Persons with disabilities were consulted in the preparation of this 2023 Progress Report.
3.1 Internal consultation
In 2021 and 2022, as required by the Employment Equity Act, VAC conducted a third-party Employment Systems Review. The Employment Systems Review Report is the product of several months of work conducting an analysis and review of VAC employment policies, practices, HR data, interviews and discussions with employees. The goal was to identify and make recommendations to eliminate systemic, cultural, and attitudinal barriers to create a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace environment. This work included consultation (interviews and focus groups) with 22 VAC employees with disabilities. The evidence from this review informed this Progress Report (i.e., the need for improvements to the Department’s Duty to Accommodate process, as well as to workforce representation).
Furthermore, through regular communication and meetings held via MS Teams, members of the Accessibility Network (approximately 20 employees with visible and invisible disabilities) were consulted on the first year of progress since the implementation of VAC’s Accessibility Action Plan 2022-2025. To remove barriers to participation during consultations and Accessibility Network meetings, incoming Network members are asked to provide any information that would assist in enabling their participation. Additionally, reference documents are circulated to members before meetings, members are regularly made aware of accessibility features within the MS Teams platform, and simultaneous interpretation in official languages is available.
During Accessibility Network meetings, members were encouraged to provide feedback at any time regarding progress, by phone or in writing (anonymously or non-anonymously). More specifically, during the May 2023 Network meeting, members were provided a comprehensive update on the 2023 Progress Report draft, and were asked:
- If they had any comments or concerns regarding the plans to consult them on the 2023 Progress Report; and
- If they had any feedback to provide regarding any progress the Department had made to date in implementing the 2022-2025 Accessibility Action Plan?
Similarly, the September 2023 Network meeting was spent consulting the membership on the 2023 Progress Report. A draft version of the Report was distributed to all Network members five business days in advance of the meeting, which was facilitated by a member of VAC’s Accessibility Readiness Team. Open discussion of the draft Progress Report was encouraged and questions were posed to prompt members on their thoughts and opinions, including:
- Are there any additional actions that you think should have been added?
- Do you agree with the re-wording of some actions?
- Do you think this re-worded barrier is better refined?
Members discussed the draft Report, noting ways to make the format of the report more accessible. For example, providing a summary of progress, ensuring the headings were clear and distinct to allow easier navigation; and adding some hyperlinks.
All feedback received was considered, and either incorporated in this progress report or retained for future consideration.
Network members were also provided with two weeks to follow up with the Department’s Accessibility Readiness Team to provide feedback in writing (anonymously or non-anonymously), or over the phone.
Consultations on the 2023 Progress Report provided the opportunity to ask persons with disabilities at VAC for their feedback on how the Plan is being implemented, based on their lived experience. Network members noted that the implementation of action items was progressing well. Further comments included suggestions and clarifications to actions and barriers, such as ways to improve the accessibility of workspaces and health and safety measures in a hybrid environment
VAC looks forward to continuing its work with the Accessibility Network in the identification of barriers and opportunities for improvement – all as part of its journey to becoming a more accessibility confident organization.
3.2 External consultation
VAC did not conduct any external consultation on this 2023 Progress Report, as most action items identified in VAC’s 2022-2025 Accessibility Action Plan that are relevant to clients and other external stakeholders (and on which they might be able to assess action status and impact) will not be implemented until after the writing of this Report. VAC looks forward to consulting Veterans and other external stakeholders on future progress reports and accessibility action plans when more action items have been implemented, and related progress on accessibility can be more readily and meaningfully assessed from an external perspective.