Accessibility

Accessibility is one of the Canada Council for the Arts’ long-standing commitments and a foundational element of our vision for the future of the arts. The Council meets the accessibility standards defined by the Government of Canada. We are committed to making our services and grants available to everyone.

Accessibility is a fundamental human right. It is crucial for the autonomy, dignity, independence of Deaf people and people with disabilities.

Accessibility plan

The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) was passed on July 11, 2019. It aims to identify, eliminate and prevent barriers to accessibility for people with disabilities in the federal public service by January 1, 2040.

In order to comply with the requirements of the ACA, all federal entities, including Crown corporations like the Canada Council, must publish their first accessibility plans before December 31, 2022.

Read the Accessibility Plan

Accessibility Progress Report

Since the Council published its accessibility plan in December 2022, it has continued to work to improve accessibility to its office spaces, support mechanisms, funding programs and all the information it disseminates to the public.

A progress report is published every year, highlighting areas of progress and identifying areas where improvement is still needed.

Read the progress report

Feedback process

The ACA also requires federal entities to implement an accessibility-related feedback process.

The Council’s accessibility feedback form provides all the information you need to send us your comments.

Provide accessibility-related feedback

Support mechanisms

The Council provides various support mechanisms to make the grant application process more accessible.

  • The Application Assistance page offers various services paid by the Council that can support people in their application process.
  • The Access Support page offers other kinds of support for people who have already received a grant.

People who are Deaf or hard of hearing can communicate with us through a message relay service. We can ensure that we are prepared to receive other means of communication, including ASL and LSQ, in order to meet the needs of Deaf people and people with disabilities.