Accessibility Plan

Tisdale Bus Lines is committed to building a culture of inclusivity and accessibility. Not only is this part of our company culture but opening access to all is imperative to our continued growth and competitiveness as an employer in the transportation sector. We will contribute to a barrier-free Canada for everyone by building an accessibility framework that will support employees and the public we serve have the best experience possible with our services, products, and facilities.

We know creating a barrier-free environment takes time and we are dedicated to the ongoing identification, removal, and prevention of barriers. Tisdale Bus Lines will build on our current efforts through the development of our initial Accessibility Plan as required under the Accessible Canada Act.

This Accessibility Plan will guide our organization in meeting our accessibility commitments and in building an accessibility-confident culture.

To address gaps in these areas, it is important to recognize and understand the needs of those with disabilities. For this reason, this plan was developed in consultation with employees who identify as having a disability via employee surveys and 1-on-1 interviews as needed.

A summary of initial opportunities

• Improving the attraction of persons with disabilities to jobs in our company and the transportation sector.
• Expanding the range and options for accommodation, especially for drivers.
• Being better prepared to provide information in accessible formats when requested.
• Improving the knowledge of our team and leveraging the capabilities of accessibility features in current and future IT equipment, programs, and systems.
• Initiating processes where there is a more thorough review and a “through an accessibility lens” approach to the assessment of facilities, procurement procedures, company programs, new initiatives, and on-going services.

Feedback

The company welcomes any feedback from the public. Any feedback or questions regarding this plan or requests for copies of the accessibility plan in an alternative format can be addressed to the following designated company representative:

Statement of Commitment

At Tisdale Bus Lines we are committed to making our organization and the services we provide accessible to all, including persons with disabilities. All Canadians have the right to benefit from our services equally and those who work with us have the right to perform their jobs free of barriers.

Reporting Our Plan

As required by the Accessible Canada Act, we will publish a status report every year that measures our progress against our commitments. We will also review and update our Accessibility Plan every three years. Progress Reports and updates to our Accessibility Plan will be shaped by consultation with persons with disabilities.

This Plan identifies key barriers to accessibility and provides actions that aim to remove or prevent these barriers in the following areas:

• Employment
• Built environment
• Information and communication technologies
• Communication other than ICT
• Procurement of goods, services and facilities
• Design and delivery of programs and services
• Transportation

We gathered feedback and input from our team members by employing a company-wide confidential survey regarding any barriers they might face while doing their job. All employees indicated they can perform their job duties, but we discovered that some people have faced barriers in the workplace, and a small percentage indicated they have a disability or issues they manage. The survey has given the company baseline information about the barriers its employees face and will look to improve accessibility of current and future employees.

We will continue to survey employees, including those with disabilities and any working groups that may develop as part of this Accessibility Plan, to measure progress and ensure that we realize the changes we have set out to achieve.

Employment

The “employment” area ensures that candidates and employees with disabilities and those who experience barriers are supported throughout the entire employment lifecycle.

Barrier: Attracting applicants with disabilities

Our company continues to face competition for employees and currently is not attracting enough applicants from underrepresented populations such as persons with disabilities.

Actions:

• Provide training to hiring managers on accessibility legislation, best practices for inclusive recruitment, and how to implement a barrier-free hiring process.
• Benchmark current recruitment, selection, and onboarding practices against leading accessibility practices.

Barrier: Accommodation options

There is a need to expand our understanding of the range and variety of accommodation options available to persons with disabilities.

Actions:

• Develop a framework that helps managers understand their responsibilities in the accommodation process and guides them in supporting their employees and implementing suitable workplace adjustments.
• Implement training regarding the Accommodation Policy, roles, and responsibilities for staff in management roles.
• Establish processes and resources for members of staff who are seeking accommodation(s) requests.
• Once accommodation requests are fulfilled, establish benchmarks to follow up with the person(s) with disabilities to make sure they have the materials, equipment, and support needed to do their jobs.

Built Environment

The “built environment” area ensures that workspaces and the work environment are accessible for all.

Barrier: Signage accessibility

Signage in our buildings and yards is not accessible for people with low vision.

Actions:

• Install signs with tactile and Braille text in key locations throughout buildings. This includes tactile walking surface indicators to warn of hazards, including the tops of stairways.
• Improve illumination of current signs regarding safety and direction indicators.

Information and Communication Technologies

“Information and communication technologies” are various technological tools used to send, store, create, share, or exchange information. A work team consisting of managers, drivers, and persons with disabilities will assess and identify options for a wider range and variety of potential accommodations.

Barrier: Staff training on accessibility features

Staff may require additional training on accessibility features in commonly used technologies to better assist persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Actions:

• Train employees and management through our current online training platform to increase their accessibility knowledge and learn how to adapt services and improve interactions with persons with disabilities.
• Develop and promote guidance and training documents for persons with disabilities (e.g., making items larger on a screen, activating reader on MS Word, activating closed captioning on MS Teams, etc.).

Barrier: Tools not used accessibly

Some of the tools and software used in the company have accessibility capabilities that may not be being used in an accessible way.

Actions:

• Take an inventory of IT systems used by the company to measure accessibility capabilities.
• Progressively introduce new accessibility functionality to IT systems.

Communication Other Than ICT

This area requires that organizations provide barrier-free access for the public, clients, and employees to all the communications that the Company produces for this audience.

Barrier: Alternate formats

The Company does not have a consistent process to ensure alternate formats of communication that it issues to employees and other stakeholders are available and provided in a timely manner.

Actions:

• Identify service providers and develop contracts or agreements to create alternate formats, where appropriate and when needed.
• Prepare standard resources and commonly issued company communication in alternative formats so that they are ready to be distributed upon request.
• When asked, we commit to providing these alternate formats as soon as possible and within time frames listed in the Accessible Canada Regulations: Accessible formats including print, large print, Braille, audio, and electronic.

Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities

The “procuring (buying) goods, services and facilities” area ensures that accessibility is considered at the beginning of the buying process.

Barrier: Procurement procedures

Tisdale Bus Lines’ procurement procedures and practices do not take into consideration accessibility requirements.

Actions:

• Update procurement procedures to include accessibility checks when buying goods and services.
• Include accessibility considerations into procurement templates (e.g., requests for proposals) so that they inform the selection of external vendors, products and services and confirms that they will abide by the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act.

Design and Delivery of Programs and Services

When designing and delivering the Company’s internal and external programs and services, accessibility considerations must be part of the process right from the very start.

Barrier: No standard accessibility approach

Currently there is no standard approach for ensuring all programs, processes and services have taken accessibility into account.

Actions:

• Leverage the mandatory requirement to consult with persons with disabilities by creating a forum consisting of employees from various departments including drivers, mechanics, HR, finance, etc., to review and provide feedback on all programs, processes, policies, and services.
• Develop and promote guidelines on how to apply the accessibility lens when reviewing company policies, programs, and services.
• Create an Accessibility Checklist to help ensure key accessibility considerations are considered.
• Provide training on the Accessible Canada Act and Accessible Canada Regulations for those whose role is to develop programs, processes, and procedures.

Barrier: Hesitation to self-identify

Feedback from the company-wide survey showed that some people do identify as a person with a disability and have faced barriers but have not come forward with the issue.

Actions:

• Continue to address the gaps in reporting from surveys by improving policy and training to encourage staff to report barriers to management.
• Keep company-wide surveys up to date with new standards as appropriate for self-identification.

Transportation

One area of focus in the Accessible Canada Act covers the transport of people and goods. Vehicles that are used by organizations and regulated by the federal government must take into consideration barriers to operation and provide accommodation to the employee operating the vehicles as needed.

Barrier: Dawn, dusk, and nighttime driving

Tisdale Bus Lines is currently limited in the options that it provides for employees that experience challenges and concerns with driving during dawn, dusk, or nighttime driving.

Actions:

• Identify and implement dispatching that will accommodate and/or shorten driving hours to align with dawn and dusk hours.

Consultation

To align with Tisdale Bus Lines’ commitment to make our workplace environment accessible to all, we have developed our Accessibility Plan and progress report in consultation with our employees. Tisdale specifically consulted with a person with hearing loss from outside the organization for this report. Tisdale has not received any information through the feedback process either from the public or employees in the past year.

Definitions

Accessibility

Refers to the needs of persons with disabilities being intentionally and thoughtfully considered when products, services, and facilities are built or modified so they can be used and enjoyed by all.

Barrier

The Accessible Canada Act defines a barrier as “anything—including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice—that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.”

Disability

The Accessible Canada Act defines a disability as “any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication, or sensory impairment—or a functional limitation—whether permanent, temporary, or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.”

While Tisdale Bus Lines will use this term, we do recognize that individuals who self-identify as having a disability or as disabled may use different terminology, and that individuals who identify with certain communities—such as some people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or neurodivergent—may not identify as having a disability.