The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, today issued the following statement:
"On this day, ten years ago, Canada made a significant step forward on its journey to build a more accessible and inclusive country by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). The Convention is an international human rights instrument that requires State Parties to promote, protect and ensure the rights of persons with disabilities.
Our commitment to the Convention has never been stronger, and is reflected in our close collaboration with provincial/territorial governments and our civil society and international partners. The Government of Canada is delivering on the implementation of its obligations under the UNCRPD as we continue to strengthen our approach to disability rights, inclusion, and accessibility in our rapidly changing world.
In December 2018, the Government of Canada achieved another important milestone when Canada acceded to the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD. By acceding to the Protocol, persons with disabilities have access to additional protection and to additional recourse, if they believe that their rights under the Convention have been violated.
We have also put in place other tangible measures to support the full participation of persons with disabilities in society. We developed, and are in the process of implementing, the Accessible Canada Act, Canada's first national accessibility law. This historic legislation, which came into force in July 2019, enhances our federal human rights framework by seeking to create a barrier-free Canada, through the proactive identification, removal and prevention of accessibility barriers. The Act also designates the Canadian Human Rights Commission to be responsible for monitoring the Government of Canada's implementation of the UNCRPD.
The first official visit to Canada by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in April 2019 provided an opportunity for Canada to underscore its efforts to advance the rights of persons with disabilities and helped to identify gaps, as well as good practices and areas for improvement in Canada. The Government of Canada also provided funding to the disability community for activities related to the implementation of the UNCRPD, including the disability community's engagement in the monitoring of the Convention as we prepare for our next report to the United Nations.
As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of Canada's ratification of the UNCRPD, we celebrate the strides we have made in disability inclusion and acknowledge the work that still needs to be done, and affirm our unwavering commitment to the protection and inclusion of persons with disabilities."
