Telefilm Canada (“Telefilm”) is a Partner of Choice for Canada’s screen-based industry. As such, we are committed to an industry that fosters a culture of mutual respect, dignity and inclusivity. We acknowledge that Canadian creators of underrepresented identities face greater challenges in obtaining funding, career development opportunities, training and education.

Telefilm is firmly committed to ensuring that creators with disabilities have better access to its financing programs. We also intend to better meet their overall accessibility needs when they interact with us. We will enhance the self-identification process, so we hire and promote more people living with disabilities. We will also help raise the visibility and capabilities of creators with disabilities.

We want Telefilm to be as accessible as possible to our employees, stakeholders and members of the public. We recognize that accessibility needs evolve over time, that disability is fluid—neither fixed nor permanent. When it comes to their own experience and to the issue of accessibility, people with disabilities are the experts. That is why we want people with disabilities—their experiences, their voices—to be at the centre of this work. We will continue to consult with people with disabilities and learn from their experiences. We will look for and address any future accessibility barriers. This plan is one part of our commitment to always do better for people living with disabilities—filmmakers, our employees, other members of Canada’s screen-based industry.

Telefilm was established in 1967 as a federal Crown corporation dedicated to enhancing the Canadian screen-based industry and supporting people in the audiovisual industry across Canada.

We do this in 3 ways:

• by providing funding to help filmmakers create their works
• through initiatives that help promote and spread awareness of Canadian productions and filmmakers
• by helping the industry work together and form partnerships to further promote the works of Canadian filmmakers and enhance the overall industry

Telefilm welcomes your comments and questions about our Accessibility Plan, including those submitted anonymously. We also welcome any feedback you might have about accessibility at Telefilm. We are committed to reviewing the feedback we receive and taking steps to address barriers identified through your comments and questions.

You can use the following communication channels to contact us.

An Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Advisor will acknowledge receipt of your feedback and follow up with you within 5 business days (unless you submitted a comment anonymously). Your comments or questions will then be forwarded to the appropriate department.

You can also use these communication channels to request our accessibility plan or progress reports in print, large print, Braille or audio format. 

You can request alternative formats of this Accessibility Plan by contacting us:

The Accessibility Plan is available in an electronic format compatible with assistive technology. It can be downloaded here.

Telefilm will provide other alternative formats upon request, based on the following delivery schedule (maximum number of days):

• print: 15 days
• large print (larger text): 15 days
• audio (a recording of someone reading the text out loud): 45 days
• Braille: 45 days

This plan uses the following definitions:

Disability: An impairment, or difference in physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning or communication ability. Disabilities can be permanent or temporary or can change over time.

Barrier: Anything that might prevent a person’s full and equal participation in society. Barriers can be based in attitudes, the built environment (for example, how office space is organized), technology, in how information is communicated. A barrier can also be the result of a policy or procedure.

Accessibility: The design of products, devices, services, environments, technologies, policies and rules in a way that allows all people, including people with a variety of disabilities, to access and use them, as independently as the person wishes.

Definitions source: Accessible Canada Act (justice.gc.ca)

Telefilm is committed to providing leadership training on accessibility and disability to all staff. Disability training will help us improve accessibility and develop accommodations in all aspects of our operations.

These are our organization-wide goals:

• Starting in 2023, Telefilm will begin to roll out training customized for each relevant department on accessibility, with a focus on how accessibility directly relates to job-specific tasks
• By the end of 2023, Telefilm will roll out training on disability awareness and accessibility for all existing and newly hired employees
• By the end of 2025, all managers with staffing responsibilities will have received mandatory disability training

Telefilm works with people in the audiovisual industry across Canada to support their productions. We also help promote their works at home and abroad—at awards galas, festivals, film markets and other industry events. We also work to enhance the audiovisual industry in Canada. We do this, in large part, by offering a range of services to filmmakers and to the broader screen-based industry.

These include:

• financing programs and industry initiatives
• initiatives to help filmmakers promote and market their projects
• partnership initiatives to further support the promotion and recognition of Canadian filmmaking projects

Because we work to meet the needs of Canadian audiovisual industry, we want to make sure our programs and services are as accessible as possible. We also recognize that barriers to accessing our programs and services exist. These barriers include a lack of financing opportunities and programs tailored to the needs of filmmakers with disabilities.

With that in mind, we set the following goals:

• By the end of 2023:
  • Telefilm will complete its first full intake process of collecting data around filmmakers and creators who receive Telefilm’s funding and who self-identify as having a disability
  • Once the data collection process is completed, Telefilm will use the data to consider specific measures that should be taken to support filmmakers with disabilities
  • Telefilm will consult people in the audiovisual industry with disabilities, and related-organizations to pinpoint other barriers to funding and identify potential solutions
• By the end of 2024, Telefilm will explore the feasibility of establishing funding mechanisms specifically for filmmakers with disabilities

Telefilm’s head office is in Montréal, with additional offices in Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver. Employees, clients, suppliers and business partners use our offices, which we have made accessible in several ways. This includes providing adapted workstations and installing a lift where applicable.

Our offices have not been audited for accessibility. However, we are aware of barriers that make access to our offices more difficult. For example, the main entrance to the Montréal office is not easily accessible for persons with disabilities, however, there is an accessible entrance for people with disabilities in the back of the building. Also, navigating the inside of the Toronto office can also be difficult for some.

Our goal is to improve accessibility of our build environment, as described in the following:

• In 2023, Telefilm will conduct an accessibility audit of its offices to identify needed improvements
• By June 2023, Telefilm will establish 1 or more “quiet workspaces” in the Montréal office where employees can work if they need a break from the open-plan office
• By the end of 2023, Telefilm will:
  • consider changes to the kitchen areas in the offices, where applicable, to ensure they are accessible to employees with mobility-related disabilities
  • making relevant changes that are high priority with low-cost
  • revise our emergency evacuation plan
• By the end of 2024, Telefilm will develop a plan for addressing major office changes that have been identified

As office leases expire, Telefilm will look at leasing space that is as accessible as possible. This will be done in consultation with employees who have disabilities and with accessibility advisors

Telefilm employs more than 200 staff across our 4 offices, most of whom work at office-based jobs. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of employees have been working remotely and coming into our offices occasionally. Working from home can eliminate barriers for many people.

We have established a formal accommodations process to improve accessibility to our workspaces for employees living with disabilities. However, we know that accessibility barriers continue to exist. Also, we do not consistently offer accommodations to job applicants and new employees during recruitment and onboarding processes. Our aim is to improve accessibility for employees and applicants with disabilities.

Our ultimate objective is to ensure that more people with disabilities work at Telefilm. To this end, we plan to do the following:

• By the end of 2023, Telefilm will:
  • launch a communication tool to ensure that all employees living with disabilities know how to self-identify; we will also ensure that all disclosures are kept confidential
  • add a statement to our careers page encouraging people with disabilities to apply for a job at Telefilm
  • ensure that we offer accommodations to all candidates at each step of the recruitment process
  • review our onboarding processes to ensure that all new employees are offered accommodations before their first day at Telefilm and as part of the onboarding process
  • update the Telefilm onboarding guide distributed to new employees; the updated guide will include information about the accommodations process in the section about meeting with human resources
• By the end of 2024, Telefilm will conduct a review of our online application system to identify barriers to employment for people with disabilities

Telefilm uses a variety of technologies and digital tools to conduct its business. These include our public websites (https://thetalentfund.ca, https://telefilm.ca and https://rdvcanada.ca), online portal for applicants (Dialogue) and social media platforms. We have worked to make our technologies accessible for everyone, for example by following international web standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0) to improve the accessibility of our public website.

We recognize, however, that we can make further improvements. For instance, we need to conduct user testing of our website and our online portal, Dialogue, to identify any barriers to navigation.

We have set the following goals to address these barriers and improve accessibility:

• Starting in 2023, all IT staff members, including the digital and web teams will receive training on supporting digital accessibility
• By the end of 2023-2024, Telefilm will address and remove accessibility barriers related to graphic design on our public website (for example, colour contrast, adjustable text size, the use of alternative text on images). These barriers were identified through consultation with people who have disabilities
• By the end of 2023, Telefilm will review Dialogue to remove identified barriers (to the extent this is technically feasible)
• By the beginning of 2024, Telefilm will ask people with disabilities who use assistive technologies to test our website to find any additional barriers to accessibility. By the end of 2025, our online portal will undergo the same kind of testing

Telefilm communicates with Canadian people in the audiovisual industry and the public in a variety of ways. These include news releases, advisories, videos, FAQs and social media posts. Our communication provides essential information on the work we do to support filmmakers in the creation and promotion of their projects. We inform them, for example, of funding opportunities, promotion opportunities and partnerships—in Canada and abroad.

Telefilm also welcomes comments and questions from members of the public, who can contact us by phone, email, mail or social media.

 In our consultations with people with disabilities, we identified several barriers in our communication channels. For example:

• The images and videos we post do not always offer alternative text or captions
• There is no existing process in place to respond to requests for materials in alternative formats
• There is no clear information about who at Telefilm filmmakers can contact for support

We are committed to addressing these barriers and improving accessibility in our communication. To this end:

• At the start of 2023:
  • All social media images will be appropriately labeled with alternative text
  • Telefilm will conduct an accessibility review of our internal document templates to identify changes that need to be made
  • All new videos that Telefilm creates will include captions and transcripts generated by artificial intelligence and reviewed by staff. By 2024, new videos will include human-generated captions and transcripts, whenever possible
• By March 2023, processes will be in place to provide users with documents in alternative formats
• By the end of 2023:
  • Telefilm will create a frequently asked questions (FAQs) web page for clients, partners and creators seeking accommodation for disability needs. Among other things, these FAQs will provide information on specific Telefilm employees that stakeholders and filmmakers with disabilities can contact.
  • Telefilm will consult clients/ partners/ people in the audiovisual industry with disabilities to identify other barriers to funding programs
  • Telefilm will gather information and implement best practices to maximize accessibility on each platform according to the platform’s capabilities.
  • We will identify older but high-priority PDFs that should be made available in an alternative format
• In 2024, Telefilm will prioritize relevant older PDFs that were distributed to the public. By the end of 2024, relevant older but high-priority PDFs will also be made available in accessible HTML and Microsoft Word formats
• By the end of 2024:
  • All new website content and documents will be written in plain language
  • Telefilm will ensure that communications standard practices are updated to include standards for plain language
  • Telefilm will identify high-priority content on the website that is not in plain language. Documents that cannot be written in plain language will have a plain language alternative
  • Telefilm will update internal templates for accessibility

By the end of 2025, Telefilm will update high-priority content to ensure it is written in plain language.

Telefilm uses applications, goods and services purchased from external vendors to support its operations and services. As part of our broader accessibility initiatives, Telefilm will identify and assess to include accessibility in our formal procurement process for buying goods and services.

Our goals are:

• By September 2023, Telefilm will identify and assess best practices to include accessibility considerations into procurement processes and activities
• By December 2023, relevant staff responsible for procurement will receive training on how to support other Telefilm departments make accessibility a part of procurement activities
• From October 2024, Telefilm will assess feasibility for monitoring whether accessibility considerations in procurement activities comply with best practices
• By December 2025, Telefilm will ensure that best practices for accessibility are embedded in the development or procurement of IT goods and services. We will request and review “accessibility compliance reports” when purchasing technology