The Impact of COVID-19: An Addendum to the Cost of Vision Loss in Canada Study
The Cost of Vison Loss and Blindess in Canada Study was published in May of 2020. The world has been changing quickly since that initial study. COVID-19 has brought new challenges and costs to the Blind and Vision Impaired community.
Please find the full report below followed by summarys in both English and French.
VISIONS – September 2021
Apply now to be a Full- or Part Time Member (Commissioner) of the Canadian Human Rights Commission!
Calling all human rights defenders! The Governor in Council is seeking applications from diverse and talented people in Canada from across the country who are interested in being appointed on a full or part time basis as Commissioners of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The Governor in Council is committed to filling this position following an open, inclusive, transparent and merit based selection process.
Full- and Part Time Members (Commissioners) are responsible for reviewing and making decisions on human rights complaints.
Further information regarding this appointment opportunity is available on the Governor in Council Appointments website. If you are interested in applying, please do so via the Governor in Council Appointments website.
If you require accommodation to submit your application or to consult information about this appointment opportunity, please contact the Privy Council Office.
Review of applications will begin on August 25, 2021.
VISIONS – Summer Edition
CCB and Clinical Trials Ontario
Canadian Council of the Blind along with 20 other health charities, patient organizations, and research networks, and led by Clinical Trials Ontario, submitted this input to Health Canada on its consultation paper related to its Regulatory Modernization Initiative. Health Canada is proposing to modernize the regulatory framework for clinical trials related to human drugs, medical devices, non-prescription drugs, and natural health products as part of the Health and Biosciences Sector Regulatory Review Roadmap. We felt that this was an important opportunity to provide input based on our community’s perspective especially related to patient engagement with Health Canada and within the clinical trials environment in Canada, transparency of clinical trial results, and ways for Canadians to find clinical trials if they are interested in participating in a clinical trial, to name a few areas.
CCB Join with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD)
Founded in 1976, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) is a national human rights organization of people with disabilities. CCD’s mission and mandate are as follows:
Mission -CCD is a social justice organization of people with all disabilities that champions the voices of people with disabilities, advocating an inclusive and accessible Canada, where people with disabilities have full realization of their human rights, as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Mandate – CCD unites advocacy organizations of people with disabilities to defend and extend human rights for persons with disabilities through public education, advocacy, intervention in litigation, research, consultation and partnerships. CCD amplifies the expertise of our partners by acting as a convening body and consensus builder.
CCD’s members are provincial/territorial cross-disability, consumer-controlled, human rights organizations and national uni- and cross-disability, consumer-controlled, human rights organizations. CCD’s members are:
- Disability Alliance BC
- Voice of Albertans with Disabilities (VAD)
- Saskatchewan Voice of People with Disabilities (SVOPD)
- Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD)
- Citizens with Disabilities — Ontario
- Confédération des Organismes de Personnes Handicapées du Québec (COPHAN)
- Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities (NSLEO)
- PEI Council of People with Disabilities
- Coalition of Persons with Disabilities–NFLD and Labrador (CODNL)
- NWT Disabilities Council
- Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD)
- Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB)
- National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS)
- National Coalition of People who use Guide and Service Dogs of Canada
- National Network for Mental Health (NNMH)
- Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada
CCD’s governance body is the National Council. Each member appoints a representative to the National Council and there are also five seats for members-at-large from communities pushed to the margins. The National Council meets regularly, providing an opportunity to exchange information about disability rights, public education initiatives, advocacy campaigns, legal interventions, research, consultation and partnerships occurring across Canada. Members can contribute to policy development by participating on working groups and committees.
During this past year, CCD’s advocacy work has been focused on amplifying the concerns of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping disability poverty and the promised Canada Disability Benefit on the federal government’s agenda, drawing attention to how Medical Aid in Dying puts people with disabilities in harm’s way, and monitoring Canada’s implementation of the CRPD. Also during the past year, CCD has been modernizing the organization by reviewing and updating its policies and procedures and committee structure, so that we remain an effective advocate for an accessible and inclusive Canada.
IMAGE Project
IMAGE (Internet Multi-Modal Access to Graphical Exploration) Project
As is well known, the vast majority of internet graphics are not accessible to non-visual users. To tackle this problem, McGill University’s Shared Reality Lab, in strategic partnership with the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB) and Gateway Navigation CCC Ltd, is working on the IMAGE project, funded by Innovation Science Economic Development Canada through the Assistive Technology Program.
The project’s objective is to develop multi-modal feedback (audio and touch) tools enabling users to gain a deeper understanding of internet graphics than is presently available to blind, deaf-blind, or low vision users. The project team is actively recruiting participants, inviting volunteers to complete the on-line survey (available both in English and French), to work with the researchers in developing tools to facilitate graphical exploration on the internet.
To get involved or for more information click on the link below:
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL HEALTH DATA RIGHTS IN CANADA KEY MESSAGES
The Declaration of Personal Health Data Rights in Canada was developed by a patient and caregiver-led Data Working Group formed in 2019 from the annual Patients Redefining the Future of Healthcare in Canada Summit. The working group undertook a brief review of the current landscape related to personal health data. Various drafts have been revised with feedback from a range of health data custodian perspectives, but with a major focus on the perspectives of patients, caregivers, patient groups, and citizen groups. Since the Declaration’s launch in June 2021, it has been endorsed by 20 patient groups as well as 9 individual patients and caregivers.
Personal health data are critical to patient safety and quality care leading to better health outcomes, while fuelling research and innovation to benefit individuals, groups, and the general public. The Supreme Court of Canada has found that people own and have a continuing interest in and control over their personal health data, while custodians of those data own the records. Because of this, people in Canada have corresponding rights over the personal health data they provide. These eleven rights are: to be informed; to consent; to access, portability & correction; to de-identification; to benefit; to object to processing; to restrict processing; to a complaint process; to privacy & security; to erasure; and to engagement.
The intent of the Declaration is to create greater consensus on the fundamental principles associated with personal health data, particularly from the perspective of patient and citizen groups; in order to encourage the health ecosystem to work out how to achieve these principles efficiently and effectively in partnership with industry, policy-makers, other data custodians, and patients.
You can read the Full Declaration here https://saveyourskin.ca/wp-content/uploads/Declaration.pdf
You can read the Executive Summary of the Declaration here https://saveyourskin.ca/wp-content/uploads/SummaryofDeclaration_EN_Endorsed.pdf
Governement Engagement on the Disability Inclusion Action Plan
Opened on June 4, 2021 and will close on August 31, 2021.
The Government of Canada is consulting Canadians on how to improve the lives of Canadians with disabilities. Your feedback will support the development of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan.
The Disability Inclusion Action Plan will focus on:
- reducing poverty among Canadians with disabilities
- getting more persons with disabilities into good quality jobs
- helping meet the Accessible Canada Act goal of a barrier-free Canada by 2040
- making it easier for persons with disabilities to access federal programs and services
- fostering a culture of inclusion
How to participate
Share your ideas online
Please complete the online survey.
Participate by mail or video
You can also print, complete and mail the survey by August 31, 2021 to the address in the contact information below.
- Survey – Disability Inclusion Action Plan (PDF, 361.1 KB)
Video responses
You can also submit an ASL or LSQ video of your responses to the email address in the contact information below.
Who is the focus of this consultation
We invite all Canadians to participate in this consultation. We want to hear from:
- persons with a disability
- organizations working with persons with a disability
- caregivers or family members of persons with a disability
- persons identifying as First Nations, Inuk (Inuit), Métis or Indigenous
- members of racialized groups, the LGBTQ2 community or an official language minority community
- all Canadians
Key questions for discussion
The survey asks questions about:
- financial security
- employment
- disability-inclusive spaces
- a modern approach to disability
Related information
Contact us
Disability Inclusion Action Plan
Employment and Social Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, Phase IV
Gatineau QC K1A 0J9
Email: [email protected]