Accessibility Standards Canada report discontinued

Summary#

The Order in Council Order in Council Directing that the Annual Report of the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization Be Discontinued: SI/2026-23 directs that the annual report required of the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization (CASDO), known as Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC), be discontinued. The decision, made under section 157 of the Financial Administration Act, says the annual report duplicates information already in ASC’s Departmental Results Report (DRR). The order was registered May 20, 2026 and issued as P.C. 2026-403 on April 30, 2026.

What it does#

• Ends the requirement that ASC submit the separate annual report called for by section 36 of the Accessible Canada Act.
• Relies on ASC’s Departmental Results Report (DRR) (a Part III Estimates document) as the source of the same performance and expenditure information that Parliament and the public already receive.
• Uses the authority in section 157 of the Financial Administration Act because the annual report contains the same or less information than the DRR or Public Accounts.
• Keeps the DRR as the document tabled in Parliament (by the President of the Treasury Board), so the public record of ASC’s performance remains available.

Who's affected#

• Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC) — it no longer needs to prepare and table the separate annual report under the Accessible Canada Act.
• Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff who used ASC’s annual report — they will rely on the DRR instead.
• Members of the public, disability advocates, and stakeholders who read ASC’s reports — they should find the same information in the DRR.
• Minister of Employment and Social Development and the President of the Treasury Board — officials involved in tabling reports in Parliament.

If it matters: the Gazette says both the annual report and the DRR were available on ASC’s website, so users should still be able to access the same material.

Why it matters#

• It removes a duplicate reporting requirement and is intended to save time and public resources.
• According to the order, transparency is not reduced because the DRR contains the same information.
• For most readers, the practical change is that there will be one official ASC report in Parliament (the DRR) instead of two separate documents.
• The government says no external consultations were needed because the availability of information to Parliament and the public is not affected.