Accessibility Plan for the Department of Justice of Canada

The Accessible Canada Act (2019) requires that Federal Departments publish Accessibility Plans. However, the mission behind this Plan goes far beyond meeting a requirement. The Act and this Plan push us toward a better future for our country – one where everyone can take part fully in society. The work we do in support of the Act and this Plan benefits everyone through the realization of a Canada without barriers, a goal the Act commits to achieving by 2040. While everyone benefits from this work, the benefit to persons with disabilities is the true mission.

In support of the Government of Canada’s goal of a barrier-free Canada by 2040, the purpose of Justice Canada’s Accessibility Plan is to create a cohesive, unifying force within the accessibility community at Justice that allows us to create meaningful change together. A dedicated network exists to support the Accessibility Plan and ensure we achieve these goals, with two Co-Champions, six Pillar Leads, an Executive lead for accessibility and an Accessibility Coordinator, the Advisory Committee on Persons with Disabilities, and the Accessibility Plan Task Force. To ensure the Plan itself reflects high standards for accessibility and inclusion, the development process involves intensive review for Plain and Inclusive language. Further, intersectional Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) and the perspectives of diverse equity-seeking groups inform the content.

Changing our Department’s culture to one of accessibility by default is the ultimate goal of this Plan. To do this, we align the Accessibility Commitments for Justice Canada under six Pillars:

• Employment
• Built Environment
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• Communications, other than ICT (Communications)
• Procurement
• Design and Delivery of Programs and Services (DDPS)

Each Pillar includes an outcome statement that defines the long-term mission, a list of key barriers and solutions, and a list of actions that target the barriers and lead to the outcome. A seventh Pillar, Transportation, exists in the Accessible Canada Act but falls outside the scope of Justice Canada’s mandate.

The voices of people with lived experience, including diverse subgroups with intersecting identity factors, such as women with disabilities, Indigenous persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQI+ persons with disabilities and others, are essential to our success at all points. We selected the Outcomes and Actions that define the path we lay out in this Plan with a great deal of care for and attention to the voices of those with lived experience. These Outcomes and Actions lay out specific changes that send us on a journey to a state where employees and clients of Justice Canada with disabilities should see the Department as an employer and service provider of choice.

The Accessible Canada Act includes a robust accountability framework. After publishing its first Accessibility Plan, Justice Canada must update and publish a new Plan every three years. It must also establish a feedback form to allow employees and clients to inform the content of the Plan and comment on its implementation. The Department must also prepare annual progress reports to document the main concerns expressed in feedback and explain how the department responds.