1. General
Executive Summary
Ghost Transportation Services is a federally regulated employer and is governed by the Accessible Canada Act and Regulations, with the goal of making Canada barrier-free January 2040. This will be accomplished by identifying, removing, and preventing any barriers for people with disabilities.
We are committed to providing a barrier-free environment for all stakeholders, including clients, employees, job applicants, suppliers, and any visitors who enter the premises, access information provided by the company, or use the company’s goods and services. The company will work to identify and remove barriers, and prevent new barriers, for persons with disabilities as they relate to employment, communication, the built environment, and transportation at Ghost Transportation Services. This policy outlines the company’s accessibility plan and strategy for identifying, removing and preventing these barriers.
Accessibility Statement of Commitment
Ghost Transportation Services is committed to building a barrier-free environment and will continue to work towards removing existing barriers as we strive to understand and meet the needs of those with disabilities.
We will follow the principles of the Accessible Canada Act as outlined in Section 6:
- All persons must be treated with dignity regardless of their disabilities;
- All persons must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the lives that
they are able and wish to have regardless of their disabilities; - All persons must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society,
regardless of their disabilities; - All persons must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices,
with support if they desire, regardless of their disabilities; - Laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the
disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their
environments and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and
discrimination faced by persons; - Persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws,
policies, programs, services and structures; and - The development and revision of accessibility standards and the making of
regulations must be done with the objective of achieving the highest level of
accessibility for persons with disabilities.
How Information Was Gathered
To align with Ghost Transportation Services’ commitment to make our workplace environment accessible to all, the Accessibility Plan was developed in consultation with employees and disability rights organizations.
The feedback and input were gathered in several ways:
- Sending an employee survey focused on accessibility matters and support to all staff at Ghost Transportation Services.
- Conducting 1:1 interviews and questionnaires with people with disabilities and accessibility challenges.
- Engaging with external organizations through phone calls, emails and research supporting persons with disabilities to understand and seek recommendations for Ghost Transportation Services.
Organizations we consulted include:
- SaskAbilities
- Cosmo Industries
- Canada Association for Supported Employment
- Inclusion Canada
- Sarcan Recycling
Feedback Process and Contact Information
To request the Ghost Transportation Services Accessibility Plan or Feedback Process in an alternate format (print, large print, braille or audio) or to provide feedback on our Accessibility Plan, please contact:
Accessibility Specialist
Ghost Transportation Services
715E – 46th Street West
Saskatoon, SK S7L 6A1
EMAIL: accessibility@ghosttrans.com
Alternative Formats
You can request alternative formats of this Accessibility Plan by contacting: accessibility@ghosttrans.com. An electronic version of this Accessibility Plan can be downloaded immediately from our website.
Ghost Transportation Services will provide alternative formats as soon as possible. We commit to providing them within these timelines:
- Print & Large print (larger text): 20 days
- Braille (written language where people read by feeling raised dots with their fingertips): 45 days
- Audio (recording of someone reading the text out loud): 45 days
2. Areas Described Under the Accessible Canada Act
Employment
Ghost Transportation Services understand that improving workplace accessibility and ensuring an accessible recruitment and selection process for applicants with disabilities can contribute to a more diverse and welcoming workplace culture. The company makes every effort to identify, remove, and prevent barriers by developing inclusive employment procedures that support persons with disabilities
Barrier:
Job postings do not indicate that we can accommodate individuals with disabilities and therefore we are not attracting applicants from underrepresented populations such as persons with disabilities.
Actions:
Revise our website and job postings to indicate that we are an equal opportunity employer and that we are committed to inclusion in the workforce.
Barrier:
Employers/employees may have misconceptions about the capabilities of people with disabilities.
Actions:
Educate hiring managers on accessibility and how they can ensure a barrier-free hiring, selection and accommodation process.
Barrier:
Lack of awareness of how to act/communicate/understand people with disabilities in the workplace. This leads to people with disabilities being unable to develop a social connection with other employees.
Actions:
Provide disability awareness, communication and sensitivity training to employees and
managers.
The Built Environment
Barrier:
Some spaces within the office and facilities we operate may limit the mobility of employees and visitors with disabilities.
Actions:
Scan the office and facilities for barriers for accessibility. Determine priority areas and accessibility accommodations. Plan a phased approach for the accommodation implementation.
For all new site builds, create a policy to take accessibility into consideration.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
Barrier:
IT provider is not well versed in the accessibility technological tools and does not know how to assist persons with disabilities in the workplace.
Action:
Train IT employees to increase knowledge and learn how to adapt services.
Develop guidance and training documents for persons with disabilities (ex. Making items larger on a screen, activate reader in windows, activating close caption on Zoom, etc.).
Barrier:
The website may not be accessible to people with disabilities (WCAG 2.0).
Action:
Complete a website audit to determine areas that may not be accessible for persons with disabilities.
Develop a phased approach to mitigate accessibility issues.
Communication Other Than ICT
Barrier:
With the nature of the trucking industry, employees can work in remote areas and with limited time and/or access to email communications. Employees without easy email accessibility can miss company communication which can lead to unawareness of policies, processes and benefits which can be related to disability accommodations.
Actions:
The company will provide communications in a variety of methods, including meetings, conversations, and postings in areas where employees gather to ensure that important updates are received in a timely manner.
Barrier:
The Company does not have a consistent process to ensure alternate formats of communication.
Actions:
Identify service providers to create alternate formats, where appropriate and when needed. When asked, we commit to providing these alternate formats as soon as possible and within time frames listed in the Accessible Canada Regulations;
- large print
- braille
- audio format
- an electronic format that’s compatible with adaptive technology meant to help people with disabilities.
The Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities
Barrier:
Accessibility considerations are not fully embedded in procurement framework and tools.
Action:
Revise the procurement policy to reinforce that accessibility must be considered when procuring goods and services.
The Design and Delivery of Programs and Services
Barrier:
Currently, there is no standard approach for ensuring all programs, processes, and services have taken accessibility into account.
Action:
Develop and promote guidelines on how to apply the accessibility lens when reviewing company policies, programs and services.
Create an Accessibility Checklist to help ensure key accessibility considerations are considered.
Transportation
Ghost Transportation Services does not coordinate a transportation system or a fleet of transportation vehicles for people as defined in the Accessible Canada Act. Therefore the standards for transportation are not in the scope of this plan.
3. Definitions
Accessible, Accessibility, Accommodation, Barrier, Disability
Accessible: a place that is easily reached, an environment that is easily navigated, a program or service that can be easily used or obtained, script that is easily understood, technology that is usable for all. This includes areas or aspects of the environment that have been adapted for use by people with disabilities.
Accessibility: having the necessary conditions to reduce or eliminate the barriers that hinder the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. Accommodation: the modification of a work environment for an employee who is ill, injured, or has a disability so they can perform job functions safely and efficiently.
Barrier: anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice – that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.
Disability: any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment – or a functional limitation – whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.
4. Documents
The following documents about Ghost Transportation and accessibility can be freely downloaded.