Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada:
Accessibility Plan Progress Report 2024

General

As part of our ongoing commitment to inclusion and accessibility, and in keeping with the Accessible Canada Act, the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA) is continuing to provide accessible programs, services and environments to federally appointed judges. Key initiatives were identified in FJA’s Accessibility Plan to advance an equitable, inclusive and barrier-free access, whether in person or virtually.

Contact

Any feedback on this progress report or our accessibility plan can be addressed electronically at accessibility-accessibilite@fja-cmf.gc.ca.

If you would like an alternate format (print, large print or an electronic format that is compatible with adaptive technology that is intended to assist persons with disabilities) for our plan, our progress reports or any information on our Website, please contact us.

by email: accessibility-accessibilite@fja-cmf.gc.ca

by telephone: 613-995-5140 or 1-877-583-4266 (toll free)

by mail:
Office of the Commissioner
for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
99 Metcalfe Street, 8th floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1E3

Areas under Section 5 of the Accessible Canada Act

Employment

As a small department, FJA does not experience the same mobility in staffing actions as larger departments. However, we do have employees that have identified as being persons with a disability and we continue to work to increase their representation.

Action	Steps	Responsibility	Timeline
Barrier identification	Review current hiring policies and procedures	Director HR	Completed
Identify mitigation strategies	Make changes to policies and procedures	Director HR	Completed
Provide training to HR staff on accessibility	Provide training	Director HR	Completed

The built environment

As reported in its first accessibility plan, FJA occupies space in a property owned and maintained by the Government of Canada through Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). PSPC has worked in recent years to bringing the building up to code for accessibility purposes and ensuring that occupants and visitors have a seamless experience in accessing FJA and all areas of the building. As such, visitors and employees have availability to

• accessible washrooms on every floor,
• Braille options on floor signage and elevator buttons,
• main access doors fitted with passkeys and auto open/close functionality.

PSPC also retrofitted the building’s main lobby and elevator bays on each floor with accessible lighting in its commitment to a safe and accessible environment.

Action	Steps	Responsibility	Timeline
Identify mitigation strategies	Ensure ongoing mitigation measures are adequate and periodically reviewed	Chief Security Officer	Ongoing so as to meet guidance

Information and communications technologies

Since its first accessibility plan, FJA continued its work toward the Cloud, focusing on securing the platforms on which several business functions, including e-learning and virtual committee meetings, are being hosted. Priority was given to the transition from the current server-based platform (JUDICOM) to a cloud-based platform (JUDICLOUD), which was with the aim of enabling our judiciary and the judicial community we support to work from any mobile platform or device.

Action	Steps	Responsibility	Timeline
Ensure that applications developed in-house (including our Website) are accessible and usable	Leverage accessibility and usability standards (e.g. Web Experience Toolkit) for all development activities	Manager, IT Applications	Ongoing so as to meet evolving guidance
Provide users with Cloud technologies	Leverage Cloud-based platform technologies to develop and administer a new judicial intranet called JUDICLOUD, which provides judges with a secure and restricted work and communication system environment	Director, Information Systems Services Division	On-track to full onboarding by March 2025
Looking to enhance some areas of our Website with a new function	Analyze which areas of our Website have the most traffic before moving forward with implementation of the feature “Listen to this ...”	Deputy Commissioner and Director, Information Systems Services Division	Analysis expected by December 2025
Looking into onboarding the federal judicial application process to an online format	Assess current infrastructure to determine requirements for implementing an online federal judicial appointment process.	Deputy Commissioner, JAS Executive Director and Director, Information Systems Services Division	Analysis expected by March 2026

Procurement of goods, services and facilities

Action	Steps	Responsibility	Timeline
Accessibility training provided to Procurement officers to increase awareness of accessibility standards and potential barriers in the procurement process	Training	Director, Finance	Completed

Design and delivery of programs and services

FJA provides services to federally appointed judges. As such, we ensure to create and provide delivery of programs and services to that clientele while respecting key accessibility priorities as prescribed by the Government of Canada.

Training

No specific training in this area has been deemed to be required at this time. Our administration and accommodation personnel meet quarterly with representatives at PSPC to discuss and address requirements as needed.

Consultations and feedback

FJA has not received any external feedback and is currently working to address employees requests.

Conclusion

FJA continues to monitor the needs and requirements of its personnel and clients and will address these needs on a case-by-case basis with an eye to continuous improvement aimed at creating an environment that is diverse and inclusive.