Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

Background

In July 2016, the government of Canada began their consultations with more than 6,000 Canadians to determine what an accessible Canada means to them. To find more information on this consultation please reference: Creating new federal accessibility legislation: What we learned. As a result of these consultations, Bill C-81: An Act to Ensure a Barrier-Free Canada (the Accessible Canada Act), was tabled in June 2018. The Accessible Canada Act, which aims to make Canada a barrier-free country by January 1, 2040, came into force in July 2019. To attain that Governmental goal, the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) must proactively identify, remove, and prevent barriers in the following seven (7) priority areas:

• employment;
• the built environment (buildings and public spaces);
• information and communication technologies;
• communication, other than information and communication technologies;
• the procurement of goods, services and facilities;
• the design and delivery of programs and services; and
• transportation (airlines, as well as rail, road and marine transportation providers that cross provincial or international borders).

Summary of the Accessible Canada Act - Canada.ca

According to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, which is surveyed every five years, one in five Canadians (6.2 million) aged 15 years and over had one or more disabilities that limited them in their daily activities. Based on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat workforce analysis dated March 31, 2022, the workforce availability estimate for persons with disability was 9.0%; the data indicates that the MPCC exceeded its representation whereby 20% of our employees are self-identified as persons with disabilities. MPCC does acknowledge, however, that given the size of our micro-organization, the departure of just one person with a disability could significantly skew the MPCC data.

Government of Canada’s Accessibility Strategy

The Government of Canada's Accessibility Strategy has a vision of being the most accessible and inclusive public service in the world.

Guiding principles

• "Nothing without us": persons with disabilities are involved in the design and implementation of the strategy
• Collaboration: departments and agencies work in collaboration with each other, with bargaining agents, and with other public, private, and not-for-profit organizations
• Sustainability: the strategy prioritizes actions that will have an enduring impact
• Transparency: the strategy is developed and implemented transparently, and departments and agencies will report openly and transparently on their efforts to remove barriers

Goals

Five goals are key to realizing the vision:

1. Employment – Improve recruitment, retention, and promotion of persons with disabilities
2. Built environment – Enhance accessibility
3. Technology – Make information and communications technology usable by all
4. Services – Equip public servants to design and deliver accessible programs and services
5. Culture – Build an accessibility-confident public service

The Accessible Canada Act has the following planning and reporting requirements for federally regulated organizations:

• prepare and publish accessibility plans:
  • make accessibility plans to identify, remove, and prevent barriers in the priority areas in their:
    • policies
    • programs
    • practices
    • services
  • update their plans every 3 years or as specified in regulations, and
  • consult people with disabilities when creating and updating their plans
• set up a feedback process:
  • have a way to receive and deal with feedback about their accessibility
• prepare and publish progress reports:
  • make regular progress reports that describe the actions the organization has taken to implement their accessibility plans
  • include information in their reports on feedback received and how the organization took the feedback into consideration, and
  • consult people with disabilities when preparing their reports

These requirements help ensure that accessibility is a priority and that all departments are continuously improving and implementing inclusive design and accessibility by default. The responsibility for accessibility will no longer be placed on persons with a disability but rather the federal government will establish proactive mechanisms to address accessibility systemically, from the start.

Feedback Mechanism

The Accessible Canada Act requires organizations to establish a departmental process for receiving and dealing with feedback regarding the implementation of the accessibility plan. MPCC will be regularly monitoring and evaluating feedback and ensuring that it is incorporated into its future plans when possible. Please reference the Annex A: Feedback process at the Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada for more information on our feedback process.

If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions, you can communicate with us by mail at:

Telephone: 613‑947‑5625 (local) or 1‑800‑632‑0566 (toll free)

Email: reception@mpcc-cppm.gc.ca

You can also choose to communicate with us anonymously by mail, by telephone or use our online Accessibility feedback form. If submitting your feedback anonyously, do not state your name or provide any other identifying information (for example, your email address or phone number). Please do not include your return address on the envelope if you send feedback by mail.

Alternate formats of this accessibility plan are available upon request. Please contact the Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada (MPCC) for information and support.

A. Priority areas identified by the Act

7. Transportation

This priority area under the Act is not applicable to the MPCC.

Methodology

This plan was prepared by first completing an environmental scan to ensure understanding of “central agencies” and other government departments’ accessibility initiatives, and to review existing related policies and procedures. The exercise helped identify existing practices and initiatives that could be adopted as a best practice across the organization. The MPCC consulted with persons with disabilities to hear from them on the current state of accessibility at the MPCC and with employees who provide services. The consultation was conducted in three parts:

C. Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting

To ensure that accessibility remains a constant priority within the government, the Accessible Canada Act dictates that regulated entities prepare and publish annual progress reports on the implementation of their accessibility plans. Similar to the MPCC accessibility plan, progress reports must be prepared in consultation with persons with disabilities. The progress reports must also present the feedback that the MPCC received (if any) and how that feedback was taken into consideration. The MPCC’s first progress report will be published 12 months after the publication of our first accessibility plan, in December 2023.

This progress report will include updates on the actions MPCC has taken. As specified in the regulations, organizations must publish a revised plan every three (3) years. As such, the MPCC’s first revised accessibility plan will be published in December 2025.

D. GLOSSARY