The Newfoundland and Labrador Accessibility Act was an act introduced under the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development [1] which became law on December 3, 2021. [2] One of the key elements of the act is the creation of an Accessibility Standards Advisory Board. [3] The act also creates a Disability Policy Office which works with all government departments and agencies. [4] [5]
The Bill is intended to:
The Disability Policy Office will:
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
Canadian securities regulation is managed through the laws and agencies established by Canada's 10 provincial and 3 territorial governments. Each province and territory has a securities commission or equivalent authority with its own provincial or territorial legislation.
Transgender rights in Canada, including procedures for changing legal gender and protections from discrimination, vary among provinces and territories, due to Canada's nature as a federal state. According to the 2021 Canadian census, 59,460 Canadians identify as transgender.
The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, is the ministry responsible for issues relating to seniors and persons with disabilities in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contrast to the United States or Mexico, and with the exception of the Unité permanente anticorruption in Quebec and the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia, there are no organizations dedicated exclusively to the investigation of criminal activity in Canada. Criminal investigations are instead conducted by police services, which maintain specialized criminal investigation units in addition to their mandate for emergency response and general community safety.
Government sponsored Student Loans in Canada was designed to help post-secondary students pay for their education in Canada. The federal government funds the Canada Student Loan Program (CSLP) and the provinces may fund their own programs or be integrated with the CSLP. In addition, Canadian banks offer commercial loans targeted for students in professional programs.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador refers to the provincial government of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established by the Newfoundland Act and its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867.
Crown corporations in Canada are government organizations with a mixture of commercial and public-policy objectives. They are directly and wholly owned by the Crown.
Newfoundland and Labrador has had the same growing pains as other provinces in developing its own form of education and now boasts a very strong, although relatively small, system. The direction of Newfoundland and Labrador's policy has evolved rapidly since the late 1990s, with increased funding, participation rates, accessibility and transferability. Many of the directives the government has been acting upon in the past 10 years have been a result of recommendations that stemmed from a 2005 white paper: Foundation for Success: White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education. It set the course for furthering the strategic directives of the provincial post-secondary education sector. Some of its recommendations aimed to:
Registered Professional Planner (RPP) is the term for a registered urban planner in some Canadian Provinces and Territories. Some jurisdictions protect the RPP title, requiring individuals to be registered members of a professional association in order to use the title.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is a statute enacted in 2005 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Canada. Its purpose is to improve accessibility standards for Ontarians with physical and mental disabilities to all public establishments by 2025.
The Ministry of Children, Seniors and Social Development is a provincial government department in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The department is headed by a member of the provincial cabinet, typically a Member of the House of Assembly, who is chosen by the premier and formally appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) is the national association for the social work profession in Canada.
The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) is the legislation concerned with the development of accessibility standards in Manitoba to prevent and remove barriers that affect persons with disabilities.
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) builds on the Canadian Human Rights Act, focusing on the prohibition of discrimination based on disability. Carla Qualtrough presented Bill C-81 for its final reading on June 21, 2019, where it received Royal Assent. This is a Canada-wide accessibility act that applies to the federal public sector, Crown Corporations, and all federally regulated organizations. It is the first national Canadian legislation on accessibility that affects all government departments and federally regulated agencies. The federally regulated organizations include the following industries:
Nova Scotia created the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act in 2017. It is similar to the Accessibility for Manitobans Act, and further supports the rights of People with Disabilities (PwD) under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The European Accessibility Act is a directive of the European Union which took effect in April 2019. This directive aims to improve the trade between members of the EU for accessible products and services, by removing country specific rules. Businesses benefit from having a common set of rules within the EU, which should facilitate easier cross-border trade. It should also allow a greater market for companies providing accessible products and services. Persons with disabilities and elderly people will benefit from having more accessible products and services in the market. An increased market size should produce more competitive prices. There should be fewer barriers within the EU and more job opportunities as well.
British Columbia created the Accessible British Columbia Act in 2021. This act commits the government of British Columbia to promote accessibility, recognize AccessAbility Week, and officially recognize both American Sign Language & Indigenous sign languages. There will be annual reports that will be published for each fiscal year, describing the actions taken by the minister and the provincial accessibility committee. This act will be reviewed every 5 years until 2031 when it will be reviewed every ten years after that. This act applies to the government as well as some other prescribed organizations.