Accessibility

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), accessibility standards regarding customer service, employment, transportation, information and communications have been developed to create a more accessible and barrier-free Ontario. AODA standards require organizations to establish a culture of accessibility where persons with disabilities are provided goods and services in a manner that honours their dignity, independence and right to equal opportunity.

St . Jerome's University's Accessibility Commitment

St. Jerome's is dedicated to making certain its policies, practices, and procedures align with AODA standards and will continue to make every reasonable effort to remove and prevent accessibility barriers.

When visiting the St. Jerome's campus, persons with disabilities can expect the following courtesies:

  • A person's disability will be taken into consideration when being communicated with.
  • Service animals and support persons are welcome on campus and within the facilities.
  • Assisted devices are permitted for use by persons with disabilities. St. Jerome's University employees are also available for assistance.
  • Upon request, accessible formats or communication supports will be provided or arranged for persons with disabilities.
  • Notifications pertaining to service disruptions will be placed upon the SJU website as well as posted directly within the facilities.
  • All employees and student leaders will receive training regarding AODA standards.

The University's policy, Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Policy, outlines its commitment to an accessible campus.

Mail to rjrobson@uwaterloo.ca

Accessibility
Compliance Report
(2025)

*accessible version is available upon request

Accessibility (AODA) Act in Action (2026-2029)

Statement of Commitment to Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

St. Jerome’s University, federated with the University of Waterloo, is committed to providing an accessible environment to all staff, faculty, students, tenants and visitors. The university is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities (both visible and invisible) are able to participate in and have access to its programs, services and facilities.

St. Jerome’s University honors the obligations set by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and related regulations, Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR).

As a Federated University of University of Waterloo, St. Jerome’s students graduate with Waterloo degrees. As such, our efforts to make the campus more inclusive and accessible are necessarily tied to those of the University of Waterloo. St. Jerome’s University works with the University of Waterloo to ensure compliance with AODA and related regulations, and to provide access.

St. Jerome’s University has set forth a Multi-Year Accessibility Plan (Plan) to ensure ongoing compliance with AODA while ensuring that accessibility and inclusion are top of mind for operations. The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan is intended to support and align with commitments within our federated institution at the University of Waterloo and outlines our priorities regarding accessibility. The Plan is aligned with our Strategic Plan and our commitment to building an equitable, diverse, inclusive and just community where all are welcome. The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan will be updated by August 31, 2029 and subsequently by August 31 every five years thereafter.

St. Jerome's University's Multi-Year AODA Accessibility Plan

Annual Status Report 2026

Introduction

St. Jerome’s University is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities may participate in an inclusive study and work environment that respects individuals’ dignity, independence and integration, and provides equal opportunity in a timely manner. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Integrated Accessibility Standards inform an ongoing collaborative effort from across the university to advance an accessible and inclusive environment.

St. Jerome’s University has established a multi-year accessibility plan to prevent and remove barriers to accessibility. The purpose of this report is to track our organization’s progress and make the public aware of our initiatives. This report is available online at Accessibility | St. Jerome's University | University of Waterloo.

For more information

For more information on this Annual Status Report, please contact:

J. Robson, Director, Facilities

Telephone: 519-884-8110 x 28274

Email: rjrobson@uwaterloo.ca

Accessibility | St. Jerome's University | University of Waterloo

Standard and accessible formats of this document are available upon request. To request an alternate format of this annual report, please contact J. Robson.

Institutional Achievements and Accomplishments

General Accomplishments

Initiatives related to accessibility that may or may not be directly related to a regulatory requirement or initiatives that don’t fall within a particular standard.

The St. Jerome’s residence team works closely with the University of Waterloo's Campus Housing, Accessible Housing team to ensure that students' accessibility accommodations are met.

  • This includes providing single rooms so students can have a sensory/quiet space that meets their needs.
  • During Orientation, the residence team also ensures that there are events and spaces available for students to access when feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, or overloaded.

Customer Service Accomplishments

Initiatives implemented related to Customer Service Standards.

Annually, student leader training is undertaken to which has been added:

  • Peer Academic Leaders do a training session on AccessAbility Services.
  • Orientation leaders do training on making sure events are accessible from a physical perspective.
  • All student leaders attend a session that discusses accessibility more broadly, and ensuring their events are accessible.

Information and Communication Accomplishments

Initiatives implemented related to the Information and Communications Standards.

  • Accessible staff policies have been added to the website.
  • An annual reminder within the employee newsletter has been added outlining employee accommodation processes.
  • Accessibility and accommodation needs were incorporated into the Performance Development Program policy and Misconduct and Progressive Discipline policy.
  • Added a mechanism for providing feedback through the Accessibility webpage. This will create another channel for individuals who wish to offer feedback pertaining to St. Jerome's university provision of goods and services to persons with disabilities.
  • By the end of October, updates will be made to Siteimprove, a tool that analyzes the St. Jerome’s website and makes recommendations for improved accessibility

Employment Accomplishments

Initiatives implemented related to Employment Standards.

Student leader hiring:

  • Job descriptions are compliant.
  • A handout of the interview questions is provided to the candidate, and the questions are repeated verbally in the interview.

Design of Public Spaces Accomplishments

Initiatives implemented related to the Design of Public Spaces Standards.

  • Added keyless entry to the Letson Community Centre from the Finn Green, eliminating the need for a physical key from a popular thoroughfare.
  • Took up a monthly inspection of AODA compliant doors for obstructions, opening force and functionality.
  • A lighting audit of the residence tower common spaces revealed an opportunity to increase the illumination by an additional 50 percent of the IES recommendation which was undertaken.

Summary of Consultations

This year, the university intends to work with incoming students with disabilities to continue informing the multi-year accessibility plan. That work is scheduled for this fall.

Next Steps

St. Jerome’s University, federated with the University of Waterloo, is committed to providing an accessible environment to all staff, faculty, students, tenants and visitors. The university will ensure that people with disabilities (both visible and invisible) are able to participate in and have access to its programs, services and facilities. St. Jerome’s will continue to focus on innovative processes while continuing to invite collaborative commitment to the betterment of the community as a whole.

  • Establish an AODA advisory committee by January 2027 to oversee accountability of the AODA program going forward.
  • Undertake a review and update of the Engineering Accessibility Assessment (2020) against the facility's current condition and overlay that audit with the university's Capital Plan.

Progress and Accomplishments

Over the last five years, St. Jerome’s university has made efforts to address barriers and implement change or modifications to create an environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all.   

Some of the initiatives that we have undertaken or are actively undertaking are listed below:

  • We re-developed the St. Jerome’s University website to make it accessible and AODA compliant (Complete).
  • We provided AODA training on creating accessible documents and policies for the web to staff who are tasked with creating these documents. Staff also received training on using the PAC PDF accessibility checker (Complete).
  • All policies were updated to accessible formats (Complete).
  • We notify applicants about the availability of accommodations for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment process through both the job posting and when invited for an interview (Ongoing).
  • At time of job offer, we ask candidates if they require any accommodations to do the job (Ongoing).
  • We provide information about emergency response procedures during new hire orientation (Ongoing).
  • We provide information to new hires about disability management and accommodations procedures (Ongoing).
  • We provide a reminder annually within the employee newsletter about employee accommodation processes (Ongoing).
  • We provide employees with disabilities individual documented accommodation plans and review them annually (Ongoing).
  • We make reference to accessibility and accommodation needs in the Performance Development Program policy and Misconduct and Progressive Discipline policy (Ongoing).
  • We recently developed a campus master plan, where accessibility was one of the pillars that was addressed (Complete).
  • We undertook updates to one of the offices, removing stairs and raising the floor (Complete).
  • We provide virtual options for events when possible and provide recordings, if possible (Ongoing).

Customer Service

The customer service standard mandates that service providers must find ways to break down barriers that prevent customers with a disaibility(ies) from accessing services they require.

In accordance with this standard of the AODA, St. Jerome’s university strives and will continue to provide accessible customer service to all individuals entering our institution.  This means that we will undertake reasonable efforts to provide goods or services in a way that respects individuals’ dignity, independence and integration, and provides equal opportunity in a timely manner.    

The following initiatives have been identified to ensure ongoing compliance with this AODA Standard:

  • Update and continue to deliver accessibility training, appropriate to the duties of the individual, to those who are involved in delivering customer service to our community members.  This includes training for staff, academic staff, student leaders and volunteers. Please refer to St. Jerome’s Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Policy for additional information.
  • Add a mechanism for providing feedback to the Accessibility webpage.  This will create another channel for individuals who wish to offer feedback pertaining to St. Jerome’s university provision of goods and services to persons with disabilities.

Information and Communication

The information and communication standard ensures that everyone has equal access to information and communication.  The standard seeks to remove barriers that prevent individuals with a disability from accessing essential information. 

St. Jerome’s University is committed to addressing the communication needs of individuals with disabilities, in consultation with them. We will endeavour to provide documents, and information contained within them, in a format that takes into consideration the needs of persons with disabilities. 

 The following initiatives have been identified to ensure ongoing compliance with this AODA standard:

  • Continue training on the creation of accessible documents for those who create or manage content for St. Jerome’s website.
  • Develop a strategy to ensure consistency in communication formats across the website, publications and promotional material.
  • Updates will be made to Siteimprove, a tool that analyzes the St. Jerome’s website and makes recommendations for improved accessibility.  These recommendations will then be used for ongoing updates to webpages to ensure accessibility.

Employment

The employment standard ensures that accessibility is integrated into workplace processes and to ensure that employers provide equal opportunities throughout the employment lifecycle.

St. Jerome’s University has developed processes that are committed to fair and accessible employment practices to address the needs of all persons with disabilities. We will continue to uphold the privacy and confidentiality of individuals who require accommodation and will continue to work with both the individual requesting accommodation as well as the University of Waterloo to develop individual accommodation plans. 

The following initiatives have been identified to ensure ongoing compliance with this standard:

  • Update and continue to provide accessibility specific training to new hires during the onboarding process.
  • Add a statement to the employment page on of the St. Jerome’s website confirming a commitment to accommodating applicants with a disability.
  • At the time of employment offer, provide candidates with links to relevant policies and procedures for reference.

Design of Public Spaces

The Design of Public Spaces Standard within AODA considers the physical accessibility of the campus. It ensures that it is easier for individuals with disabilities to move through and use the environment they are entering.

St. Jerome’s will seek to consult with individuals with disabilities and with the applicable local municipality, as necessary, in the development, redesign and implementation of any public spaces.

The following initiatives have been identified to ensure ongoing compliance with this standard:

  • Continue to publicly display signage related to any service disruptions, including those that may have an impact on accessibility such as elevators or ramps.
  • Continue to ensure that individuals who require accommodations have an individualized emergency response plan in place, in compliance with AODA requirements.
  • Conduct regular parking audits to ensure that accessible parking meets the needs of users

Feedback

Individuals are invited to provide feedback to any department or employee at St. Jerome's, or they may contact the HR department directly. Feedback to the HR Department directly may be provided either in person or via written communication to Human Resources.