Bill 118, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

HRinfodesk---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law, January 2005

Discrimination against persons with disabilities is a widely acknowledged reality in Canada. The recent study Canadian Attitudes Towards Disability Issues conducted by the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) within the Department of Social Development Canada (SDC) - formerly part of Human Resources Development Canada - which aims to understand Canadians' awareness and attitudes towards persons with disabilities and the various issues pertaining to disabilities, indicated that more than eight in ten Canadians believe there is either a great deal (19%) or some (63%) discrimination taking place in today's society. This view is widely held across the population, although not noticeably more so among persons with disabilities themselves.

In the workplace, Canadians employed in settings that include persons with disabilities firmly believe these individuals are contributing as much as others, and are fully accepted by their co-workers. At the same time, the public acknowledges that persons with disabilities face discrimination in having equal access to employment opportunities. In addition, for many Canadians, the prototypical image of "disability" is a person in a wheelchair. When asked to bring to mind associations with this term, most people primarily think of a physical handicap (principally entailing reduced mobility), or of someone with limited capabilities for activity and life roles. Mental conditions are much less apt to be a part of the public's definition of this concept.

To remove barriers and improve the social and economic inclusion of Ontarians with disabilities, the Ontario government introduced legislation to improve access to workplaces and public spaces, employment, customer service, facilities, buildings, premises, communications and transportation on October 12, 2004. The Bill would repeal the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, and apply accessibility standards to both public and private sector organizations. The Bill would further require annual "Accessibility Reports" to be filed with the Director which would be made available to the public. If enacted, total compliance would not be required until 2025.

The Bill would allow for accessibility standards to be regulated for both the public and private sectors, and enforce timelines for compliance. These standards would be developed in consultation with disabled persons and the organizations that would have obligations under the new Act. The accessibility standards apply to persons and organizations in both the public and private sectors that employ other persons or that deal with the public by providing goods, services, facilities or accommodation or by owning or occupying premises that are open to the public. Each accessibility standard will identify the class of persons or organizations to which it applies. The standard will require those persons and organizations to implement measures, policies or practices or do such things as are specified in the standard in order to identify and remove, and prevent the erection of, barriers for persons with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, employment, accommodation, buildings, structures or premises.

Access features such as wheelchair ramps will become mandatory for all workplaces. The goal is to make 25% of all public and private transportation fleets accessible within five years, and all public and private buildings accessible by 2025. Citizenship Minister Marie Bountrogianni says the new legislation will be backed by "tough penalties" of up to $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for corporations who fail to comply.

Several countries are already in the process of implementing accessibility guidelines and standards. For example, in the United States and Australia, all new buildings to which disabled persons have or may reasonably be expected to have access were required to be designed in accordance with the Code on Barrier-Free Accessibility to facilitate access to and use of new buildings and their facilities by disabled persons.

Source:

Canadian Attitudes Towards Disability Issues .

Bill 118, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities

By Yosie Saint-Cyr, Editor at HRinfodesk

Published on HRinfodesk---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law

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