The Government of Canada is striving to create a more accessible Canada by creating new legislation which will allow people to more fully participate and contribute in our communities and workplaces without barriers. These barriers limit the social, political and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities across Canada. The legislation should apply to all areas under the control of the Government of Canada including:

• buses, ferries or air travel across provincial and international borders
• the broadcasting and telecommunication sectors
• the banking and financial sectors
• federal lands, including parks and First Nation reserves
• the Government of Canada as an employer, service provider, builder and buyer

​https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/planned-accessibility-legislation/reports/consultations-what-we-learned.html#h2.2

​On June 20th, 2018 the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-81 - The Accessible Canada Act:An Act to Ensure a Barrier-free Canada.  

http://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-81/first-reading#enH4070

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/accessible-people-disabilities/act-infographic.html#1

Accessible Hearing Solutions  helps improve accessibility by providing Government of Canada offices with site assessments. Site assessments educate organizations about the best ways to improve communication and understanding in locations such as counter-service areas, meeting rooms, and auditoriums. Our assessments provide a written report detailing communication areas that are causing barriers and the best ways to improve accessibility for your customers or clients to ensure compliance with customers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

For example, banks have the potential to cause a lot of barriers for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Background noise (e.g., people talking, music in background), poor lighting (e.g.,light from windows causing it hard to read lips), softly spoken tellers who are trying to be discreet about financial information (e.g.,making it harder to hear), and lack of technologies to help support understanding (e.g., UBIDUO, counterloop systems) can all make for barriers to access service.  Reducing barriers for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in areas such as museums, airports, service centers, and courtrooms creates a more inclusive society.
For more information on how we can help, contact Accessible Hearing Solutions at [email protected].