AODA enforcement: how it works, from a director’s request to an appeal

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The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) sets out a step-by-step enforcement process with notice, a chance to respond, and a right of appeal. This page walks through it in order. It does not list penalty amounts.

Why we do not lead with amounts

Penalty amounts are set by regulation and depend on the facts, and as our methodology explains, we do not publish them as marketing. The reason to meet the rules is that a director, senior officer or other person who can bind your organization certifies your report and people with disabilities rely on what the rules require.

How the government describes its approach

The government’s reporting page says compliance and enforcement include requiring reports, auditing and inspecting, and enforcing “where appropriate (for example, in situations where organizations avoid meeting their legal obligations).”

The steps in the Act

1. Reports and requests. A director may review an accessibility report (s. 16) and may ask an organization for reports or information (s. 17).
2. Inspections. Inspectors may inspect to check compliance (ss. 18, 19).
3. Notice first. Before making any order, a director must give notice of the proposed order and the steps needed to comply, and you may make written submissions within 30 days of receiving the notice, or a longer time the director allows (s. 22).
4. Orders. If a director concludes the reporting rules were not met, the order may require you to file the report or provide information within a set time, and may include an administrative penalty (s. 21(3)). If a standard was not met, the order may require you to comply within a set time, and may include an administrative penalty (s. 21(4)). The director may extend the time to comply (s. 21(4.1)).
5. Review. A director may review an order and vary or rescind it (s. 25). Under the regulation, you ask in writing within 30 days, a different director does the review, and a penalty can be reduced on review but not increased (O. Reg. 191/11 s. 84).
6. Appeal. You may appeal an order to the Tribunal within 15 days after it is made (s. 27(1)). The Tribunal is the Licence Appeal Tribunal (O. Reg. 191/11 s. 86). Hearings are in writing unless there is good reason for an oral hearing (s. 27), and the Tribunal may offer mediation if the parties agree (s. 28). A requirement to pay a penalty is stayed while an appeal is decided (s. 23).

What an administrative penalty is for

The Act says a penalty may be ordered to encourage compliance, to stop an organization from gaining an economic benefit from not complying, and to recover the costs of enforcement (s. 21(6)). The regulation has the director weigh the severity of the contravention, the organization’s history of contraventions, and whether it is a corporation, an individual or an unincorporated organization. Failing an administrative requirement is ranked “minor” (O. Reg. 191/11 s. 83).

Offences

Separate from administrative penalties, the Act makes three things offences: giving false or misleading information in a report or to a director, not complying with an order, and obstructing an inspection or penalizing someone for seeking enforcement or co-operating with it (s. 37(1)). Directors and officers of a corporation must take all reasonable care to prevent the corporation from committing an offence (s. 37(4)). The practical point: answer the report honestly. A “no” is permitted; a “yes” that is not true is not.

If you are behind

The Act does not set a grace period. If you missed the date or are missing documents, put the missing pieces in place, file, and keep a record of what you did and when. If a director contacts you, the process above gives you notice and a chance to respond before any order.

Sources

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (ss. 16–28 enforcement and appeals; s. 37 offences)
• O. Reg. 191/11, Integrated Accessibility Standards (ss. 83–86 administrative penalties, review, Tribunal)
• Completing your accessibility compliance report (ontario.ca, “Compliance and enforcement”)