Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) now to take place: Finally
JESleeth and the AODA Team at Optimal Performance Consultants for Thursday September 19th 2013.
The Ontario government has finally appointed Mayo Moran, Dean and James Marshall Tory Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, to lead the mandatory review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) 2005.
The Act is written such that there is a mandatory review within 4 years of the Regulations coming into force. The reviewer is to be appointed by the Province to undertake a review of the effectiveness of the AODA Act (CSS in this case). Following this review the Act states there must be subsequent reviewers who are appointed within 4 years of the each report being tabled.
Charles Beer, the former provincial Minister of Community and Social Services reviewed the AODA and presented his report in 2010. The Beer review reviewed the process for developing accessibility standards, municipal accessibility advisory committees and the provincial government’s on-going administration of the AODA. This report can be accessed at Optimal Performance at AODA@optimalperformance.ca.
As a result of the Beer Report there is now occurring a review on the Customer Service Standard which can be reviewed on sight or thru AODA@OptimalPerformance.ca
The AODA team at OPC Inc finds the majority of employers across Ontario (private) are not in compliance with the CSS phase of the AODA let alone being aware of the IASR. The province continues to do an abysmal job of ensuring all businesses in Ontario are aware of the AODA and their obligations regarding the CSS and IASR.
The approach advocated by our team at OPC is for businesses to be shown how the AODA and being accessible to all ability levels of employees and customers/clients leads to;
Positive Brand Identity
Increased brand loyalty
Enlarged circle of influence which leads to the ability to hire from a larger pool of skilled labour.
To learn more about the ROI of being an accessible business contact our team at AODA@OptimalPerformance.ca