Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to the Distribution List
Ottawa, 24 April 2023
Reference(s): 1011-NOC2020-0124 and 1011-NOC2021-0069
BY E-MAIL
Distribution List
Subject: Staff Letter - Broadcasting-Telecom - Upcoming deadlines related to the Accessible Canada Act and the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations
Dear Service Provider:
According to our records, you submitted Form 860 (“Attestation under CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations”) attesting that the entity(ies) you represent is/are class B3 and/or class T3 under the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations (the Regulations).
Class B3/T3 entities, which have 10 to 99 employees, have obligations pursuant to the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and the Regulations. Specifically, they must publish the following accessibility materials on their website by the indicated deadlines:
- Feedback process description by 1 June 2023
- Initial accessibility plan by 1 June 2024
- First progress report by 1 June 2025
Guidance related to these requirements is available in Information Bulletin 2022-117, Information Bulletin 2022-227, as well as on the CRTC’s website.1
Feedback process and description
Deadline: 1 June 2023
Entities must notify the CRTC within 48 hours of publishing their feedback process description and must include in their notice the URL of the published description. See paragraphs 6 to 8 of Information Bulletin 2022-227, as well as the CRTC’s website, for detailed instructions on how to submit this notice.
Sections 9 (broadcasting) and 25 (telecom) of the Regulations set out the specific required elements of the accessibility feedback process:
- The entity must receive feedback at minimum by phone and by email;
- The entity must allow feedback to be provided anonymously;
- The entity must designate and publicly identify a person to be responsible for receiving feedback;
- The entity must acknowledge receipt of feedback, other than anonymous feedback;
- The entity must ensure that personal information remains confidential unless the person consents to its disclosure.
Every regulated entity must also publish a description of its feedback process. Sections 10 (broadcasting) and 26 (telecom) of the Regulations set out the publication requirements for the feedback process description:
- The entity must publish the description of its feedback process on its website, either directly on the homepage or by way of a hyperlink on the homepage;
- The description must be in clear, simple and concise language;
- The electronic publication of the description must meet the requirements of Level AA conformance as set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG);
- The entity must update its description whenever it changes its feedback process.
Commission staff recommends that you reference all of these elements in your feedback process description. Please note that the CRTC has also published its own feedback process description under the ACA, which you may consult for your reference.
Every regulated entity must put in place a process to receive feedback on accessibility barriers encountered by persons that deal with the regulated entity and on the manner in which the entity is implementing its accessibility plan.
Complementary obligations under the Accessible Canada Regulations
We remind you that regulated broadcasting and telecommunications providers have complementary obligations, including notification obligations, under the Accessible Canada Regulations.
The Accessible Canada Regulations are separate from the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations and are enforced by the Accessibility Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
If you have questions about the Accessible Canada Regulations, you can contact the Accessibility Commissioner as follows:
- Email: Info.Com@chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
- Phone: 613-995-1151
- Canada VRS (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern time)
- TTY: 1-888-643-3304
- Fax: 613-996-9661
If you have any questions related to the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations, please visit our website or send us an email at engagement@crtc.gc.ca.
Yours sincerely,
Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy
- Date modified: