Ottawa businesses under contract with the city were required to have their accesibility standards in place by Jan. 1.
Ottawa businesses under contract with the city are ahead in instituting a new law that requires better training and services to help people with disabilities, as the city required them to have the new policy in place by 2010.
“I think those companies that are working on our behalf are for sure ahead of the curve,” says Clara Freire, manager of client service strategies for the city.
The customer service standard for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act does not come into effect for all private businesses until 2012.
The act requires contractors that work with the public or other companies on behalf of the city to adhere to its standards.
Freire says the city has sent letters to businesses and dedicated a section of its website to notify contractors about the changes.
“We just created a whole bunch of new policies and procedures and we require accountability not just for ourselves but for contractors and sub-contractors coming to our site. We’re demanding compliance,” says Gerry Klausmann, manager for business development at Goulbourn Recycling and Waste Control, a contractor that works with the city.
To implement the initial changes, employers can download a 20-minute web-based training module from the Ministry of Community and Social Services website.
It explains communication techniques, and how to ensure service animals are welcomed in areas open to the public.
But costs will increase as the legislation will require changes to some companies’ physical structure to increase accessbility. Klausmann says even in this aspect his company is ahead of the competition because the workplace is fully accessible.
“If the contractor is doing work or providing service on behalf of the city then the city is being held accountable for the provisions in the customer service standard,” says Terrance Green, a human rights lawyer, who is also chairperson of Citizens With Disabilities – Ontario.
“They have to pass the obligation on to who ever is doing the service for them otherwise the city could find itself in breach of the regulations.”
While Freire says contractors have to keep track of staff training and make the records available to the city by March 31, Green says there is not enough oversight required in the legislation.
“The fact that they have been proclaimed and enforced in the public sector isn’t enough. There is no enforcement or investigation mechanism in place, which people can follow if they have a problem in the (public or private sector), he says."