Seven priority areas
Employment, built environment, information and communication technologies, communication other than ICT, procurement, design and delivery of programmes and services, transportation. Accessibility plans must address each.
ACA
Canada · Federal
What is the Accessible Canada Act?
The ACA is Canada’s federal accessibility law, enacted in 2019 with the statutory goal of a barrier-free Canada by 2040. It applies to federally regulated entities — banks, telecoms, transport and the Government of Canada itself.
Enacted
11 July 2019
Enforced by
Accessibility Commissioner (CHRC)
Technical target
WCAG 2.1 Level AA
Goal date
1 January 2040
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA, S.C. 2019, c. 10) is Canada’s federal accessibility statute, adopted on 11 July 2019. Its stated purpose is to “benefit all persons, especially persons with disabilities, through the progressive realization” of a Canada without barriers by 1 January 2040.
The ACA applies to organisations that fall within federal jurisdiction: the Government of Canada, Crown corporations, federally regulated private sector (banks, airlines, rail, marine, interprovincial transport, telecoms, broadcasters) and Parliamentary entities. Provincial and territorial entities are covered by their own laws (AODA in Ontario, Manitoba Accessibility, Nova Scotia Accessibility, Quebec’s Act to Secure Handicapped Persons).
Enforcement is split between four regulators: the Accessibility Commissioner (housed at the Canadian Human Rights Commission), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) and the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) — each for its own domain.
Technical accessibility standards are developed by Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC). For ICT, ASC published CAN-ASC-EN 301 549:2024 — an adoption of EN 301 549 with Canadian amendments — in 2024. This effectively aligns Canadian federal ICT accessibility with the European technical baseline.
Scope
Who must comply?
ACA covers approximately 5,000 federally regulated entities. Provincial-level organisations are covered by separate laws, but federal contractors and procurement partners are often pulled in indirectly.
Government of Canada. All federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations. Covers every public-facing website, internal system, piece of communications software and public-service application.
Federally regulated private sector. Approximately 18,000 organisations across: banking, telecoms, broadcasting, air and rail transport, interprovincial trucking and busing, marine shipping, federally incorporated postal services, grain handling, uranium mining. Any company on the federal side of the Canadian constitutional division of powers.
Parliamentary entities. Senate, House of Commons, Library of Parliament, Parliamentary Protective Service and the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Indigenous governing bodies. Explicitly not caught, out of respect for Indigenous sovereignty. First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments develop their own accessibility frameworks.
Provincial scope excluded. Provincial government, hospitals, universities, schools, provincially regulated private businesses — all outside the ACA. They’re covered instead by Ontario’s AODA, Manitoba’s Accessibility for Manitobans Act, Nova Scotia’s Act or the Charter of the French Language and Quebec’s Act respecting equal access.
Key requirements
What the ACA and its regulations require
The ACA establishes a three-part compliance cycle: publish a plan, consult with persons with disabilities, report on progress. Material technical standards come from Accessibility Standards Canada (CAN-ASC) and sector regulators.
Accessibility plan
Every regulated entity must publish a 3-year accessibility plan covering the seven priority areas. Must be informed by consultation with persons with disabilities. Must be publicly available and accessible.
Feedback process
Each entity must establish a process for receiving and responding to feedback on its plan and on the accessibility of its operations. Published contact + accessible channels required.
Progress report
Every year (some sectors every 2 years) entities must publish a progress report describing actions taken under the plan and feedback received, broken down by priority area.
ICT technical standard
Adopted 2024. Canadian adoption of EN 301 549 with national amendments. Requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content and extended requirements for software, mobile apps and hardware.
Standard on web accessibility
Treasury Board of Canada Standard on Web Accessibility has required WCAG 2.0 Level AA since 2013 for all Government of Canada websites; updated guidance pushes to 2.1/2.2 AA.
Accessibility Commissioner powers
The Commissioner can conduct inspections, demand documents, issue compliance orders, impose administrative monetary penalties and prosecute offences under the Act.
Duty to consult persons with disabilities
Consultation must be meaningful, ongoing and accessibly documented. Absence of evidence of consultation is itself a compliance failure.
ACA Regulations (SOR/2021-241)
Set deadlines, form of plans, form of reports, notification requirements and relieves small federally regulated private-sector employers (under 10 employees) from reporting.
Sector-specific obligations
CRTC sets additional telecom and broadcasting accessibility rules (captioning, described video, TTY). CTA sets transport accessibility (APPR Regulations). These operate alongside and can exceed ACA base requirements.
Penalties & enforcement
What non-compliance costs
The ACA empowers the Accessibility Commissioner to issue Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) for violations. Penalties are tiered by severity and size of entity.
$250,000
Maximum AMP per violation
Per s. 91 of the Act, the maximum Administrative Monetary Penalty per violation is CAD 250,000. Multiple concurrent violations compound separately.
Compliance order
Compliance orders and notices
The Commissioner can issue binding compliance orders and, on repeat failures, publish notices of violation — reputational and procurement consequences follow immediately.
Prosecution
Summary conviction
For serious or repeated offences, the Commissioner can prosecute under s. 135. Summary conviction fines up to CAD 250,000 plus remedial orders.
Publication of non-compliance. The Commissioner maintains a public registry of compliance orders and penalties. Inclusion is a material reputational cost for banks, airlines and telcos competing for trust-sensitive business.
Federal procurement impact. Treasury Board procurement rules reference ACA compliance. An entity with an active compliance order may be flagged in federal procurement.
Parallel Human Rights Act claims. Nothing in the ACA limits a person’s right to file a Canadian Human Rights Act complaint for discrimination on the basis of disability. ACA compliance does not immunise against CHRA complaints.
Deadlines
Key ACA deadlines
ACA compliance rolled out in 2022–2024 depending on entity type and size. All federally regulated entities of any size are now inside the regulation cycle.
11 July 2019
ACA received Royal Assent
Act passes Parliament. Regulations-making authority granted. Goal: barrier-free Canada by 2040.
July 2020
Accessibility Standards Canada operational
ASC formally established as the national accessibility standards body under s. 18 of the ACA.
11 May 2021
Regulations published
ACA Regulations (SOR/2021-241) published in the Canada Gazette. Sets plan and reporting deadlines.
31 December 2022
Large-entity first plan deadline
Federal government and large federally regulated private entities (100+ employees) must publish their first 3-year accessibility plan.
1 June 2023
First progress report deadline — large entities
First annual progress report covering the preceding year published.
1 June 2024
Small-entity first plan deadline
Smaller federally regulated entities (10–99 employees) must publish their first 3-year accessibility plan.
2024
CAN-ASC EN 301 549 adopted
Accessibility Standards Canada publishes the Canadian adoption of EN 301 549 with national amendments. Effective technical baseline for federal ICT accessibility.
1 January 2040
Statutory goal date
Target for a barrier-free Canada under s. 5 of the Act. Review and renewal of the ACA framework is embedded in the statute.
How to comply
Your ACA compliance checklist
If you’re a federally regulated entity, the ACA compliance cycle is three steps: plan, publish, report. The technical standard for your ICT is EN 301 549 (CAN-ASC adoption) and the baseline for web is WCAG 2.1 AA.
Confirm federal-jurisdiction status
Bank, telecom, broadcaster, airline, railway, interprovincial trucking, marine, postal: yes. Provincial business or provincial entity: AODA / provincial law instead.
Publish a 3-year accessibility plan
Cover the seven priority areas. Written in plain language. Available in accessible formats on request. Published on your main public website.
Consult persons with disabilities in plan development
Document who was consulted, how, when, and how their input shaped the plan. Absence of evidence of consultation is treated as non-compliance.
Audit ICT against CAN-ASC EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA
Web, mobile, software and hardware as applicable. Automated scan plus manual testing: screen reader, keyboard, zoom, contrast.
Establish and publish a feedback process
Accessible channels (email, phone, mail). Named contact. Commitment to acknowledge and respond within specified timeframes. Publish on your site.
Publish progress report on schedule
Annual for larger entities, biennial for smaller. Describe concrete actions, consultation, feedback received, and adjustments for the next cycle.
Meet sector-specific obligations
CRTC rules for telecoms and broadcasting. CTA rules for transport. These are above the ACA baseline and have their own deadlines and penalties.
Retain compliance evidence
Training records, audit reports, consultation logs, feedback correspondence. The Accessibility Commissioner can inspect on short notice.
Next step
Audit your federal website against CAN-ASC EN 301 549
Because CAN-ASC EN 301 549 wraps WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web, a WCAG audit is the core evidence you need. Our checker maps failures to both the Canadian clause and the underlying WCAG criterion.