As defined, the ACA will require the public sector to: • hire 5,000 new employees who identify as people with disabilities over five years (1,000/year); • review anything which may be a barrier for the public or the public sector; • create an initial accessibility plan by one year after a date determined by regulations; • publish an updated accessibility plan, and notify the Accessibility Commissioner, on an annual basis outlining progress to-date. This plan must be made available to people on request. • consult persons with disabilities in the preparation of its accessibility plan and include the manner of consultation in the report. In the
Backgrounder on Accessible Government provided by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), several other items have been outlined which pertain to the public sector. Perhaps the most immediate will be the five-year commitment for the public sector to hire a thousand employees per year who identify as
people with disabilities. The government will be investing $53 million over six years, The government will adjust its policies to ensure that goods and services procured by the Government of Canada are accessible. The vision of the ACA is to be the most accessible and inclusive public service in the world. The guiding principles are: • 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 as well as with bargaining agents, and other public, private, and not-for-profit organizations. • Sustainability: The strategy prioritizes actions that will have a long-term impact. • Transparency: The strategy is developed and implemented in a transparent manner and departments will report openly and transparently on their efforts to remove barriers. The five most-pressing goals defined in ACA include: Many details are under development. ==Enforcement==