Every community in Ontario must comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which hopes to make the province fully accessible by 2025. The first step in this process is the Customer Service Standard which must be in place in all areas by January of 2012.
The city of Timmins is taking their compliance very seriously and held a workshop on October 4, which was designed to help all businesses understand just what steps they had to take. The two guest speakers, Elaine Austin and David Foster discussed the benefits of businesses hiring the disabled and how making their businesses more accessible will bring them more business. They also discussed what businesses have to do to be compliant and what penalties await them if they don’t cooperate.
The next AODA workshop will take place today, October 19, at the Timmins Police Station. This week is being touted as a Small Business Week event and will be hosted by Louis DiPalma. It is a free workshop presented by Accessibility Works that also offers a free online compliance toolkit. A printing company has provided a colourful and informative poster advertising the event sponsored by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
It is in every businesses best interest to comply with the AODA Customer Service Standard, not only because they can face legal punishment but because it is good for business. There are currently over one million residents of Ontario who have disabilities and their spending power has been estimated at $25 billion. By being fully compliant, your business will receive more attention and your profits will most likely rise.
