General


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Feedback

Designated person to receive feedback

The Director Equity, Talent Development and Workforce Strategy Division, Workforce and Workplace Branch is designated to receive feedback on behalf of the StatCan. We want to hear from you.

What feedback can you provide?

You can provide feedback on the barriers you experience when dealing with Statistics Canada or feedback that will help to inform our future Accessibility Plan. If your feedback is about a particular issue, make sure to include:

  • What you were trying to access.
  • Where the barrier happened and what the barrier was.
  • Any recommendations you might have.

How your feedback will be used

Your feedback will be considered as part of the continuous improvement of our accessibility efforts. Some feedback may be addressed right away, and some may be addressed in the development of our future accessibility plans. The feedback we receive and how we take it into consideration will be included in our progress reports, published in the years between accessibility plans.

How to Provide Feedback:

Want to send us feedback anonymously? You can send us mail or call us, without providing any personal information, or use our Accessibility feedback form, leaving your email address field blank.

Your feedback is important to us. We will acknowledge the receipt of all accessibility feedback in the same way it was received unless it is received anonymously.

For more information please consult this Privacy Notice.

Definitions

The following concepts are defined as:

Accessibility
"The degree to which a product, service, program or environment is available to be accessed or used by all."Footnote 1
Accessibility confidence
The ability of organizations to "manage disability as a business priority related to customer experience, talent, productivity, innovation, new product development, brand reputation and investment in human potential."Footnote 1
Barrier
"Means anything—including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice—that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation."Footnote 2
Disability
"Means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication, or sensory impairment—or a functional limitation—whether permanent, temporary, or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person's full and equal participation in society."Footnote 2
Persons with disabilities

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities describes persons with disabilities as those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

For the purposes of this plan, the persons who experience barriers who were consulted included

  • persons who reported having a disability
  • persons with an impairment or health condition
  • persons without a disability, impairment or health condition.

Context

StatCan has a long-standing commitment to accessibility and its role in raising awareness on issues faced by Canadians with disabilities. StatCan continues to contribute to awareness through the following efforts:

  • The Canadian Survey on Disability, which is launched every five years and provides critical information about the lived experiences of Canadian youth and adults whose everyday activities are limited because of a long-term condition or health-related problem.
  • The launch of the Data Hub on Accessibility Statistics, a joint collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) that was established in 2021 and provides key insights and information on Canadians with disabilities and accessibility.
  • StatCan's Accessibility Measurement Framework (AMF), which allows for the internal measurement of progress made against commitments in the ACA.
  • The development of A Federal Data and Measurement Strategy for Accessibility 2022 to 2027, which, in partnership with ESDC, will allow the Government of Canada to track, measure and report on progress in all areas under the ACA.
  • The development of a data hub to track and measure, on an agency-wide level, progress made toward the Government of Canada's commitment to hiring 5,000 net new persons with disabilities by 2025.
  • Early adoption of, and contribution toward, the creation of the Government of Canada (GC) Workplace Accessibility Passport workflow. This project helps address the obstacles federal public service employees and applicants with disabilities face in obtaining the tools, supports and measures to perform at their best and succeed in the workplace. It also facilitates recruitment, retention, and career advancement for persons with disabilities.

In addition to undertaking efforts to raise awareness on disability and accessibility externally, StatCan has also carried out internal commitments to better understand and support its workforce and create an inclusive workplace. To this end, StatCan, in partnership with Canadian Heritage, recently launched the Engaging DisAbility Innovation Study, an employee-led initiative supported by the Office of Public Service Accessibility at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Through a survey and online engagement, this project has provided StatCan with information to further understand the barriers faced by all employees, including those with disabilities.

Finally, to better support its employees and its journey to becoming fully accessible, StatCan created the Accessibility Secretariat and the StatCan Accessibility Leadership Taskforce (StatCan-ALT). These groups ensure that the priority areas in the ACA remain key areas of focus for the agency and that the commitments in this plan are measurable, attainable and result in a barrier-free StatCan.

Introduction

For an organization to become fully accessible, the accessibility of its products and services must be considered first. A workplace that ensures the productivity and well-being of its employees is accessible and inclusive by default. In short, accessibility must be deliberately and proactively woven into the organization's culture. With this, the vision for Statistics Canada: Road to Accessibility is to build an accessibility-confident culture and a solid foundation where our products, services, workplace, and workspaces are accessible by design.

StatCan's first accessibility plan aims to ensure that all StatCan and Statistical Survey Operations employees across the country are supported in a barrier-free environment, with their accessibility needs met. The first edition of Statistics Canada: Road to Accessibility, which spans December 31, 2022, to December 2025, is intended to be evergreen. As we make progress toward achieving an accessible and inclusive StatCan, our actions and commitments will change and evolve, and the Plan will be updated to ensure a continued and relevant focus on the areas needing it most.

Accessibility barriers can impact many Canadians, including those who do not identify as having a disability and those who have other intersecting identities. Intersectionality, which considers how different aspects of a person's identity can impact the way in which they experience barriers to inclusion, was a key priority in developing this plan. To ensure that the needs of a range of individuals are met with this plan, StatCan conducted extensive reviews and consultations. Emphasis was place on understanding the experiences of persons with disabilities, members from employment equity groups (women, visible minorities, and Indigenous people), and equity-seeking groups (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and more [2SLGBTQI+]). Additional information on the consultations can be found at the end of this document.

Statistics Canada: Road to Accessibility is structured around the following priority areas, as described in the ACA:

  • employment
  • built environment
  • information and communication technologies
  • communication, other than information and communication technologies;
  • procurement of goods, services, and facilities
  • design and delivery of programs and services
  • transport (non-applicable to StatCan).

Within StatCan, we added two additional areas to emphasize the importance of workplace accommodation and an accessibility-confident and disability-inclusive culture. As a result, in addition to the above-mentioned ACA priority areas, the plan includes a section on

  • culture
  • workplace accommodation.

Each priority area is defined in more detail in this plan, along with its

  • desired state
  • key priorities (from 2023 to 2025)
  • identified barriers (following the network consultations mentioned earlier)
  • actions and commitments to address the identified barriers
  • measurement indicators to track progress
  • the leads who enable or drive the area.

The plan begins with culture, a priority area in which we all play a role in creating an accessibility-confident and disability-inclusive workplace.

Culture

An accessible culture within StatCan is accessibility-confident and disability-inclusive. Focus and commitment are put on educating all employees and managers to empower and inform them on accessibility. Accessibility standards and best practices are emphasized, and employees feel confident and safe in speaking out on barriers to accessibility and potential solutions.

Desired state

  • The workplace culture at StatCan is welcoming to all employees, including persons with disabilities and those experiencing barriers.
  • Accessibility, by default, is treated as a business imperative, internally and externally.
  • Decisions at all levels consider the perspectives of persons with disabilities and those experiencing barriers.
  • All tools, documents and information provided to employees are fully accessible.

Key priorities for 2023 to 2025

  • Build awareness and educational opportunities for all employees.
  • Establish accessibility accountability at StatCan.

Barriers

The following are some of the barriers that have been identified within StatCan:

  • Lack of awareness: The lack of disability and accessibility confidence among colleagues and managers may result in stigma and microaggressions toward employees with disabilities, negatively impacting their well-being and career mobility and progression.
  • Lack of inclusion and feedback: Employees with disabilities and others who experience accessibility barriers do not have a centralized and safe mechanism through which they can share their feedback or concerns. This leaves employees feeling isolated and unheard. This lack of a centralized mechanism also results in an inability for StatCan to understand the broad accessibility issues faced by employees.
  • Lack of internal collaboration: Accessibility initiatives are siloed and vary across teams and functions. A governance structure that links initiatives or a mechanism to share best practices is lacking.

Short-term actions

To address the lack of awareness

  • Develop and deliver annual manager and employee training to increase disability awareness and ensure that everyone understands their responsibilities. Training material will be developed in consultation with persons with disabilities.
  • Create an Internal Communication Network (ICN) page to centralize all internal accessibility-related information and reports for employees and managers.
  • Develop and implement performance management objectives for executives to measure progress made in fostering accessibility and inclusion in their teams.
  • Develop and implement performance management objectives to ensure all employees prioritize accessibility in their work.

To address the lack of inclusion and feedback

  • Develop a centralized and anonymous feedback system, first for all employees then for Canadians and external StatCan users, to which they can provide input on accessibility barriers.

To address the lack of internal collaboration

  • Present the progress made on accessibility as identified in Statistics Canada: Road to Accessibility to internal senior management committees, on a trimestral basis, using the indicators included in the Accessibility Measurement Framework.

Indicators

The following indicators will be used to measure StatCan's progress in achieving an accessible culture:

  • The percentage of employees and managers who have completed the annual, planned mandatory accessibility awareness training increases, with the goal of achieving a 100% completion rate.
  • The number of employees who are aware of the centralized anonymous feedback mechanism increases, with the goal of reaching all employees in the first year.

Roles and responsibilities:

Leads: All managers and employees
Enabler: Equity, Talent Development and Workforce Strategy Division

Workplace accommodation

Workplace accommodation at StatCan means that accommodation is made on a confidential, case-by-case basis and employees are supplied with the functional tools and working conditions they need to maximize their potential.

Desired state

  • Systemic accommodations are integrated in our planning, implementation, and ongoing activities.
  • A centralized, timely and efficient accommodation process treats data in a private, confidential manner and on a need-to-know basis.
  • Every employee is supported to easily access the tools and workspaces they need in a timely manner.

Key priorities for 2023 to 2025

  • Develop resource capacity within the Duty to Accommodate (DTA) team to improve service delivery to employees and managers.
  • Review, modify, develop, and communicate accommodation opportunities, tools, and procedures to all employees.
  • Monitor, report and track accommodation requests, their timeliness, and the level of satisfaction of clients.

Barriers

The following are some of the barriers that have been identified within StatCan:

  • Lack of procedural knowledge: Employees and managers lack information related to remote onboarding practices, accommodation requests, and their respective roles and responsibilities. Accommodation needs are often an afterthought rather than being built into management practices and procedures. This creates environments that are not responsive to the needs of all persons with disabilities.
  • Delays in getting accommodations: Accommodations are often delayed because of the complexity of the case, the increased number of accommodation requests (because of the hybrid work environment), insufficient human resources and expertise, the lack of available inventory or the length of time required to obtain the needed tools and services. Reliance on external partners can increase the delay in getting an evaluation or in transferring equipment. Until they get proper accommodation, persons with disabilities can have problems achieving their expected level of work.

Short-term actions

To address the lack of procedural knowledge

  • Develop and deliver a comprehensive plan to promote services, resources, tools and training, and increase awareness.
  • Promote and increase awareness of the GC Workplace Accessibility Passport.
  • Update the DTA intranet page and include accommodation information and links on the centralized accessibility site.

To address delays in getting accommodations

  • Hire, develop and provide required training to the DTA team to meet the increasing number of requests.
  • Streamline processes and establish service standards.
  • Conduct regular satisfaction surveys to ensure we are meeting the needs of the community.
  • Measure the length of time to treat and complete requests by type.

Indicators

The following indicators will be used to measure StatCan's progress in achieving an effective workplace accommodation program:

  • The percentage of employees who are aware of the GC Workplace Accessibility Passport increases each year.
  • The number and type of workplace accommodation requests, where such requests are being monitored over time to improve employee experience.
  • All accommodation requests are completed within, or in advance of, the expected timelines.
  • The percentage of completed accommodation requests where the employee is satisfied with the results increases over time.

Roles and responsibilities

Leads: All managers and employees
Enabler: Pay, Ethics and Workforce Management Division

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