This represents an excerpt from:
“Releasing Constraints: Projecting the Economic Impacts of Improved Accessibility in Ontario (Accessible Version)” OCADU
Recent Statistics from the Province (Accessibility Directorate) find <30% of private business in Ontario is compliant with the AODA, specificallly the Customer Service Standard (CSS) which was due January 2012. This is even a lower percentage when Retail is considered on its own. This represents to our accessibility team at Optimal a huge oversight on the part of Retailers who are not only compliant with regulatory compliance. More importantly for Retailers a huge part of the disabled and aging market is being ignored at best and further DIS abled from entering a store or viewing a sales website.
To learn more have a look at the Retail Section of the OCADU document “Releasing Constraints”.
Scenario 3.1: Impact of AODA on retail sales in Ontario (Exhibit 22)
Projection 1: Low Impact
AODA was considered to add 2% to the normal projected increase in retail sales without AODA in five years. This is assumed to be the impact of AODA should the retail industry do the legal minimum to comply with its standards.
Projection 2: Medium Impact
A medium impact was considered to have a 3% total additional increase over the normal projected increase in retail sales without AODA in five years. This is assumed to be the impact of AODA should the retail industry comply with its standards and only partially adopt ID practices.
Projection 3: High Impact
A high impact was considered to have a 5% total additional increase over the projected normal increase in retail sales without AODA in five years. This is assumed to be the impact of AODA should all businesses comply with its standards and adopt ID in all their practices.
Using the average rate of growth in sales from 1992-2008, we project that without the AODA total sales in the retail industry will increase from $150 to $190 billion, a difference of $40 billion. However, we project that by complying with or exceeding AODA standards, Ontario could see a further additional increase in total sales of between $3.8 and $9.6 billion (Exhibit 22).
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No AODA: Normal Growth | $151.4 | $158.6 | $166.3 | $174.2 | $182.6 | $191.4 |
| Projection 1, Low Impact: 2% increase | $151.4 | $158.8 | $167.2 | $176.1 | $184.4 | $195.2 |
| Projection 2, Medium Impact: 3% increase | $151.4 | $158.9 | $166.9 | $175.6 | $185.3 | $197.1 |
| Projection 3, High Impact: 5% increase | $151.4 | $159.1 | $167.3 | $176.4 | $187.2 | $201.0 |
Source: Statistics Canada, Retail Trade, Sales by Trade Group Based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), CANSIM II Table 800015
At least 20% of private business in Ontario see the ROI, Cost Benefit and Best Practices reasons for ensuring their organizations are accessible and inclusive. All of the retailers who do business in ONTARIO seem to have little if any interest in attracting another 17-20% of the customer base not yet tapped into. Further, Retailers have not shown leadership in the hiring of PwD (Tim Horton’s being a visible exception in some of their stores). Optimal Performance challenges leadership within the Retail Sector to rise to the occasion while seeing their brand and their bottom lines win.
AODA@optimalperformance.ca 1 888 768-2106
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