Training remains an essential part of increasing accessibility awareness in the Department. As part of our Accessibility Action Plan 2022-2025, VAC introduced mandatory accessibility courses from the Canada School of Public Service. In 2025, VAC’s Accessibility Readiness Team initiated a promotion campaign aimed at increasing the completion rate of mandatory accessibility courses. The campaign proved to be effective, leading to a rise in completion rates across the Department. While this shows progress, we remain dedicated to advancing this work.
While the introduction and ongoing promotion of these mandatory courses is a great starting point, we know that accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. In line with this, we also continue to promote various learning opportunities for employees on important topics such as:
- creating accessible documents
- the GC workplace Accessibility Passport
- plain language in alignment with CAN-ASC-3.1:2025-Plain Language
- embracing digital accessibility
- planning accessible events
Additionally, last year we promoted special learning events such as:
- National Disability Employment Awareness month speaker series hosted by Health Canada’s Persons with Disabilities Network
- the Inclusive Design for Employment Access speaker series session entitled Episodic disability: an intersectional perspective on accommodation & belonging
- Best practices in accessibility, workplace adjustments and job accommodation delivered by Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT)
- events and workshops put on by the Canadian Innovation Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace
- the Canadian Accessibility Network and its Communities of Practice
We will continue to promote accessibility learning through various channels such as the onboarding process, our Accessibility@VAC intranet page, emails to all employees and MS Teams Posts.