The recently released Final Proposed Employment Accessibility Standard for the AODA will have a significant impact on every employer in Ontario. The goal of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is to make Ontario accessible to people with disabilities by 2025, to be achieved by
“developing, implementing and enforcing accessibility standards in order to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises on or before January 1, 2025.”
The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, Ontario Regulation 429/07 was the first standard to become law, on January 1, 2008.
The AODA is the first law of it’s kind in Canada and is similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act in the US. Though not yet law, if adopted in the current form, the act will have a significant impact on every employment related practice from recruitment to termination.
