AODA Compliance

York University is committed to principles of respect, inclusion and equality of all persons with disabilities across campus. The Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act (AODA) issued by the Ontario government aims to make Ontario fully accessible to persons with disabilities by 2025. The act includes development of standards in five areas including Customer Service, Information & Communication, Built Environment, Transportation and Employment. Accessibility standards are the rules that businesses and organizations in Ontario will have to follow to identify, remove and prevent barriers to accessibility.

The first standard to come into effect is the Customer Service Standard. It has been in effect at York since January 1, 2010. The Service Standard is about understanding that persons with disabilities may have different needs, communicating with persons with disabilities in a manner that takes into account his or her disability and finding the best way to help them access our goods and services. It focuses particularly on welcoming personal support workers and service animals onto campus, and the use of assistive devices. We are committed to training all staff and volunteers in accessible customer service, other Ontario’s accessibility standards and aspects of the Ontario Human Rights Code that relate to persons with disabilities. Training of our employees and volunteers on accessibility relates to their specific roles. We train every person as soon as practicable after being hired and provide training in respect of any changes to the policies.

The initial proposed Built Environment Standard was released for public review from July 14, 2009 to October 16, 2009. The committee revised the initial draft standard to reflect the public’s input. At their last meeting on May 28, 2010, the committee voted on the standard clause by clause. The final proposed standard has now been submitted to the Minister of Community and Social Services who is considering what will become law and when.

On May 31, 2010, the Ontario government announced that it will integrate the Employment Standard, the Information and Communications Standard and the Transportation Standard into one streamlined regulation. The Integrated Accessibility Regulation was enacted in July 2011.

On July 1, 2016, new changes came into force regarding the Customer Service Standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act , 2005, S.O. 2005, c. 11 (“AODA”). All accessibility standards — including the Accessible Customer Service Standard — are now part of one regulation: the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (O. Reg. 191/11). Consequently, this change revokes the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (Ontario Reg. 429/07) and Exemption from Reporting Requirements (O. Reg. 430/07).