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Accessibility and accommodations guidelines

This document is available in a text version and an audio version.

A video version is available online in Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ).

To request alternative formats, please contact accessible@crtc.gc.ca.

Purpose

  1. These guidelines explain
    • how the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the Commission) makes its public proceedings accessible for persons with disabilities;
    • how someone can request accommodations in a proceeding;
    • how the Commission and its staff handle accommodation requests; and
    • what someone can expect after they make a request.

Introduction

  1. In Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms grants the right to equality to everyone, while the Canadian Human Rights Act states that everyone should have an equal opportunity to build the lives they want and to have their needs accommodated. The Accessible Canada Act aims to make Canada barrier-free for persons with disabilities by the year 2040.
  2. The Commission is Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator. It is a tribunal that holds public proceedings to consult people, groups and companies to make decisions in the public interest.
  3. The Commission is committed to equality, accommodation and accessibility. It wants its proceedings to be accessible to all Canadians and for this reason those who take part in Commission proceedings can request accommodations.

How Commission proceedings work

  1. The Commission needs input and evidence from the public to do its job. To get this input, the Commission holds public proceedings. Most Commission proceedings follow the Commission’s Rules of Procedure.
  2. These Rules of Procedure guide how proceedings work and how anyone can take part in them. For example:
    • In some cases, the Commission will launch a proceeding by publishing a notice of consultation on its website. The notice of consultation will present an issue that the Commission is looking into and include specific questions for the public.
    • In other cases, members of the public will request to start a proceeding by filing an application with the Commission. An application is a document that asks the Commission to do something specific, like create a new rule for telephone companies or television service providers.
    • Those that take part in proceedings are called parties.
    • Applicants are the parties who file an application.
    • Parties that respond to applications and notices of consultation are called interveners.
  3. To make decisions in the public interest, the Commission needs the best possible evidence and input from parties. The Rules of Procedure help the Commission do this by allowing different types of proceedings in different situations.
  4. There are two main types of proceedings: written proceedings and hearings.
    • In written proceedings, parties only file written documents. They do not appear before the Commission.
    • In hearings, parties file written documents and can also appear before the Commission to give their input orally or through an interpreter. Parties can appear in person or virtually. Hearings give parties the opportunity to present to Commissioners in real time and engage in dialogue with them.
  5. More information on the Rules of Procedure is available on the Commission’s website, including a Roadmap that is available in American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ).

How the Commission makes proceedings accessible

  1. It is important for the Commission to make sure that all parties can take part fully in its proceedings. Because of this, in all cases,
    • parties are expected to follow the guidelines for Creating Accessible Documents and file all documents in accessible formats; and
    • parties can ask for documents in alternative formats.
  2. For hearings,
    • when the Commission livestreams hearings, it uses Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioning in both official languages; and
    • hearing transcripts are usually available within 24 hours, in screen-reader-friendly formats.
  3. In other cases, the Commission will also consider other measures, including
    • translating notices of consultation into ASL and LSQ;
    • providing ASL and LSQ interpretation for appearing hearings;
    • accepting comments in ASL and LSQ;
    • accepting comments filed by email instead of through its website; and
    • extending timelines to submit comments.
  4. These are examples and there may be other ways to make a proceeding more accessible.

Next video

This ASL video is the first of four that set out the CRTC Information Bulletin on Accessibility and accommodations guidelines.

This video describes the purpose of the guidelines, how CRTC proceedings work, and how the CRTC makes its proceedings accessible.

To see the entire Information Bulletin, please watch all 4 videos in this playlist: ASL – Accessibility and accommodations guidelines.

Accessibility and accommodations guidelines CRTC 2025-95

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