ACA

The Accessible Canada Act, commonly known as the ACA, is a federal law intended to
support the identification, removal and prevention of accessibility barriers in areas
under federal jurisdiction.

The Act came into force in 2019 and supports the federal objective of achieving a
barrier-free Canada by 2040.

The ACA does not apply to every organisation operating in Canada. It primarily applies
to federal government organisations, Crown corporations, parliamentary entities and
private-sector organisations regulated by the federal government.

What is the Accessible Canada Act?

The Accessible Canada Act establishes a proactive framework for addressing barriers
that prevent people with disabilities from fully and equally participating in society.

Rather than relying only on individual complaints after discrimination occurs, the
Act requires covered organisations to identify barriers, plan corrective action,
receive accessibility feedback and report publicly on their progress.

What is the goal of the ACA?

The purpose of the Act is to help create a Canada without barriers on or before
January 1, 2040, particularly in areas under federal jurisdiction.

The Act is guided by principles that include:

• Every person must be treated with dignity.
• Every person must have an equal opportunity to make the life they are able and wish to have.
• Every person must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society.
• People must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices.
• Laws, policies, programs and services should account for different disabilities and overlapping forms of marginalisation.
• People with disabilities should participate in developing and designing accessibility measures.
• Accessibility laws and policies should support the highest possible level of accessibility.

Who must comply with the Accessible Canada Act?

The ACA applies to organisations and activities under federal jurisdiction. Covered
entities may include:

• Federal government departments and agencies.
• Crown corporations.
• Parliamentary entities.
• The Canadian Armed Forces.
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
• Federally regulated banks.
• Airlines and airports.
• Interprovincial and international transportation providers.
• Rail, marine and trucking organisations operating across provincial or international borders.
• Telecommunications and broadcasting organisations.
• Postal services.
• Other federally regulated private organisations.

The Accessible Canada Regulations include planning and reporting requirements for
federally regulated private organisations with 10 or more employees, subject to the
classifications and exemptions in the regulations.

What organisations may not be covered?

Many businesses are regulated primarily by provincial or territorial law rather than
federal law. They may not be directly covered by the ACA but can still be subject to
provincial accessibility, human-rights or sector-specific requirements.

For example, organisations operating in Ontario may need to consider the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Organisations operating across Canada should determine which federal, provincial and
territorial requirements apply to each part of their operations.

What is a barrier under the ACA?

A barrier can include anything that hinders the full and equal participation in
society of people with a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning,
communication or sensory impairment, or a functional limitation.

Barriers may result from:

• Physical environments.
• Architecture.
• Information and communication technology.
• Attitudes.
• Policies and procedures.
• Communication methods.
• Programs and services.
• Procurement decisions.

The seven priority areas

The Accessible Canada Act identifies seven priority areas in which barriers should be
identified, removed and prevented.

Accessibility plans

Covered organisations must prepare and publish accessibility plans describing how
they will identify, remove and prevent barriers in the priority areas relevant to
their operations.

Accessibility plans must generally:

• Describe the organisation’s accessibility priorities.
• Identify known barriers.
• Describe actions intended to remove or prevent barriers.
• Address the priority areas relevant to the organisation.
• Explain how people with disabilities were consulted.
• Describe how the organisation can receive accessibility feedback.
• Be published in the required location and format.
• Be available in prescribed alternate formats upon request.

Accessibility plans are generally updated every three years, or according to another
period specified by applicable regulations.

Consulting people with disabilities

Organisations must consult people with disabilities when preparing and updating
accessibility plans.

Meaningful consultation should go beyond asking for general approval. It should help
the organisation understand real barriers, priorities and practical improvements.

Consultation methods may include:

• Accessible surveys.
• Interviews.
• Focus groups.
• Employee accessibility networks.
• User testing with people with disabilities.
• Meetings available in multiple accessible formats.
• Ongoing feedback from customers and employees.

Participants should be offered accessible ways to contribute, appropriate support and
sufficient time to review materials.

Accessibility feedback process

Covered organisations must establish and publish a process for receiving and dealing
with feedback about:

• Barriers encountered when interacting with the organisation.
• The organisation’s accessibility plan.
• The implementation of accessibility commitments.
• Published accessibility progress reports.

A feedback process should clearly explain:

• Who is responsible for receiving accessibility feedback.
• How feedback can be submitted.
• Whether anonymous feedback is accepted.
• How feedback will be acknowledged and considered.
• How alternate formats can be requested.

Organisations should provide more than one submission channel where practical, such
as an accessible web form, email, telephone and postal mail.

Accessibility progress reports

In the years between accessibility plans, organisations must generally publish
progress reports describing how the plan is being implemented.

Progress reports should include:

• Actions completed during the reporting period.
• Work still in progress.
• Newly identified barriers.
• Consultations conducted with people with disabilities.
• Feedback received.
• How feedback influenced accessibility decisions.
• Changes to priorities or planned actions.

Progress reporting creates public accountability and helps accessibility remain an
ongoing organisational practice rather than a one-time exercise.

Publication and alternate formats

Accessibility plans, progress reports and feedback-process descriptions must be
published according to the applicable regulations.

Organisations may also need to provide these documents in alternate formats upon
request, including formats such as:

• Print.
• Large print.
• Braille.
• Audio.
• Electronic formats compatible with adaptive technology.

The organisation should clearly explain how a person can request an alternate format
and how long delivery may take.

Information and communication technology under the ACA

ICT is one of the Act’s priority areas. Organisations should consider accessibility
across both customer-facing and internal technology.

Relevant ICT may include:

• Public websites.
• Mobile applications.
• Customer portals.
• Online banking and payment services.
• Booking and transportation systems.
• Employee intranets.
• Recruitment and HR systems.
• Learning-management platforms.
• Electronic documents.
• Customer-support tools.
• Third-party software and services.

Does the ACA require a specific version of WCAG?

The Accessible Canada Act itself does not state that every covered website must
automatically conform to one specific version of WCAG.

Technical requirements can arise from regulations, standards, procurement
requirements, regulator guidance or sector-specific obligations.

WCAG remains a widely recognised framework for evaluating web and application
accessibility. Organisations can use it to assess areas such as:

• Keyboard access.
• Visible focus.
• Color contrast.
• Page structure.
• Forms and error messages.
• Alternative text.
• Media alternatives.
• Compatibility with assistive technologies.

Learn more about the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Accessibility standards in Canada

Accessibility Standards Canada develops accessibility standards for federally
regulated areas in collaboration with people with disabilities, industry,
government, experts and other stakeholders.

Standards may address areas such as:

• Information and communication technology.
• Employment.
• Built environments.
• Service delivery.
• Emergency measures.
• Plain language.
• Accessible procurement.

Organisations should monitor applicable standards and regulatory requirements rather
than assume that one provincial framework covers all ACA obligations.

ACA and AODA are not the same law

The Accessible Canada Act is federal legislation. The Accessibility for Ontarians
with Disabilities Act is provincial legislation applying in Ontario.

An organisation may be covered by:

• The ACA only.
• A provincial accessibility law only.
• Both federal and provincial requirements in different parts of its operations.
• Additional human-rights obligations.

Organisations should determine jurisdiction carefully rather than applying AODA as
a substitute for the ACA.

Examples of digital accessibility barriers

• A customer portal cannot be operated using a keyboard.
• A mobile booking application does not work with a screen reader.
• An online form provides errors only through color.
• A PDF accessibility plan has no heading structure or reading order.
• Videos contain spoken information without captions.
• An employee system is incompatible with magnification software.
• A feedback form cannot be submitted by assistive-technology users.
• A website prevents users from enlarging text.
• A third-party payment component has inaccessible controls.

How to prepare an ACA accessibility plan

1. Confirm jurisdiction:
   determine whether the organisation or service is federally regulated.
2. Assign responsibility:
   appoint an accountable accessibility lead and governance team.
3. Map the priority areas:
   identify which of the seven ACA areas apply to the organisation.
4. Identify barriers:
   review policies, services, technology, communications, facilities and procurement.
5. Consult people with disabilities:
   obtain meaningful input from employees, customers and other users.
6. Define actions:
   establish owners, priorities, timelines and measures of progress.
7. Create a feedback process:
   provide clear and accessible ways to report barriers.
8. Publish the plan:
   meet the applicable publication and alternate-format requirements.
9. Track implementation:
   preserve evidence of actions and completed improvements.
10. Publish progress reports:
    report actions, consultation and feedback in the intervening years.

How to assess digital services

An ICT review should combine different testing methods.

Automated testing

Automated tools can identify many repeatable technical findings across websites and
applications.

Manual testing

Human review is required to assess meaning, logical navigation, form behavior and
complex interactions.

Assistive-technology testing

Important journeys should be tested with relevant tools such as screen readers,
magnification and keyboard-only navigation.

Testing with people with disabilities

User testing can reveal practical barriers that are difficult to predict through
technical inspection alone.

Accessibility and procurement

Procurement is a priority area under the ACA. Accessibility should be included before
a technology, service or facility is purchased.

Procurement teams can:

• Include accessibility requirements in requests for proposals.
• Ask vendors for current accessibility documentation.
• Review known limitations.
• Test important functionality before acceptance.
• Require remediation plans for significant barriers.
• Include accessibility responsibilities in contracts.
• Retest after upgrades and vendor changes.

Enforcement and penalties

The Accessible Canada Act includes inspection, compliance and enforcement mechanisms.
Depending on the regulator and violation, measures may include warnings, compliance
orders, agreements and administrative monetary penalties.

The Act allows regulations to set a maximum administrative monetary penalty of up to
CAD 250,000 for a violation.

The exact enforcement process depends on the regulated sector, responsible authority,
nature of the violation and applicable regulations.

Record keeping and evidence

Organisations should maintain records supporting their accessibility work, including:

• Published accessibility plans.
• Consultation methods and results.
• Accessibility feedback received.
• Progress reports.
• Digital accessibility audits.
• Remediation actions.
• Verification results.
• Procurement requirements and vendor documentation.
• Requests for alternate formats.
• Known barriers and planned improvements.

How Pluro supports ACA accessibility work

Pluro is an accessibility workflow platform that helps organisations coordinate
digital accessibility findings from detection through verified remediation.

Teams can use Pluro to centralise automated and manual findings, capture behavior
evidence, assign responsibility, provide remediation guidance and preserve
verification history.

This can support the ICT portion of a broader accessibility plan by helping teams
document barriers, actions, ownership and progress across websites and digital
products.

Pluro is not a legal adviser and does not replace consultation with people with
disabilities, formal regulatory reporting or qualified accessibility expertise.

Accessible Canada Act checklist

• Confirm whether the organisation is federally regulated.
• Identify applicable ACA priority areas.
• Consult people with disabilities.
• Prepare and publish an accessibility plan.
• Create an accessible feedback process.
• Publish progress reports in the required years.
• Provide required alternate formats.
• Assess websites, applications and internal ICT.
• Include accessibility in procurement.
• Assign and verify remediation work.
• Maintain supporting records and evidence.
• Update the plan according to the required cycle.

Important notice

This page provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. The
application of the Accessible Canada Act depends on the organisation, workforce,
jurisdiction, sector, regulator and applicable exemptions. Review official Canadian
legislation and obtain qualified advice for specific compliance decisions.

Read the official

Accessible Canada Act
.

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