GATINEAU — In light of its new role under the Accessible Canada Act (ACA), which came into effect in July 2019, the CRTC announced today it is launching a proceeding to seek input into new regulations the Commission will create regarding the accessibility reporting requirements for broadcasting undertakings, Canadian telecom common carriers and telecom service providers.
The call for comments was made in the Commission’s Telecom and Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2020-124, published today. The ACA establishes three main requirements for regulated entities, which are related to accessibility plans, progress reports and feedback processes. Each of these requirements is described in detail in the Commission’s notice of consultation.
In the first stage of a two-stage public consultation process, the Commission is seeking comments on how the regulations should be structured and the key procedural elements in the regulations. At the conclusion of this first stage and based in part on comments received, the Commission will prepare draft regulations which will be published on the CRTC’s website. In the second stage of the consultation process, the Commission will seek comments on the draft regulations.
The Commission is calling for comments on a number of questions set out in its notice of consultation, under the themes of timing, manner of publication and form of preparation, requests for alternate formats, the substance of the feedback process, and general questions. The notice of consultation also includes proposed templates for accessibility plans and progress reports in two appendices, as well as suggested considerations regarding the feedback process in a third appendix.
The Commission notes the ACA does not include a mechanism for awarding costs to parties in the proceeding, so participants should be aware there may be no authority for the Commission to consider costs for participating in the proceeding.
Interventions to the proceeding must be filed with the Commission by May 14, 2020. Replies to interventions must be submitted by May 29, 2020.
