Ontario’s accessible Customer Service Standard is now the law. It comes into force on January 1, 2008.
Businesses and organizations that provide goods or services to people in Ontario are now legally required to make their customer services operations accessible to people with disabilities. This will be done by identifying and removing barriers to customer service in such areas as operational practices, policies and procedures, communications and staff training.
The legal requirements of the standard are set out in two Ontario Regulations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005:
The regulations will be reviewed in five years (by 2013) to determine whether any of the requirements should be changed.
The standard is based on the recommendations of the Accessible Customer Service Standards Development Committee, whose membership included people with disabilities or their representatives and people from the private, public and non-profit sectors.
It’s the first in a series of standards that will help lead to a fully accessible Ontario by 2025.
Who has to comply with the customer service standard?
The standard applies to all businesses and organizations that:
- provide goods or services to the public, and
- have at least one employee.
Businesses and organizations in the following sectors are affected:
- private
- non-profit, and
- public, including provincial and municipal governments, universities, colleges, hospitals, school boards and public transportation organizations.
What businesses and organizations have to do to comply?
Businesses and organizations are required to:
- meet mandatory compliance requirements, and
- file accessibility reports to show that they are meeting the requirements of the standard.
Specifically, businesses and organizations must:
- establish policies, practices and procedures governing the provision of goods or services to persons with disabilities, including a policy about the use of assistive devices.
- use reasonable efforts to ensure that their policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the following principles:
- the goods or services must be provided in a manner that respects the dignity and independence of persons with disabilities
- the provision of goods or services to persons with disabilities and others must be integrated unless an alternate measure is necessary, whether temporarily or on a permanent basis, to enable a person with a disability to obtain, use or benefit from the goods or services
- persons with disabilities must be given an opportunity equal to that given to others to obtain, use and benefit from the goods or services
- communicate with customers with disabilities in a manner that takes into account the customer’s disability (for example, providing a publication in an alternate format, such as audio or Braille)
- train their customer service staff, volunteers and people responsible for developing the organization’s customer service policies, practices and procedures in the provision of accessible customer service
- permit customers with disabilities who have support persons or service animals to use them while accessing goods or services in premises open to the public and, where admission fees are charged, provide advance notice concerning what admission, if any, would be charged with respect to a support person
- provide notice when accessibility to services or facilities for customers with disabilities is temporarily disrupted (for example, posting signs at the entrance of a building to let customers know that one or more elevators is temporarily out of service)
- establish a process for customers to provide feedback respecting the provision of customer services to persons with disabilities and for the organization to take action on complaints.
When businesses and organizations don’t meet their accessibility obligations
Business and organizations must comply with the accessibility standards that apply to them. Failure to do so may result in penalties, such as fines.
For each person that is found guilty of an offence, a fine of up to $50,000 per day may be levied for each day that the offence continues to occur.
For corporations, a fine of up to $100,000 per day may be levied for each day that the offence continues to occur.
Helping businesses and organizations meet their legal obligations
We will be providing information and tools to help businesses and organizations understand and comply with their legal responsibilities.
Compliance assistance materials, tools and templates will be posted on this website by January 1, 2008.
How will a business or organization know what it has to do to comply with the Customer Service Standard?
The Ministry plans to provide persons, businesses and other organizations subject to the Customer Service Standard with educational tools and materials to help them meet the requirements of the standard. These materials may include:
- a guide to help explain the meaning of the standard
- a handbook that provides more examples and explanations on ways you might comply with the standard
- sample training modules
- checklists, templates and sample policies
- on-line training on how to help customers with disabilities
- educational resources and tips to help with compliance
- examples of good accessibility practices
Materials currently available can be found at http://www.accesson.ca/. A guide to the Customer Service Standard has been posted and a compliance handbook is expected to be posted by March 2008.
Individuals, businesses and other organizations can also contact the AODA Contact Centre with questions about the AODA or its standards or visit our website. Services are available in English and French.
Toll-free: 1-866-515-2025
TTY: 416-325-3408 / 1-800-268-7095 (toll-free)
Fax: 416-315-3407
Website: www.AccessON.ca/compliance
While compliance assistance materials will help to clarify what businesses and other organizations can do to comply, there may be circumstances where they might wish to seek legal advice in order to determine how the regulation applies to them.
When do businesses and other organizations have to comply with and file an accessibility report on their compliance with the Customer Service Standard?
In order to give businesses and other organizations time to implement the requirements of the standard, the timetable for compliance and reporting for the Customer Service Standard is being staggered.
Designated public sector organizations, including provincial ministries, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, municipalities, public hospitals, universities, colleges, school boards, public transit organizations and agencies listed in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Customer Service Standard must comply by January 1, 2010. They will be required to begin filing their accessibility reports in 2010.
Private and non-profit businesses and other organizations that are not designated public sector organizations are required to comply by January 1, 2012; those with 20 or more employees are required to file accessibility reports in 2012.
Under Ontario Regulation 430/07 , private and non-profit businesses and other organizations with fewer than 20 employees, other than designated public sector organizations, are exempted from reporting, but are still required to comply with the standard by January 1, 2012.
When will the accessibility reports that businesses and other organizations have to complete be available?
The accessibility reports for the Customer Service Standard are expected to be available and posted on http://www.accesson.ca/ in 2009.
Are places of worship (e.g. churches, synagogues, mosques and temples) covered by the Customer Service Standard?
Yes. Places of worship are considered organizations that provide goods or services to the public.
All places of worship with at least one employee will have to comply with the standard by January 1, 2012. Those with 20 or more employees will be required to report on their compliance in 2012. Those with fewer than 20 employees are exempted from reporting, but are still required to comply with the standard.
How are places of worship classified under the Customer Service Standard?
Designated public sector organizations in the Customer Service Standard include organizations such as provincial ministries, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and its offices, municipalities, public hospitals, universities, colleges, school boards, public transportation organizations and agencies listed in Schedules 1 and 2 to the Customer Service Standard.
Places of worship would be considered in the category of businesses and organizations that are not designated public sector organizations, which includes private and non-profit businesses organizations.
The other four proposed standards (transportation, the built environment, information and communications, and employment) are in the process of being developed by the standards development committees. The standards development committees will make recommendations to the government on how organizations will be classified, what types of organizations may be covered and what types of requirements may apply. Places of worship may also have obligations under these standards.
What can I do if I feel that a business or organization is not complying with a requirement of the Customer Service Standard?
The regulation requires obligated businesses and other organizations to establish a process for receiving and responding to feedback about the way in which it delivers goods and services to customers with a disability. Information about the feedback process must be available to the public, and must allow individuals to provide their feedback in person, by telephone, in writing, by email or other electronic formats such as diskette or otherwise. The feedback process must also specify the actions that the business or organization must take if a complaint is received.
If you have concerns about non-compliance with the standard, you can therefore address the issue directly with the business or organization through its feedback process. Remember, though, that they are not required to comply with the standard until 2010 (designated public sector organizations) or 2012 (all other organizations, including private and non-profit organizations).
Who must be provided with training and how often must it take place?
The Customer Service Standard requires businesses and other organizations covered by the standard to train employees and others on providing customer service to people with disabilities. Those who must be provided with this training may include employees, volunteers, agents and contractors and others if they are reasonably expected to:
- interact with the public on your behalf; or
- influence the development of policies, practices and procedures about the provision of goods or services to the public or other third parties.
Training must be provided to all people who fit into the categories in the paragraph above, including current employees, volunteers, contractors and others by the date that you are required to comply with the standard, which is either January 1, 2010 for designated public sector organizations or January 1, 2012 for all other businesses and organizations.
From those dates forward, training must be provided as soon as practicable after an individual has been assigned duties that include interaction with the public or development of policies, practices and procedures related to customer service.
If your policies, practices or procedures on the provision of goods or services to people with disabilities change, you must provide updated training to those individuals who require such training as soon as practicable.
This means it must be provided as soon as it can be done in the circumstances after someone is hired or changes to a position that would require training under the standard, and when your policies, practices and procedures related to customer service change. You must not wait for a long period or until it’s convenient as that would not be providing training as soon as practicable.
Learn more
Frequently Asked Questions about the Accessible Customer Service Standard
Legislative references
Understanding accessibility and what you can do now to become more accessible