CHF Canada on-line and downloadable documents

Barrier-free Access policy

1. Barrier-free Access

CHF Canada supports the full participation of people with disabilities in their housing co‑operatives.

2. CHF Canada’s Offices

CHF Canada will maintain offices that allow full access to people with disabilities.

3. Services to Members

CHF Canada will commit sufficient resources to ensure that people with disabilities, including those with sight and hearing impairments, have full access to all of the programs, events and services we deliver, host or sponsor.

4. Meetings and Events

CHF Canada will hold its meetings and other events in the facilities available in the chosen city that are most accessible to people with disabilities.

In consultation with groups representing people with disabilities, CHF Canada will train at least one staff member in accessibility issues. This staff member will be responsible for conducting accessibility audits of the facilities and plans for all major events, and for ensuring that they are fully accessible to people with different kinds of disabilities.

If the standard above cannot be met for any reason, CHF Canada will inform delegates well in advance of the meeting and will refund the registration fee for any delegates who may not be able to participate because the event is not accessible to them.

5. Video Reproductions

For the benefit of people who are deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing, CHF Canada will ensure that closed captions are a feature of at least two copies of any co‑op videos we may produce or distribute in the future.

6. Suppliers

CHF Canada will take the following steps to encourage barrier-free accessibility among its suppliers of goods and services:

• inform them regularly of the central place of barrier-free access in the values endorsed by CHF Canada and the co‑operative housing movement;
• advise them of steps CHF Canada is taking to make its events and services more accessible;
• ask them to describe in detail their own policies and practices that ensure barrier-free accessibility;
• recognize the most notable successes or progress of our suppliers in our communications media.

7. Members

CHF Canada will encourage barrier-free access among its members by

• publicizing this policy,
• urging members to adopt similar policies,
• making resources, such as materials for an accessibility audit, available to members,
• holding workshops at CHF Canada annual meetings on accessibility issues, and
• reporting periodically on the successes or progress of both CHF Canada and its suppliers.