Employment and Social Development Canada, November 30, 2017 Today, the Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, on behalf of the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is proud to announce that the Government of Canada tabled in the House of Commons the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on…
Zack Quaintance, Staff writer for Government Technology, November 20, 2017 People with hearing and sight disabilities using screen readers and other assistive tech must be able to access content on government websites, but getting and staying compliant is a challenge. Updates for Section 508 accessibility legislation go into effect in January, creating new specifications for…
Sean Kilpatrick, Toronto Star, October 15, 2017 The federal minister responsible for crafting Canada’s first national accessibility legislation says the law should be ready by next spring and should benefit not only people with disabilities, but their caregivers. Minister Kent Hehr says the bill, which has been highly anticipated, will benefit both those with disabilities…
Vjosa Isai, Toronto Star Staff Reporter, August 23, 2017 Federal minister of sport and persons with disabilities Carla Qualtrough heard from local and international disability experts on Tuesday as Canada prepares to introduce its first national accessibility legislation. Although the prospective act would govern only those areas under federal authority, such as banks, telecommunications and…
Sarah Gillis, Government of Nova Scotia, Department of Justice, April 27, 2017 On Thursday, April 27, 2017, the Nova Scotia Legislature passed a new accessibility law, the Accessibility Act, following the lead of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Nova Scotia becomes the third Canadian province to enact a comprehensive accessibility law. The Nova…
Graham Steele, CBC News Political analyst, March 8, 2017 The Bill 59 Community Alliance is only a few months old, and has already become a powerful player in any discussion around the future of the Accessibility Act. Last week the legislature saw a remarkable example of effective citizen action. The alliance has been working from…
LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN, Social justice reporter, Toronto Star, February 9, 2017 Cost can no longer be a barrier to creating an accessible Canada, says Carla Qualtrough, federal minister of sport and persons with disabilities. Qualtrough hopes the new law will spark a culture shift away from the fallacy that making the country fully accessible for more…
Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press, February 5, 2017 Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, says removing accessibility barriers will be crucial to tackling long-standing high jobless rates among the country’s disabled population. Data has long shown that Canadians with disabilities are greatly under-employed compared to their non-disabled counterparts, with multiple studies finding…
David Fazio, LinkedIn, January 1, 2017 More than 80% of U.S. Americans with disabilities are unemployed according to the U.S. Department of Labor, while the World Bank reports an 80 – 90 percent unemployment rate for persons with disabilities across Latin America, and the Caribbean. Despite 25 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act, disability…
Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada News Centre, December 3, 2016 The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, today issued the following statement: While this is a day to celebrate the vast contributions of people with disabilities, it also reminds us that many barriers to accessibility and inclusion still exist in…
