Accessible Canada Act Compliance Checker
Federal organizations in Canada must identify and remove accessibility barriers. Scan your site against the ACA technical baseline.
What is ACA?
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA), passed in 2019, aims to make Canada barrier-free by 2040 for all federally regulated entities. This includes the federal government, Crown corporations, banks, telecommunications, transportation, and broadcasting sectors. The ACA requires accessibility plans, progress reports, and feedback mechanisms. While the ACA itself does not name WCAG directly, the Government of Canada's own Standard on Web Accessibility requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA for federal websites.
Who Needs to Comply?
- Federal government departments and agencies
- Crown corporations and federal boards
- Banks and federally regulated financial institutions
- Telecommunications companies (Bell, Rogers, Telus, etc.)
- Air, rail, marine, and interprovincial transport companies
- Broadcasting and cable companies regulated by the CRTC
Penalties for Non-Compliance
ACA Compliance: The Complete Guide
What Is the Accessible Canada Act?
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA), enacted June 21, 2019, is Canada’s federal accessibility legislation aiming for a barrier-free Canada by 2040. It covers federally regulated entities including government, Crown corporations, banks, telecoms, and inter-provincial transport.
Who Must Comply
- Federal government departments and agencies
- Crown corporations — Canada Post, CBC/Radio-Canada, VIA Rail
- Chartered banks — TD, RBC, BMO, etc.
- Telecommunications — Bell, Rogers, Telus
- Inter-provincial transport — airlines, railways, ferries
- Broadcasting undertakings
The ACA does not apply to provincially regulated businesses — those fall under provincial laws like Ontario’s AODA.
Key Requirements
Regulated entities must address accessibility across seven priority areas: employment, built environment, ICT, communication, procurement, program delivery, and transportation. For digital accessibility, the Government of Canada mandates WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Organizations must publish accessibility plans, establish feedback processes, and publish progress reports — all in accessible formats.
Enforcement and Penalties
The Accessibility Commissioner within the Canadian Human Rights Commission handles enforcement. Powers include compliance audits, compliance orders, and administrative monetary penalties up to $250,000 per violation. The Commissioner can also publicly name non-compliant organizations.
Common Violations
- Missing alt text on images and infographics
- Inaccessible PDFs — untagged documents
- Poor keyboard navigation
- Insufficient color contrast
- Missing form labels
- Video without captions
How wcagrepair Helps
For $8.99, get a remediation guide covering every WCAG 2.1 AA violation with specific code fixes, priority ranking, and conformance data suitable for your ACA accessibility plan and progress reports.
ACA Compliance FAQ
Who must comply with the Accessible Canada Act?
Federally regulated entities: federal government departments, Crown corporations (Canada Post, CBC), chartered banks, telecom companies, inter-provincial transport, airlines, and broadcasting undertakings. Provincially regulated businesses fall under provincial laws like AODA instead.
Is the ACA the same as AODA?
No. The ACA is federal legislation covering federally regulated entities across all of Canada. AODA is Ontario provincial legislation. An Ontario bank must comply with both. They share similar goals but have different scopes and enforcement mechanisms.
What WCAG level does the ACA require?
The Government of Canada’s Standard on Web Accessibility mandates WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The ACA statute itself doesn’t specify a WCAG version, but standards developed under it align with WCAG 2.1 AA.
What are the penalties for ACA non-compliance?
The Accessibility Commissioner can impose administrative monetary penalties of up to $250,000 per violation. Penalties are per instance, so multiple barriers mean cumulative fines. The Commissioner can also publicly name non-compliant organizations.
How Our Scanner Helps with ACA
Most accessibility laws reference the WCAG 2.1 AA standard as their technical baseline. Our scanner audits your site against WCAG 2.1 AA using axe-core — the same engine used by Google Lighthouse and Microsoft Accessibility Insights.
- Automated ACA audit mapped to WCAG 2.1 success criteria your regulation requires
- Severity breakdown by critical, major, and minor issues to prioritize remediation
- AI-generated remediation guide with copy-paste code fixes for every issue
- Ongoing monitoring to stay compliant as your site changes
- Downloadable compliance certificate showing your site's current audit status
Is Your Site ACA Compliant?
Find out in under 2 minutes — free.