The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has provided a submission to the Ministry of Community and Social Services in response to the proposed Integrated Accessibility Regulation (IAR) under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act .
The main message of the submission is that although the IAR recognizes that organizations have existing legal duties under the Ontario Human Rights Code, some of the proposed provisions of the IAR diminish existing rights under the Code. The OHRC states that the IAR does not identify essential human rights principles up front and does not apply these principles to many of the provisions, including obligations to: design inclusively and avoid creating new barriers; take steps to address existing systemic or individual barriers to avoid undue hardship; and apply the best current technology and practices, or next best interim measures, to avoid undue hardship.
See “Ontario Human Rights Commission Submission Regarding Ministry of Community and Social Services Proposed Integrated Accessibility Regulation Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005,” Ontario Human Rights Commission, October 15, 2010, available at www.ohrc.on.ca.
See also “Response to the Proposed Integrated Accessibility Regulation Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act,” Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario and Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, October 2010, available at www.ontario.cmha.ca/submissions.
For more information about the AODA standards and regulations, visit www.mcss.gov.on.ca.