Broadcasting and Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to the Distribution List
Ottawa, 25 April 2024
Our reference: 1011-NOC2020-0124, 1011-NOC2021-0069
BY E-MAIL
Distribution List
RE: Upcoming deadline related to the Accessible Canada Act and the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations
Dear Service Provider:
This letter is to ensure that you are aware of the accessibility reporting requirements that may apply to you as an online undertaking pursuant to the Broadcasting Act under the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and the CRTC Accessibility Reporting Regulations (the Regulations).
CRTC-regulated online undertakings with 10 or more employees must publish the following accessibility materials on their website by the indicated deadlines:
- Feedback process description by 1 June 2024Footnote1
- Initial accessibility plan by 1 June 2025
- First progress report by 1 June 2026
See the appendix to this letter for detailed instructions related to the feedback process description. Additional guidance related to the requirements is available on the CRTC’s website.
If you operate multiple regulated entities—for instance, online undertakings as well as traditional broadcasting undertakings—you can meet your requirements with a single feedback process, accessibility plan and annual progress report, as long as these include the necessary content for each entity you operate and are available on each entity's website.
What is the Accessible Canada Act?
The ACA came into force in July 2019. Its purpose is to make Canada barrier-free by January 2040. The publication of accessibility reporting documents (i.e., accessibility plan and progress reports) is one of the central requirements of the ACA. More information is available in this summary of the ACA.
If you have any questions, contact Nanao Kachi, Director of Social and Consumer Policy at 819-997-4700 or by email at engagement@crtc.gc.ca.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Scott Hutton
Chief, Consumer, Research and Communications
Feedback process and description
Deadline: 1 June 2024
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 or the CRTC’s website, for detailed instructions on how to submit this notice.
A feedback process ensures that members of the public can easily communicate with the entity about matters relating to accessibility. Section 9 of the Regulations sets 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. Section 10 of the Regulations sets 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 published its own feedback process description under the ACA, which you may consult for your reference.
- Date modified: