Table of contents

• Executive Summary
• Consultation
• Feedback
• Priority Areas
  • Employment
  • The built environment
  • Information and Communication Technologies
  • Communication, other than information and communication technologies
  • The design and delivery of programs and services
  • The procurement of goods, services and facilities
  • Transportation
• Conclusion
• General
• Glossary

Executive Summary

The Northern Pipeline Agency Accessibility Plan 2022-2025 (Accessibility Plan) responds to the Accessible Canada Act, which requires all Government of Canada entities to present a three-year accessibility plan to achieve a Canada without barriers on or before January 1, 2040. The plan is a commitment to act and make sustainable progress in the area of accessibility by building a culture of inclusion that values diversity, combats discrimination and prevents future barriers in the workplace. As part of the commitment within the plan, the Northern Pipeline Agency (the Agency) has developed an implementation strategy with clear timelines, activities, and accountability.

This Year 1 progress report is the Agency’s first report to highlight the advancements the Agency has made in accessibility on the seven priority areas.

The Agency will continue to work with the Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada (ENRCan) as well as other governing bodies to track continued progress related to all elements of the Agency’s Accessibility Plan.

Consultation

Given the Agency’s ramped down condition, there was limited engagement and consultation within the Agency during the first year of implementing of the Agency’s Accessibility Plan and during the development of the progress report.

Feedback

Feedback statistics by priority area

The Agency did not receive any feedback during 2022-23.

Feedback received

The Agency did not receive any feedback during 2022-23.

Evaluating our feedback measures

The Agency published its accessibility feedback procedures in its Accessibility Plan. The Agency allows for anonymous or identified feedback by mail, phone, electronic phone, and email. From the time the procedures were published, no persons have used the different measures.

How we are taking feedback into consideration:

Feedback is taken seriously by the Agency; however no feedback was submitted during 2022-23. Given the low level of activity (less than 1 Full Time Equivalent of staff resources), there was no review of the Agency’s feedback procedures or practices to be more responsive to feedback being received.

The Accessibility Plan with specific activities to support the commitments in each priority area, will undergo an annual review to incorporate the feedback received.

Priority Areas

In accordance with the Accessible Canada Act, this plan includes an overview of the progress in our commitments in the following seven areas:

1. employment
2. the built environment
3. information and communication technologies (ICT)
4. communication, other than ICT
5. the design and delivery of programs and services
6. the procurement of goods, services and facilities
7. transportation

Employment

Summary

The Agency is committed to being an agency that recruits and retains a diverse workforce that is representative of Canada’s population.

Highlights:

• The Agency did not undertake any recruitment activities in 2022-23, nor did the Agency have any departures of its current limited workforce.

The Agency will continue to work towards recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce that is representative of Canada’s population while also supporting the government-wide goal for recruitment of persons with diverse abilities by 2025, should recruitment be required by the Agency.

The built environment

Summary

The Agency is firmly committed to improving the accessibility of its current office building location. This initiative includes phases to broaden the understanding of accessibility, including non-structural aspects and invisible disabilities, to assess the accessibility of the as built environment, in collaboration with the main building occupant, ENRCan, and the building owner, Public Services and Procurement Canada, wherever possible.

The Agency’s work environment is not restricted to the physical buildings and the features themselves. Employees or visitors may have invisible disabilities such as those related to noise, lighting and the use of scented products.

Highlights:

• In workplace accessibility, non-structural factors, like noise, lighting, and scented products, play a significant role. This understanding serves as the foundation for policies currently under development.
• Agency management and employees are strongly encouraged to adhere to the ENRCan departmental directive on “Scents in the Workplace”.
• ENRCan informs Agency employees of planned renovations and changes in the workplace, with efforts made to provide notice exceeding two weeks when possible. Information is disseminated through open communication channels, promoting collaboration among those impacted. Furthermore, scheduled modifications by ENRCan, including renovations, technological upgrades, and structural improvements, are typically arranged between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. to minimize disruptions.
• ENRCan is committed to maintaining an accessible working environment wherever possible. ENRCan’s initiative to improve accessibility in its buildings is structured with well-defined phases and an inclusive vision of accessibility. The initiative aims to make ENRCan’s occupied buildings as compliant as possible with accessibility standards while continuously improving their accessibility. ENRCan is pursuing a comprehensive vision of accessibility that considers the needs of everyone, whether they are apparent or invisible and their commitment remains a central element of our long-term mission.

Information and Communication Technologies

Summary

Accessibility in information and communication technologies has benefits for everyone; however, it is vital for many persons with diverse abilities. In a digital age in which every one of us relies on technology in one way or another to complete their work, inaccessible information and communication technology is a significant barrier to inclusion and productivity for persons with diverse abilities.

Highlights:

• Work is ongoing around enabling and promoting M365 accessibility features and other accessible tools. M365 is a cloud-powered productivity platform which includes programs commonly used by the department such as Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneDrive.

Communication, other than information and communication technologies

Summary

Accessible communication is an example of how accessibility is a universal concept. Every person in the Agency will benefit from concise and easy-to-understand communications. Clear communications both addresses barriers encountered by persons with visible and invisible disabilities and increases our effectiveness and productivity.

Highlights:

1. Centralizing accessibility information for internal use:
   • Accessibility information is located in one location within the Agency’s internal records system. This information is accessible to all Agency employees.
2. Examining and Updating the Agency external facing website
   • An assessment is underway to examine and update the Agency’s external website to centralize the information.

The design and delivery of programs and services

Summary

The Agency’s vision is to embed inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility into the culture of the agency. The Agency’s unique external programs and services should be inclusive by design, providing equal, barrier-free access to all Canadians interacting with our department.

Highlights:

• The Agency continues to work towards delivering workplace and external programs and practices that are accessible and inclusive by design—fostering a healthy, safe, fair work and service delivery environment.

The procurement of goods, services and facilities

Summary

The Agency seeks to facilitate and streamline procurement of accessible products and services, while supporting and educating business owners in their responsibility regarding accessible procurement. The Agency is supported in its procurement function by ENRCan, as set out in a service level agreement with ENRCan. Given the ramped down position of the Agency, currently, the Agency has very limited procurement activity with external business owners, with no active contracts in place.

Highlights:

• The Agency gathered information from other federal departments during the 2022-23 period involving procurement best practices

Transportation

Summary

As a regulator, the Agency has operational needs from time to time related to transportation and travel. Travel for meetings, conferences or events may require transportation involving commercial flights, vehicle rentals and accommodations. The Agency seeks to ensure transportation for employees on Agency related work is accessible and barrier-free to the extent permitted.

Highlights:

• The Agency gathered information from other federal departments during the 2022-23 period regarding accessibility matters arising from transportation, as the Agency did not undertake any work related travel during the 2022-23 period.

Lessons learned

For future reporting cycles, putting more consistent measures in place for re-enforcing accountability on accessibility matters, including any feedback received, is important.

An area of improvement would be to include ENRCan accessibility leaders in discussions more often regarding the Agency’s Accessibility Plan during the year to identify opportunities for the Agency to implement.

As the three-year plan continues to unfold, the Agency will revisit, and adjust or amend the commitments made in the original Agency Accessibility Plan annually. This will allow the Agency to better reflect the progress achieved by the organization and may identify shortfalls in any problem areas which have emerged since the inception of the plan.

Conclusion

The Agency’s Accessibility Plan is but a starting point in creating a workplace in which persons with diverse abilities are increasingly respected and considered and where they can flourish further. This first annual progress report reports on the progress that the Agency has achieved over a short period of time. There is still much work to do and maintaining forward progress is key to continued success and growth in the space of accessibility and accommodation.

The Agency recognizes that true accessibility and inclusion require action and commitment on an individual level, and we look forward to creating an agency that is accessible by default, celebrating and valuing the contributions of persons with diverse abilities in the work we do for Canadians.

General

The Agency invite members of the public who interact with our agency and our employees to provide feedback on accessibility barriers. This includes feedback on either the:

• way we are implementing the Northern Pipeline Agency Accessibility Plan 2022-2025 or,
• barriers encountered by our employees or people who interact with the Northern Pipeline Agency.

We can also provide the 2022-2025 Northern Pipeline Agency Accessibility Plan in alternate formats, including print, large print, Braille, audio and electronic. Use the following contact information to request an alternate format. We will respond to these requests within the timelines outlined by the Accessible Canada Act.

Members of the public

• For telephone feedback: 1-613-995-1150
• For electronic feedback: email infonpa-apn@npa-apn.gc.ca

Northern Pipeline Agency employees or other government agencies and departments

• For telephone feedback: 1-613-995-1150
• For electronic feedback: email infonpa-apn@npa-apn.gc.ca

Feedback by mail

Northern Pipeline Agency
Attention: Designated Accessibility Person
470 - 588 Booth Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y7

Feedback processes

The Agency aims to acknowledge receipt of all identified feedback within 15 business days. We will send this acknowledgement by the same means used to send the feedback.

Note that all feedback will be considered equally. Both anonymous and identified feedback will be included in progress reports and in regular updates for internal discussion. However, the Agency will not respond directly to anonymous feedback.

For more information on how feedback will be used, consult the Implementation and Monitoring portion of the Northern Pipeline Agency Accessibility Plan 2022-2025.

Designated person

Wayne Marshall
Director of Operations

Glossary

barrier: anything that hinders the full and equal participation in society of people with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation. This includes anything physical, environmental, architectural, technological or attitudinal that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice.

disability: any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment—or a functional limitation—whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.