Overview

Canada’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan is a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to disability inclusion. It embeds disability considerations across our programs while identifying targeted investments in key areas to drive change. It builds on existing programs and measures that have sought to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities, and establishes new and meaningful actions.

Guiding principles

Canada’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan is guided by the principles laid out in the Accessible Canada Act, including:

“Nothing Without Us”

Persons with disabilities need to be involved in the development and implementation of all government systems, policies, programs and services.

Human rights-based approach

Human rights principles need to guide the development and implementation of our systems, programs and processes, including the principles of equality, anti-discrimination, participation, and inclusion.

Intersectionality

Government systems, policies, programs and services must take into account:

• the different ways that persons interact with their environments and,
• the multiple, and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by individuals

Objectives

The Disability Inclusion Action Plan has 5 key objectives:

1. improve the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities
2. reduce poverty among persons with disabilities
3. achieve the Accessible Canada Act goal of a barrier-free Canada by 2040
4. develop a consistent approach to disability inclusion across the Government of Canada and make it easier for persons with disabilities to access federal programs and services, and
5. foster a culture of disability inclusion