Canada Accessibility Law and Website Accessibility Requirements

Canada’s accessibility laws work differently than the ADA in the United States. The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) sets federal requirements for organizations under federal jurisdiction, while provinces like Ontario, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia have their own separate accessibility laws that apply to a much broader range of businesses. Understanding which law applies to your organization, and what it requires of your website, is the first step toward compliance.

This guide breaks down the Accessible Canada Act, how it relates to provincial legislation, and what technical standard your website needs to meet.

What Is the Accessible Canada Act (ACA)?

The Accessible Canada Act received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019, and came into force on July 11, 2019. Its stated goal is to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040, by identifying, removing, and preventing barriers across priority areas that include information and communication technology.

The ACA applies specifically to organizations under federal jurisdiction. This includes the Government of Canada, Crown corporations, banks, the federally regulated transportation network (airlines and cross-border rail, road, and marine carriers), broadcasting and telecommunications companies, the Canadian Forces, the RCMP, and parliamentary entities.

If your organization falls into one of these categories, you are required to prepare and publish an accessibility plan, maintain a feedback process for accessibility complaints, and publish progress reports. The Accessibility Commissioner enforces the Act for most covered organizations, while the CRTC handles broadcasting and telecom, and the Canadian Transportation Agency handles federal transportation. Non-compliance can result in a notice of violation, with penalties that scale by severity and can reach up to $250,000 per violation.

Most private businesses in Canada are not directly covered by the ACA. If you are not federally regulated, your obligations are more likely to come from provincial law instead.

Provincial Accessibility Laws

Because the ACA only covers federally regulated entities, provincial accessibility laws carry the compliance weight for most Canadian businesses, nonprofits, and public sector organizations.

AODA (Ontario)

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is the most established of Canada’s provincial accessibility laws and the one most businesses need to know. It requires public sector organizations and private or nonprofit organizations with 50 or more employees to meet website accessibility requirements under the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR). The technical standard referenced is WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

Manitoba Accessibility Act

Manitoba’s Accessibility for Manitobans Act establishes a framework of accessibility standards, including provisions addressing information and communications. Compliance timelines and requirements are being phased in through standard-specific regulations. Organizations operating in Manitoba should confirm current obligations directly with the Manitoba Accessibility Office, since specific deadlines vary by standard and organization type.

Nova Scotia Accessibility Act

Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act similarly sets out a framework for developing accessibility standards across priority areas, including information and communications. As with Manitoba, implementation is proceeding through standard-specific regulations rather than a single fixed website compliance date, so organizations should verify current requirements as new standards are finalized.

What WCAG Level Does Canada Require?

Where a technical standard is specified in Canadian accessibility law today, it is WCAG 2.0 Level AA. This is the standard named in Ontario’s AODA regulations and is the most commonly referenced benchmark across Canadian provincial frameworks.

That said, WCAG 2.0 is over a decade old. WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 add success criteria for mobile accessibility, cognitive disabilities, and low vision that 2.0 does not cover. Building toward WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA now, rather than the legal minimum, better protects your organization as Canadian standards continue to evolve and reduces the risk of needing a second remediation pass later.

Compliance Deadlines and Penalties

Deadlines and enforcement mechanisms vary significantly depending on which law applies to your organization. There is no single compliance date for website accessibility in Canada, so it’s worth understanding each framework separately.

Federal (ACA)

The Accessible Canada Act does not yet impose a single fixed compliance deadline for the information and communication technology priority area. Accessibility Standards Canada is still developing the specific technical regulations that will eventually govern federal websites, meaning the detailed website requirements are not fully finalized.

Federally regulated organizations are not exempt from planning in the meantime: the Act already requires covered organizations to publish accessibility plans, maintain a feedback process, and report progress, regardless of whether ICT-specific regulations are in force yet.

Enforcement falls to the Accessibility Commissioner for most sectors, with penalties that can reach up to $250,000 for the most serious violations. Given that exposure, early preparation is the more practical route rather than waiting for ICT-specific rules to be finalized.

Ontario (AODA)

Ontario’s timeline is the most mature of any Canadian jurisdiction. Public sector organizations and private or nonprofit organizations with 50 or more employees are already expected to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA under the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR). This is not an upcoming deadline but a current obligation for organizations that fall into these categories.

Smaller Ontario organizations with fewer than 50 employees have lighter documentation requirements but are still subject to general accessibility obligations under the AODA.

Because Ontario’s framework has been active the longest, it also has the most established enforcement history among Canada’s provincial accessibility laws. That makes it the highest-priority jurisdiction to confirm compliance against if your organization operates there.

Manitoba and Nova Scotia

Manitoba and Nova Scotia are taking a phased, standard-by-standard approach rather than setting one universal website compliance deadline the way Ontario has. Both provinces’ accessibility acts establish the overall legal framework and priority areas, including information and communications, but the specific technical requirements and timelines are being introduced gradually as individual standards are developed and finalized.

This means an organization’s actual obligations in Manitoba or Nova Scotia depend on which standards have been enacted into regulation at a given time, and those obligations will continue to expand as more standards come into force.

How to Meet These Requirements

Meeting Canadian accessibility requirements starts with knowing where your website actually stands against WCAG. A manual accessibility audit identifies real barriers that automated scanners miss, from keyboard navigation gaps to screen reader compatibility issues, and gives you a prioritized path to remediation rather than a generic error list.

For organizations with both US and Canadian obligations, whether from a Canadian subsidiary, customer base, or expansion plan, a single audit process can be scoped to satisfy WCAG requirements across both jurisdictions rather than running separate reviews. Ongoing monitoring then keeps your site compliant as new content is published and as Canadian standards continue to develop.

Staying Ahead of Canada’s Accessibility Laws

Canada’s accessibility law landscape is more fragmented than the ADA’s single federal statute, split between the Accessible Canada Act for federally regulated organizations and separate provincial laws like AODA that apply to a much wider range of businesses. Knowing which law covers your organization, and building to WCAG 2.1 AA as a working standard, positions you ahead of where the law currently requires you to be.