2024 Accessibility Progress Report

FinDev Canada remains committed to creating accessible, inclusive and equitable experiences for our clients, employees and all Canadians, especially people with disabilities. Our first three-year Accessibility Plan (2023-2025) published in 2023 is now in its second year of implementation. Proactive, incremental steps are being taken to embed accessibility into everything we do, as described in this progress report.

The DiversAbility Employee Resource Group has helped to make FinDev Canada more aware of accessibility issues.

• The group hosted a speaker series to talk about access and inclusion.
• The group shared their stories in town halls and took part in several sessions. Some examples of their stories include: “Navigating Invisible Disabilities” and “Learning to Live with Hearing Impairment.”
• One member wrote an article for the intranet titled “Disability and Why Accessibility Matters.” Sharing this article was part of the Self‑Identification campaign.
• The group also advised on changes to a video about invisible disabilities.

We have new roles that support accessibility. The roles of the Chief Financial Officer and their Strategic Advisor show commitment to access and inclusion at the top levels of FinDev Canada. Our leaders support the accessibility work we need to do.

This year, we have benefited from the Accessibility Steering Committee set up by Export Development Canada. It includes senior leaders from FinDev Canada. Meetings each month help to make sure:

• Our accessibility work is moving ahead as planned.
• Our leaders are aware of access and inclusion issues.
• Our teams are solving accessibility issues.

These meetings are vital. They keep leaders talking about accessibility issues, which become priorities for FinDev Canada to address.

Training is key to being aware of accessibility issues. It also helps us learn how to support our work and the Accessible Canada Act. We have decided who will get training based on:

• The most important roles.
• Employees who need to understand accessibility to do their jobs well.
• Employees who should learn more about accessibility to help others at work.

Procurement and Vendor Management leaders have started their training with Shared Services Canada. Looking ahead to 2025, we will train our Marketing & Corporate Communications Team and our Digital Team. We will begin with plain language and culture workshops for leaders. We will finish our training plans by the end of the year.

AccessNow wants to learn how accessible the world is. The organization is working with others to map accessible places and spaces. The DiversAbility Employee Resource Group partnered with AccessNow on a project to map accessibility in our communities. In September, they launched the event online. Staff mapped out locations that were and were not accessible. In October, the group met again to talk about the project. They discussed how to make work changes based on their experience.

We worked on these activities with Export Development Canada.

• Benchmark against Accessible Canada Act standards for employment.
• Partner with disability employment partners and hiring teams to attract, engage, enable, and retain employees with disabilities.
• Increase employee awareness of our accommodation program and provide guidance to support employee accessibility requests.
• Increase employee awareness of wellness and mental health services and provide guidance to leaders and employees to promote access to supports.

These barriers were identified for Export Development Canada, but they also apply to FinDev Canada

• Employees and visitors have decreased awareness of the accommodations and support they can access when in EDC spaces or when attending EDC‑hosted events or meetings.
• A leader or colleague questions the capabilities of people with disabilities, which can negatively impact hiring decisions, job assignments or promotions.
• An employee avoids sharing information about their disability or requesting accommodations due to stigma from a leader or colleague.

We are committed to accessibility, inclusion, diversity and equity. We want to build an inclusive work culture for all staff and especially for our employees with disabilities.

This year, we have improved our accommodations program thanks to the leadership at Export Development Canada. The biggest change is an update to the intake process with our insurer, Canada Life, for medical accommodations. The goal is to make this process as simple and accessible as possible for staff who need support.

We received only a few requests for accommodations during the hiring process. All of them were to Export Development Canada. The most common request comes from candidates asking for extra time to answer questions. In 2025, we plan to work with Export Development Canada to find out if there are better ways to help candidates when hiring. We will also work with community partners such as the Employment Accessibility Resource Network (EARN) and Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care. We hope to continue these partnerships in 2025.

We know good mental health is essential for everyone. We engage our staff each year in May during National Mental Health Week. We let them know how to look after their mental health and what supports are available. Export Development Canada holds webinars, has a mental‑health‑specific workshop and shares resources on mental health. We share information again in October during Healthy Workplace Month. It is important to make sure our staff know how they can find support if they need it. Our leaders can join the Workplace Mental Health Leadership Certificate Program, which helps them better support their teams. We will start training in early 2025 to help leaders be culturally sensitive.

When we first developed our Accessibility Plan, we did not realize how much work it would take to support the Employment priority area of the Act. To develop an Employment standard that covers all stages of work, we will need to do the following:

• Look at the issues that already exist in employment and how they relate to accessibility.
• Develop a plan that includes access and inclusion in employment
• Look for ways to fund the work.
• Identify roles and responsibilities of staff.

This work will begin in 2025. We will make improvements in 2026 after Accessibility Standards Canada publishes their Employment Standard.

We want to continue improving our efforts. We will work with Export Development Canada and learn from feedback from the following groups.

• Employees with disabilities
• The DiversABILITY Employee Resource Group
• Allies of people with disabilities.

This feedback will help us build programs that are accessible and inclusive.

We worked on these activities with Export Development Canada.

• Benchmark against ACA standards published for built environment.
  • Standard on Accessibility of Outdoor Spaces targeted for publication in 2023.
• Standard on Accessible Emergency Egress, and Model Standard on the Built Environment – Accessibility, targeted for publication in 2024.
• Complete an audit of our Ottawa location through the audit of the Head Office of our parent company, Export Development Canada, and develop an action plan to prioritize and implement actions relevant to our spaces as needed.
• Work with our lessors to incorporate accessibility best practices for our leased spaces.
• Increase employee and visitor awareness and adoption of emergency and safety procedures and available support when at FinDev Canada spaces or events. 

• Office space or meeting room elements such as heavy sliding doors or poorly positioned meeting cameras create unintended barriers for people with disabilities.
• Hybrid office redesign may disadvantage employees who need quiet workspaces, or customized desks to support accommodation requirements.
• Employees and visitors are not aware of our safety and emergency procedures

We are committed to ensuring that all our offices are accessible and inclusive for employees and visitors with disabilities. We lease all our office spaces. Our health and safety standards cover emergency procedures for people with disabilities.

Since our last report, our Real Estate and Facilities team has made progress in removing barriers in our offices in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

In November 2023, Adaptability Canada assessed Export Development Canada’s head office, which is also the location of FinDev Canada’s Ottawa office. We asked Adaptability Canada to check how accessible the office is for people with invisible disabilities. We got their report in January 2024. Export Development Canada also had an earlier assessment from the Rick Hansen Foundation. We are using these reports to improve our Ottawa office. We will also design a new office in Montreal using this information.

The team has developed an action plan that outlines:

• timelines for work
• what to expect from the changes
• responsibilities of the team
• how much money will be needed to increase accessibility

We are working on these changes now. We expect some projects will continue into 2025.

We have made accessibility improvements at the Ottawa office over the past year. They include:

• We installed accessible door openers at the Fitness Centre and for doors on the 5th floor.
• We installed an automatic door operator for the 18th‑floor patio.
• We added visual fire alarms in the following areas:
  • the parking garage
  • the changing facilities
  • the universal washrooms on the 2nd and 17th floors
• We made sure we understood who was responsible for accessibility improvements between our landlord and ourselves

For our new Montreal office, we have used best practices from the accessibility assessments in our 
design. We have included in our plans:

• Universal washrooms
• Wayfinding and signage to guide people through the office
• Colour contrasts for better visibility
• Enough space for people to easily move around in meeting rooms

We have installed emergency equipment at accessible heights in our Toronto office. The Rick Hansen Foundation recommended this best practice, which is also in the standard.

• Benchmark against ACA standards for ICT.
  • CAN‑ASC‑6.1 – Information and Communication Technology, based on the European harmonized standard, EN 301 549.
• Create an inclusive experience for all users, including people with disabilities, of FinDev Canada digital services and products.
• Implement accessibility enhancements to external website to ensure equal access to information.
• Update or replace technology across FinDev Canada that do not meet digital accessibility requirements.
• Increase employee awareness and use of accessibility features embedded in the technology, platforms, and digital tools regularly used at FinDev Canada.

• Our technology often does not meet the accessibility needs of people with disabilities who use assistive technology.
• Some technology suppliers may be unaware of federal accessibility requirements or have no immediate plans to update their solution to include accessibility features.
• Some teams do not currently have the knowledge or skillset required to design barrier‑free experiences for people who use assistive technology.
• Employees have decreased awareness of accessibility best practices and features to support inclusive experiences for our customers and colleagues.

We are improving our technology and digital capabilities to improve our client and staff experience. 
We are making the following changes:

Our website

In 2024, we chose a company to develop a new, accessible website for us. The website had to follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 level AA and plain language standards. We started working on this project in the summer of 2024. The company will design, develop and build the new website in 2025.

While we wait for our new website, we will change the present one to make it more accessible.

We continue to check that new content is accessible. We use the following tools to check the website:

• Accessibility Insights for Web
• Axe DevTools
• Chrome’s Lighthouse report on accessibility.

These tools show us where problems are, and explain how to fix them. We keep a report of all the problems on the website. We include the date of when we fixed them.

Information technology tools

In 2023, we developed a style guide for Power BI reports and dashboards. In 2024, we gave it to our staff. 

The guide helps various contributors create accessible content. For example, it includes information for readability, such as colour contrast and text size.

We also developed a style guide for Microsoft Power Apps. We focused on accessible applications when using these tools. The style guide covers:

• colours and a sufficient contrast‑ratio
• readable minimum text size
• tooltips and accessibility labels
• important messages and icon presentation
• clear wording
• logical hierarchy of information
• testing keyboard navigation and other accessibility features.

The guide also includes several links to accessibility audit tools. Two good examples are by Microsoft:

1. App Checker
2. Power Apps Code Review.

In 2024, our team developed an internal application based on this style guide.

We continue to help staff learn about accessibility features in our technology, platforms and digital tools. For example, we ask staff to use these features in meetings through Microsoft Teams and the technology we have available in our boardrooms.

In 2025, we will continue to raise awareness of accessibility solutions.

•  Benchmark against ACA standards for communication.
  • Standard on Plain Language.
• Provide content, brand, and design expertise to embed accessibility into all corporate and internal communications.
• Provide communications expertise for external and internal website redesign and updates to ensure equal access to information for people with disabilities.
• Embed accessibility into external‑facing corporate events and meetings and provide guidance to planners and hosts for internal corporate events and meetings led by employees or teams.

• Our communications may only be available in one format, or in inaccessible formats.
• Information from our policies and guidelines to our services and support for customers and employees is difficult to find, access, and understand.
• Our communications including terminology, language, and images we use, may not be inclusive of people with disabilities, preventing customers and employees from engaging with us.
• Our content leads are not familiar with how to make their content accessible.
• Meeting planners and hosts may design meeting communications and materials without considering accessibility requirements to support equal participation for all.

We have made slow progress in this area. Export Development Canada has helped us with our accessible communications. They have identified a consultant who focuses on this work. We look forward to working with the consultant to develop our team’s skills. We want to be able to reach many audiences, including people with disabilities.

• Benchmark against ACA standards for procurement.
  • No standards for procurement are currently targeted for publication.
• Establish accessibility expectations of suppliers in our Supplier Code of Conduct.
• Incorporate accessibility requirements in our Procurement Policy and Guidelines, including public competitive procurement processes for suppliers.
• Enhance our Supplier Diversity Program to increase participation of businesses owned by people with disabilities.

• Minimal information exists in the market on Accessible Procurement to help guide our work in this area.
• Internal partners may not consider accessibility criteria and features when procuring goods, services and facilities.
• Procurement policies, programs, guidelines, and processes may create unintended barriers for people with disabilities.

We want to make sure the goods and services we buy are accessible. We are working with Export Development Canada to figure out the best way to do so. We have discovered helpful resources since we shared our 2023 – 2025 Three‑Year Accessibility Plan. These resources include toolkits from non‑profit organizations, colleges and universities. We are using all this information to build a process that will help us reach our goal.

We are being bold as we develop our new guidelines. We are moving ahead with best practices and standards in accessibility. We highlighted our way of working in the “Information and Communication Technology” section of this report. As part of this effort, Export Development Canada has a draft policy on digital accessibility that we can use. This policy uses Canada’s Information, Communication and Technology standard and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 Level AA. We want to use the latest accessibility standards when deciding what we buy. We will build guidelines and standards into our process.

This year, the Accessibility team at Export Development Canada has partnered with the Sourcing and Supplier (Procurement) management team. We want to know how to make buying goods and services more accessible. What changes do we have to make? We will create a plan that changes the process we use. The plan will include the following steps:

• Find out what is not accessible in the buying process.
• Create a clear plan for improving the process.
• Define the priorities.
• Define the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the process.

This work will start later in the year and will continue into 2025. FinDev Canada will use this plan to shape our next Three‑Year Accessibility Plan.

The key players in the accessible buying process include:

• business owners
• initiative owners
• product owners
• technical authorities.

We have benefitted from Export Development Canada’s work with Shared Services Canada this year. Shared Services Canada gave expert advice on choosing words in contracts and Statements of Work that promote access and inclusion. The Procurement team at Export Development Canada oversees buying. They also manage FinDev Canada’s procurement. The team took part in a webinar in June on accessible buying. Training for the leaders in Procurement and Vendor Management will continue in 2025.

In 2025, we will turn to the Accessibility team at Export Development Canada for support. The goal is to help accessibility become a core consideration throughout the procurement process.

• Benchmark against ACA standards for design and delivery of services and programs.
  • No standards for design and delivery of services and programs are currently targeted for publication.
• Establish ad hoc advisory groups to help scale, embed, and sustain accessibility within teams.
• Build a culture where universal design and the user experience guide the design and delivery of our services, programs, and products.
• Partner with teams to meaningfully engage people with disabilities at all phases of the design and delivery lifecycle of our services, programs, and products.
• Use EDC’s design system to support digital accessibility goals for the design and delivery of our services, programs, and products.

• Employees who interact directly with our clients may not know how to communicate effectively with people with disabilities and for different disability types.
• Teams may not meaningfully engage people with disabilities in the design and delivery of our services, programs, or products.
• Employees make assumptions or decisions about the accommodations a person may need, rather than asking them directly about their requirements.
• Team activities, including team‑building or social events, are often designed for people without disabilities, and may unintentionally exclude participation by peers with disabilities.

We continue to learn from our parent company, Export Development Canada. They are helping us to design and deliver accessible programs. For example, we have learned how to make meetings more accessible by following their best practices at the employee conference in 2024.

Export Development Canada’s Learning and Development team supports FinDev Canada. They looked at how to remove barriers in the learning systems we use. They made the following changes to improve our learning and development processes.

• Our learning management system now conforms to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These changes make learning on the system easier for users. The system’s administration is also easier because of changes made to meet the guidelines.
• We have also changed the design to improve the learning experience for staff with visual and hearing impairments.
• The platform that hosts our learning materials now also meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We can provide accessibility across all learning resources.
• Any custom learning modules produced by the staff also follow the guidelines.
• An online guide for digital accessibility is available to our staff on the learning system

• Benchmark against ACA standards for transportation.
  • No standards for transportation are currently targeted for publication.
• Provide accessible travel information in relevant internal communications to help people with disabilities plan their trip to FinDev Canada‑hosted events or meetings.

• We do not always share information on accessible travel with employees or visitors to our spaces or events and meetings we host.
• Our travel and hospitality suppliers may not offer options for employees requiring accessible transportation or accommodations.

Accessibility was an important part of Export Development Canada’s employee conference. 
FinDev Canada learned from this experience. The conference team made sure that travel and wayfinding were part of the conference planning. The following information went out to all employees:

• A map of the first level of the conference centre at the event. The map provided visual cues to help people find their way around the event.
• The map was added to the microsite so that staff could access it easily when needed.
• Details about accessible parking and transportation were shared on the event microsite. Employees could plan their best travel options ahead of time.

We have been working with Export Development Canada to help choose a company to manage travel by our employees. We have included accessibility factors as part of what we expect from a service‑provider. 
The travel company will have to provide functional and accessible services. For example, the travel platform we use should:

• Offer features that support people with vision, mobility and cognitive issues
• Provide an accessible booking tool
• Provide access to a call centre where people can help our staff when they face barriers.

We expect all our employees to have a good experience throughout their travel journey.
 

We want everyone to feel included and have equal access to all experiences at FinDev Canada. In 2023, we published our first Three‑Year Accessibility Plan, which is now in its second year. Our goal is to make sure that everything we do is accessible. This progress report describes the work we have done so far.

We are proud to offer the following documents in alternate format.

• 2023 and 2024 Accessibility Progress Reports
• Accessibility Plan
• A description of our feedback processes.

Below are the formats that we have available for you. You can also find out how much time we need to prepare your document.

• Print PDF format – We will send it 15 days after you request it.
• Large print PDF – We will send it 15 days after you request it.
• Large print Word – We will send it 15 days after you request it.
• Braille – We will send it 45 days after you request it.
• Audio format – We will send it 45 days after you request it.

We welcome your comments and feedback on this progress report. You may also have advice on how we could better provide this information to you. We would like to hear from you if you have any feedback or questions. For example, we would like to know if you faced any barriers when you visited our workplace or website. Has our accessibility plan created any new barriers for you? Please let us know how we are doing with our accessibility work.

Here are the reasons you may want to contact us:

• To send us feedback
• To get a copy of our progress report in an alternate format
• To get a copy of our accessibility plan in an alternate format
• To get a description of our feedback process.

You can contact us…

• By email at Accessible@findevcanada.ca
• Online, by using the accessibility feedback form
• By telephone: 1(800) 229‑0575
• On Social media: LinkedIn, Twitter (@FinDev_Canada), YouTube
• In‑person or by mail:
  Accessibility Lead
  FinDev Canada
  150 Slater Street
  Ottawa, ON
  K1A 1K3
  Canada

Our Accessibility Lead will let you know when they receive your feedback. If you want us to get back to you directly, please make sure you leave your contact information. We may use your feedback right away to make accessibility changes. We may also include it in our accessibility plans. We hope to hear from you!

Export Development Canada and FinDev Canada are both part of the same organization.Export Development Canada helps Canadian businesses by providing financing and support for international trade. FinDev Canada focuses on supporting businesses in developing countries. It provides  private sector financing to help those countries’ economies become stronger.