with Disabilities Act (AODA)

OCAD University is committed to improving access to its premises, facilities and services for all members of our community. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005)) requires OCAD U  to identify barriers to access for persons with disabilities and to develop annual accessibility plans to remove identified barriers. The university's accessibility plans are steered by OCAD U's Accessibility Sub-Committee and are made public.

  • Transformative Human Rights Based Organizational Change (content to come in September 2024)
  • Policy and Planning
  • 2022 - 2028 Accessibility Plan: Equity, Accessibility and inclusive design is an institutional priority within the OCAD U 2022-2028 Academic & Strategic Plan
  • AODA Law and Compliance: OCAD University provides mandatory Accessible Customer Service training to all employees, volunteers and third parties/contractors.
  • AODA and Human Rights Code Training
  • To learn more about your human rights in Ontario, explore the following eLearnings offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission:
    • Human Rights 101: Learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code in this approximately 30-minute course.
    • Duty to Accommodate: Learn about what accommodating means, why it's important to remove barriers, about rights and responsibilities for accommodating, and the principles for accommodation in this approximately 20–30-minute module.
    • Working Together: Learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Code and the AODA and how they affect you at work, in services and housing in this 5 part approximately 20-minute series.
  • Accessibility Council (content to come in September 2024)
  • Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting
  • OCAD U Announces Adoption of Facility Accessibility Design Standards (FADS) for All Construction and Renovation Projects

When we design for the diversity of lived-experience and abilities, everyone is welcomed to participate more fully in campus life. Universal and inclusive design principles aim for our community to reach their potential in the best ways as possible. 

OCAD University's Board of Governors approved the Facility Accessibility Design Standards (FADS) as a continued demonstration of OCAD U’s institutional commitment to eliminating and preventing barriers experienced by persons with disabilities. These standards provide well-established, international best practices for accessibility and universal design to ensure that the design of products and environments are usable by all, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for modification or adaptive design. 

The FADS highlight and comply with accessibility requirements set out by the Ontario Building Code and the 2016 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Design of Public Spaces Standards, and are an excellent example for institutions locally and around the nation as they address the goal of an accessible Canada.

The FADS provide practical examples of design solutions that optimize accessibility that will now be used by OCAD U administration, as well as contracted firms, when designing and administering all construction and renovation projects associated with new facilities, as well as the retrofit, alteration or addition to existing facilities. Designing and constructing to this standard will also be included as a mandatory requirement in all OCAD University request for proposals, tender documents, and construction contracts.