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Government of Canada Response to Accessibility for All
Access to services
Serving the public is the raison d'être for the Government of Canada. Each year, it provides a great number of programs and services to 32 million Canadians and over three million businesses and voluntary organizations - more than 350 million interactions in all. For all its successes, public opinion surveys reveal that many Canadians find that government is complex and confusing, with good reason in the case of Canadians with disabilities. Forty-four different government programs for people with disabilities can be found on the Canada Benefits website. Many of them require the same or similar personal information from clients, yet it is currently not possible for clients to easily use, repeat or transfer their own personal information between programs.
Accessing Government services electronically is not the only challenging area for Canadians with disabilities. In 2005, the Canadian Human Rights Commission reviewed telephonic communication access (TTY) to Government services. TTY is the teletypewriter technology that allows people who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing to use telephones. The Commission's report, No Answer: A Review of Government of Canada Telephonic Communications with People Who Are Deaf, Deafened, Hard of Hearing or Who Have a Speech Impediment, concluded that not all Government departments are making their services fully TTY accessible and it highlights the need for the Government to develop a more comprehensive strategy to improve accessibility across the full range of communications technologies and tools.
The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that information and services are accessible to all Canadians. Social Development Canada will deepen its consultation activities with Canadians who are deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing and work with the Treasury Board Secretariat and other departments to develop coherent strategies, policies and guidelines to explore developing technologies and to ensure that all Canadians have equitable access to Government services.
The Government's determination to improve access for Canadians with disabilities to programs and services is demonstrated in its September 14, 2005, launch of Service Canada. Service Canada will provide a single Government of Canada service-delivery network with easy access to services on line, on the phone, by mail, and at one of the 320 local service sites in communities across the country.
Service Canada is working with numerous departments to ensure information is readily accessible to support people with disabilities. The Government of Canada website and the Service Canada website ensure equal access by providing documents in alternate formats and adhering to international standards for accessibility established by the Treasury Board for all government websites. Service Canada has ensured that the key public and media documents related to its launch were available in alternate formats such as Voiceprint, a radio network that provides access to visual media and announcements for people with vision or print restrictions.
Service Canada will develop further enhancements to help people with disabilities to identify the most appropriate government services and benefits. It is exploring opportunities to simplify application forms and to assist people who need help completing the forms, ensuring that support is available by phone, by mail and in person assisted by trained staff, and via the Internet. A recent example is a joint current pilot between Social Development Canada and Service Canada on Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD), in which applicants are assisted in completing the form over the phone. Other examples include on-going research and analysis between CPPD and the Disability Tax Credit to compare the take-up rates and required medical information between the two programs, and to explore options to simplify the process for applicants who could be eligible for both programs.
Access to transportation services is vital to Canadians with disabilities, enabling integration into the community and participation in the economy. As a reflection of its on-going commitment to improve the accessibility of the federal transportation system, Transport Canada is developing a study that will examine comparative advantages of regulatory and voluntary approaches in improving accessibility for people with disabilities and seniors to modes of transportation under federal jurisdiction. This study will explore the need for additional activities to improve accessibility in the federal transportation system to inform future policy decisions that respond to concerns raised in the Committee's report.
Further study of other instruments may also advance a more coherent approach to inclusion for people with disabilities that promotes equality and levels the playing field. There is a need to examine whether collaborative leadership, moral suasion and role modeling by the federal government can produce the concerted action called for by the Committee. Such an examination should be informed by lessons learned in other jurisdictions. These experiences may provide a fresh perspective on the coordinated approach called for in the 1996 Task Force report.
Aside from activities within federal jurisdiction, the Government of Canada continues to work with its provincial and territorial partners to further enhance services to Canadians with disabilities. In December 2004, the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for Social Services released an analysis of needs and gaps in supports and services for adults and children with disabilities in Canada5. At that time, Ministers committed to further work in the area of disability supports. The Government of Canada will continue collaborating with provincial and territorial governments to improve benefits and services that promote the full inclusion of Canadians with disabilities.
5 Supports and Services for Adults and Children Aged 5-14 with Disabilities in Canada is available on the Social Union website.