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• Make a communication access card

You can email, mail or distribute a short description of CAN

• Your colleagues
• Pertinent newsletters
• Key sectors in your community
• You can also request and distribute brochures and Communication Access postcards to community businesses and services (contact your regional coordinator)

You can host information sessions about CAN at:

• Your work place
• In your community

Please engage people with communication disabilities in your presentations.

The following CAN resources are available for you to use:

• CAN Powerpoint presentations
• Video
• CAN brochures and posters.  Request these from your regional coordinator

Please contact your regional coordinator if you plan to invite dignitaries and media to your event.

People with communication disabilities and their families can be the greatest agents of change in improving how businesses and services communicate with them.

You can support them to:

• know about their accessibility rights
• define their communication access requirements in different situations
• make a communication access card which tells people about their specific communication access needs in different settings
• understand their responsibilities in negotiating accessibility
• learn to communicate their accessibility needs within different settings
• know what to do if their rights are ignored

The toolkit for people with communication disabilities contains resources on the above topics.

• Connect with your CAN regional coordinator
• Join the CAN community on Facebook
• Participate in CAN events
• Support your clients in negotiating their rights
• Host an information session
• Spread the CAN message in your community

In Canada, everyone has a legal right to equal access to goods, services and opportunities.

Businesses and organizations are obliged to make their services accessible to their customers, clients and patients.

Some disability groups are benefiting from this legislation. They are defining their accessibility needs and educating organizations about accessibility.

However, the accessibility needs of people with communication disabilities are not well understood or represented in existing legislation or educational programs.

CAN aims to raise awareness about communication access so that people with communication disabilities can have full and meaningful access to all businesses, organizations and services within their communities.

CAN is operated by Communication Disabilities Access Canada (CDAC) with a funding contribution from the Government of Canada’s Disability Component of Social Development Partnerships Program.

1. Access to goods and services includes effective communication.
2. The majority of businesses and organizations can do simple things to make their services accessible to people with speech and language disabilities.
3. Essential services (e.g. healthcare, emergency and justice services), where communication is critical, require protocols and support services to ensure people with speech and language disabilities can effectively communicate.

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