Broadcasting and Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Jeffrey Beatty (Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee)
Gatineau, 19 May 2026
Reference: 1011-NOC2025-0274
BY EMAIL
Jeffrey Beatty
Chairperson
Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee
405-15 Wellings Dr.
Picton, Ontario K0K 2T0
chair@deafwireless.ca
Subject: DWCC letter re accessibility clarification - Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2025-274-2
Dear Jeffrey Beatty,
Commission staff is in receipt of a letter from the Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee (DWCC) dated 7 May 2026 requesting clarifications concerning accessibility considerations of the new phase that were announced in Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2025-274-2, Call for comments – Improving customer awareness of the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services Inc. – Reinstating the proceeding with changes to procedure (the CCTS Awareness Proceeding).
A new phase was added to the CCTS Awareness Proceeding inviting service providers to develop proposals on how to ensure that customers with unresolved complaints were made aware of the CCTS more effectively and efficiently. The Commission encouraged service providers to consult and collaborate with consumer groups when developing these proposals.
The DWCC has requested the following clarifications with respect to the new phase:
- If service providers consult or collaborate with Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, or sign language user organizations as part of the proposal-development phase, who is responsible for arranging ASL/LSQ interpretation and related accessibility supports?
- Who is responsible for paying for those accessibility measures?
- Does the Commission expect that accessibility supports equivalent to those recognized in the original notice will be maintained through this new collaborative phase?
With respect to questions 1 and 2, the service providers are welcome to arrange for ASL/LSQ interpretation or other accessibility supports to remove barriers and facilitate the participation of Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, or sign language user organizations or other accessibility organizations. If there are limited or no accessibility supports during this collaborative stage, then accessibility organizations can arrange for the accommodations themselves and then claim these costs as part of a cost application submitted to the Commission. In Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2025-274-2, the Commission affirmed that consumer groups have vital insight to share with service providers as to (i) why customers with unresolved complaints are insufficiently informed about the CCTS; and (ii) what solutions would work best from the customer’s perspective.
With respect to question 3, Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2025-274-2 does not make any changes to the procedures for submitting an intervention as set out in paragraph 13 of in Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2025-274: "The Commission invites individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing and their representatives to present their comments on the issues under consideration in American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) in video format if they so choose. Parties filing video comments must provide a working link to their video in the Intervention form. As these videos will inform the Commission’s decision-making, they must be publicly accessible.”
A copy of this letter will be available on the Commission’s website and on the record of the CCTS Awareness Proceeding.
Sincerely,
Nanao Kachi
Director of Social and Consumer Policy
Consumer, Analytics and Strategy
c.c.: Bell Canada, bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Cogeco Communications Inc., telecom.regulatory@cogeco.com
Bragg Communications Inc., carrying on business as Eastlink, Regulatory.Matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Quebecor Media Inc., regaffairs@quebecor.com
Rogers Communications Canada Inc., rwi_gr@rci.rogers.com
Saskatchewan Telecommunications, document.control@sasktel.com
TELUS Communications Inc., regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Xplornet Communications Inc., Xplornet.Legal@corp.xplornet.com
CCTS, regulatory@ccts-cprst.ca
FRPC, execdir@frpc.net
Marc Nanni, mn_crtc@proton.me
PIAC, dbrady@piac.ca
antica.corner@crtc.gc.ca
- Date modified: