop new ones from happening.
Self-assessment exercise
We did an internal check to see how accessible our workplace is. This helped us understand our current practices and how we can make our workplace better for everyone.
Consultations
How we consulted persons with disabilities
The Commission gathered ideas for this plan through online discussions and written feedback.
First, we talked with people outside the Commission to help us find barriers and ways to remove or prevent them. We asked for feedback from people who had used the Commission's services. This included people involved in our advocacy work, and those involved in complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA).
Second, we consulted with our employees. We held online group discussions and made sure to get input from employees with lived experience. Employees who could not join the discussions could send written comments.
We also talked with Commission leaders online to hear their feedback. Unions and the Commission's internal Decolonization and Anti-Racism Consultation Committee were invited to give written feedback on behalf of their members.
Who we consulted
For our external consultations, we invited certain organizations and people outside the Commission to give us feedback. These included people with lived experience and experts, including those working in advocacy in the community.
For our internal consultations, we spoke with employees from different backgrounds, including those who are part of other equity groups. We asked for feedback from employees with disabilities, Commission leaders, members of our internal Decolonization and Anti-Racism Consultation Committee, and unions.
A total of 51 employees joined the consultation sessions. Some of them identified as having different types of disabilities, sometimes multiple, including:
- Mobility
- Hearing
- Mental health
- Vision
- Chronic conditions
- Learning
- Developmental
What we consulted on
We asked participants about the barriers they faced and how we can remove or prevent them. We collected feedback based on different parts of our accessibility plan.
Specifically, we asked participants:
- What barriers they experienced and in which areas of the Commission
- What ideas they had for how the Commission can remove or prevent these barriers
How we used the feedback we received
To make sure our plan is useful and realistic, we looked carefully at all the feedback we collected, our self-assessment, and other sources. We used this information to decide which actions we can focus on first. We did this while keeping in mind what is possible with the staff and money we have, and the different needs are of the people we serve. We want to make sure the steps we take actually work and make a real difference.
During our consultations, some feedback was not specifically about the Commission, but about jobs, programs, and systems in the Government of Canada in general. Some of these issues are outside our control, like policies set by the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. Other general feedback is being handled through existing programs, such as our Mental Health Action Plan and our Occupational Health and Safety program.
The areas of our Accessibility Plan
Our plan is organized around the seven areas of the Accessible Canada Act. Each part of the plan explains the barriers we found and what we will do to remove and prevent them. The plan also shows what information we will collect to track our progress.
Employees, unions, and members of the public shared the barriers they have faced when dealing with the Commission. These barriers are often personal and based on individual experiences. To help, the Commission is working on solutions that change entire systems. This way, more people can benefit, and we can help fix the root causes of these problems. The steps in this plan won't fix everything right away, but they will put us on the path to reducing and eventually removing these barriers over time.
1. Employment
The Commission is committed to making a safe, healthy, and accessible workplace for all employees, including people with disabilities. We want to make sure employees have what they need to do well in their jobs and grow in their careers. The feedback we received from employees during our consultations will help us keep improving how we support them at work.
Barriers identified
During different activities to gather feedback, employees and the public shared some barriers to accessibility:
- No space for employees with disabilities to network, connect with each other, or get support
- Unclear accommodation process
- Some employees don't know what options are available
- Some employees are unaware of who is responsible to help
- Some employees have limited access to adaptive tools and other supports
- Some employees are unaware of the type of tools and supports available
- Some requests for tools and supports can take a long time
- Some employees expressed concern about growth opportunities for people with disabilities
- Some employees feel that unadvertised appointments may limit opportunities for employees with disabilities to grow in their careers
- Some employees expressed concerns that the skills and capabilities of people with disabilities are not fully recognized when considering growth opportunities
- Employee onboarding process is not well established
- Information about internal processes and responsibilities are unclear.
- The way information is presented does not meet the needs of different kinds of learners
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Start an employee group for people with disabilities (2026)
- Use new tools and supports from the Government of Canada's Better Accommodation Program to make it easier for employees to understand what is available and how to request accommodations (2026–2028)
- Put the new Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) rules in place and look for ways to include recent accessibility standards in our policies, programs, and practices (2026–2028). This includes making recruitment, onboarding, and career development more accessible and inclusive
- Update the Commission's onboarding guide for new employees to include information about accessibility (2027)
- Improve communications around existing practices and provide more information to employees about issues such as the accommodation process, staffing, adaptive tools and other supports, and career development (2028)
2. The built environment
The Commission leases office space and has an agreement with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). We are always looking for ways to make our offices more accessible and work with PSPC to find solutions.
Since the return-to-office requirement started, the Commission put several measures in place to support employees working in the office. During our consultations, employees shared more ideas for improvement, which are included in this plan.
Barriers identified
During different activities to gather feedback, employees told us about these accessibility issues:
- No blinking lights to signal emergencies, which can be dangerous for employees with hearing disabilities
- Some employees are unaware of the updated procedures about how to keep people with disabilities safe during an emergency
- Bright overhead lights, glare from screens and other lighting issues, and noise can cause problems for employees with light sensitivity and sensory issues
- Except for situations of duty to accommodate requests that require employees to have offices, individual offices with doors are by default intended to be reserved by executives, rather than employees who may need them to concentrate
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Enhance communication around our emergency procedures and systems for employees requiring assistance and continue to improve our emergency procedures and systems to make them more accessible (2026–2027)
- Find ways to improve our workplace to better support the different needs of employees (2026–2028). This could include reducing or removing sensory and other barriers, improving ergonomics, and using inclusive design, infrastructure, and equipment to make the workplace more accessible
3. Information and communications technologies
The way we work, our technology, and the needs of the people we serve are always changing. This means we need to focus on improving our digital tools and finding new ways to work. The Commission has worked to modernize our technology through our Digital Strategy. As a small agency, we try to be as innovative as we can with the resources we have.
Barriers identified
During different activities to gather feedback, employees and the public told us about these digital accessibility issues:
- Some older platforms and tools are not accessible, such as our complaints management system and our document management system
- Limited access to accessible tools makes it harder for employees to do their jobs well
- Some digital products are not always responsive to the needs of all users (e.g., internal intranet)
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Look at tools and processes to remove barriers at the complaint intake stage (2026)
- Update old tools and platforms, including the internal website, to meet digital accessibility standards, like those from Accessibility Standards Canada (2026–2028)
- Include user experience (UX) design in how we create digital products (2026–2028)
4. Communications, other than information and communication technologies
People in Canada connect and communicate with the Commission in many ways. We are always looking for ways to make sure everyone — including all employees — can access information in a way that is easy to understand and accessible.
Barriers identified
During different activities to gather feedback, employees, some unions, and members of the public told us about these communication and information barriers:
- Lack of awareness of how to organize and run accessible internal meetings, which can make inclusion inconsistent
- Some operational templates and documents are not accessible
- Complainants who need accommodations to submit a complaint verbally are not sure where to get help
- Accessible formats and adaptive tools are not always used consistently by employees and the public, which creates barriers for people with disabilities
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Create and share clear rules for making our internal meetings accessible for everyone (2026)
- Share our accommodation policy widely so everyone knows how to ask for support (2026–2027)
- Improve and standardize how we make accessible documents and templates (2026–2028)
- Review and update our current templates to make them easier to use (2026–2028)
- Work toward meeting the plain-language standards from the International Organization for Standardization and Accessibility Standards Canada when they are available (2027)
5. The procurement of goods, services and facilities
When we buy or rent goods, services, or spaces, it's important to choose ones that are accessible from the start. We want to make sure all employees know how to buy accessible products and services, so we can meet everyone's needs.
Barriers identified
- The procurement process is not clear or easy to follow. Employees shared that it can be hard to understand what they need to do to make sure the goods and services we buy are accessible
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Increase awareness and understanding of accessible procurement so employees know how to assess and buy accessible goods and services (2026–2028)
- Apply these requirements consistently (2026–2028)
6. The design and delivery of programs and services
The Commission offers different programs and services to people in Canada and to its own employees. This includes our complaints and compliance programs, as well as our work to raise awareness and engage with the public. We also provide internal services to help our employees and support the work of the organization.
Barriers identified
During our activities to collect feedback on accessibility, employees and members of the public shared the following:
- Some programs and areas of the Commission do not have strong ways to measure accessibility progress, such as collecting feedback on people's accessibility experience. This makes it harder for us to improve services and understand their impact.
- Some members of the public said that certain ways we engage with them do not fully recognize the value of their time, knowledge, and lived experience.
- The complaints process is hard to understand and use, and it requires too much paperwork and administrative work.
- For example, people going through the complaints process do not always receive trauma-informed support, which can create stress for those who are already experiencing harm.
- People who contact the Commission through our 1-800 number sometimes receive incorrect information, and calls are not always transferred properly.
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Create plans, standards, and guidance to help us work better with civil society groups (2026–2027)
- Update our services, tools, and processes across all public-facing programs. This includes improving training and job aids so we can serve the public in a way that is accessible, respectful, and trauma-informed (2026–2028)
- Improve how we track trends and collect disaggregated data (data that is broken down into smaller groups) so we can provide fair, accessible, and easy-to-understand services (2026–2028)
- Study how our compliance programs affect smaller organizations and those that support equity-deserving communities. Identify ways to reduce unfair impacts and support compliance and long-term change through education, resources, and guidance (2026–2028)
- Create a measurement framework to support the Commission's reporting and equity commitments, including accessibility (2027)
7. Transportation
During our consultations, we received some feedback about transportation. This included comments about the Government of Canada's Travel Directive and things we cannot control, like parking at our office buildings. While this feedback is not included in our plan, we have carefully considered it. It continues to guide our work as we do what we can to remove and prevent barriers within our mandate and area of responsibility.
8. Capacity building and culture
The consultations and feedback showed that we have a chance to improve accessibility in our workplace culture, daily practices, and decision-making.
Barriers identified
During our activities to gather feedback on accessibility, employees and members of the public told us:
- There is still a lack of awareness and sensitivity about accessibility. Some people do not fully understand accommodations, and stigma continues to be a barrier to inclusion
- Expectations around accessibility are not always clear across the organization. This creates confusion about who is responsible for accessibility and how it should be carried out across the Commission
Steps to remove and prevent barriers
- Continue to offer training and learning opportunities that build awareness and practical skills to support disability inclusion (2026–2028)
- Create organization-wide tools and resources to support better decision-making and make expectations around accessibility clear (2028)
Assessing our progress
We want to understand how our actions to remove and prevent barriers are making a difference. We are continuing to collect and track information related to accessibility.
We will look for ways to gather and review accessibility information, including:
- Feedback from people with disabilities about how accessible, usable, and effective our products, programs, and services are. This would include feedback from employees, the public we serve, and other users
- Feedback from employees about their experience working at the Commission
- Reports about accessibility issues in our programs and services
Conclusion
As we put this Plan into action, we will provide regular progress reports, as required by the Accessible Canada Act and the Accessible Canada Regulations.
The experiences and feedback of people with disabilities — including our employees and partners — will continue to guide our work. Their voices are key to helping us improve accessibility, support inclusion, and create long-term change across the Commission.