Guide
The December 31, 2026 deadline
The date is set by the regulation's three-year cycle for businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees in Ontario. Here is where it comes from, who it covers, and what to do between now and then.
Where the date comes from
Section 86.1(3) of O. Reg. 191/11 sets the reporting schedule. Businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees file every three years after the report due December 31, 2014; organizations with 20 to 49 employees follow the same three-year schedule, reporting on customer service only. That gives 2017, 2020, 2023 and 2026; the next would be 2029 (our calculation). Ontario's page confirms the December 31, 2026 date for both groups.
Who it covers, and who it does not
- Covered: businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees in Ontario.
- Not covered: businesses and non-profits with 1 to 19 employees (no report), and designated public sector organizations (two-year cycle; their last report was due December 31, 2025).
What to do before the date
- Confirm your size by counting employees in Ontario (full-time, part-time, seasonal, contract; not volunteers or contractors).
- Check each duty behind the form's question or questions: customer service for everyone; and for 50 or more, the general section, information and communications, employment and public spaces too.
- Fix what can be fixed: at 50 or more, the written documents are the quickest; at every size, training and the feedback process.
- Gather the facts for the form: legal name, BN9, employee count, address, NAICS, certifier.
- File on Ontario's portal, with your certifier's details, and then make the report public (AODA s. 14(2)).
If you cannot honestly answer Yes by the date
File anyway, truthfully. The form accepts No and asks you to tick what is missing; the comment box lets you say what is under way. An honest No with a plan is a normal outcome. A Yes that the evidence does not support is the thing to avoid: the certifier is certifying its accuracy.
Enforcement, in one sentence
Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, inspectors may check compliance (Part IV, ss. 18 to 20), and a director may order an organization to file its report or comply with a standard, and may order an administrative penalty (Part V, s. 21). That is the whole of what we will say about it; the useful work is in the list above.
The free check confirms your row and lists what applies. The paid report grades each standard, drafts the documents your size calls for, and walks you through the form's questions so filing takes minutes. Pricing.
Sources
- O. Reg. 191/11, s. 86.1.
- Ontario: Completing your accessibility compliance report.
- AODA, 2005, ss. 14 and 15; Part IV, ss. 18 to 20 (inspections); Part V, s. 21 (orders and administrative penalties).
Not legal advice. The regulation on e-Laws prevails.