What the rules require
The regulations, published in the Canada Gazette on December 17, 2025, require covered organizations to meet CAN/ASC-EN 301 549, the national standard for accessible technology. For websites, that standard builds on WCAG Level AA, the same guidelines I explain in WCAG accessibility basics. The rules apply to new and updated web pages, mobile apps, and downloadable documents like PDFs. Organizations must also publish an accessibility statement, train the staff who build or buy digital tools, and check that the software and services they buy are accessible. Penalties under the Act can reach $250,000. A few things are exempt, including archived historical content, comments and other content posted by users, and some maps and technical drawings.
Who is covered, and who is not yet
The rules cover the federal public sector and federally regulated private businesses with 100 or more employees, such as banks. Airlines and telecoms answer to their own regulators on accessibility. Training requirements start on December 5, 2027. Federal government websites must conform by the same date. Covered private businesses have until December 5, 2028 for websites, apps, and documents. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees are exempt. So are provincially regulated businesses, which is most shops, trades, and restaurants. Those answer to provincial rules like Ontario’s AODA or the Accessible British Columbia Act.
Why smaller businesses should care anyway
Three reasons. First, the requirements flow down. A bank or federal agency that must buy accessible products will ask its web designers, software vendors, and suppliers to prove their work conforms. If you sell to those organizations, accessibility becomes a line in the contract. Expect to be asked for an accessibility conformance report, a document showing how your product measures up against the standard, before you win the work.
Second, the bar is rising. In September 2026, Europe published an updated EN 301 549 that moves from WCAG 2.1 to WCAG 2.2. That adds six newer requirements, such as larger tap targets and logins that do not depend on memory puzzles. Canada’s standard is based on the European one, and the regulations point to its most recent version, so building to WCAG 2.2 now is the sensible target.
Third, provinces tend to follow Ottawa. BC is still developing its own standards, and a federal model now exists for them to borrow.
As a low vision user, I would add a fourth: these rules describe a site that simply works for more people. Building it in now costs far less than retrofitting it under a deadline.