WCAG Audits and Accessibility Testing in Canada
Accessible Canada Act audits ahead of the 2027 deadlines, Ontario covered below.
What Canada actually requires
Canada's federal accessibility law points at CAN/ASC-EN 301 549, which carries WCAG 2.1 AA, with deadlines landing December 5, 2027 and 2028 and penalties that reach CA$250,000 per violation. Run a federally regulated organization and you are on the clock now. A date two years out is not the same thing as two years of nothing to do.
We audit Canadian sites against the full rule set, by hand and with a professional blind screen-reader user, and the report doubles as the progress evidence your accessibility plan needs. Ontario runs a regime of its own, so it gets its own page below.
The rules in force in Canada
Accessible Canada Act (ACA)
- Standard
- CAN/ASC-EN 301 549 → WCAG 2.1 AA
- Where it stands
- Dec 5, 2027 / Dec 5, 2028
- Who it binds
- Public and private sectors
- Reaches sellers based abroad
- Not by itself
- What non-compliance costs
- Penalties up to CA$250,000 per violation
- Via CAN/ASC-EN 301 549
- 2.1 AA
- Max penalty (CAD)
- $250k
- Federal web deadline
- Dec 2027
- Private employees covered
- 100+
The Accessible Canada Act dates, 4 of them
- Jul 11, 2019ACA in force
- 2022 to 2024First accessibility plans and feedback processes fall due, a year after each group's fixed day
- Dec 5, 2027Federal public sector web pages: CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024
- Dec 5, 2028Mobile apps and documents, plus private entities with 100+ employees
What we test, and how, in Canada
Start with the honest part. The audit is the same in Canada as it is anywhere, because WCAG does not change at a border. What changes is which law is watching and what it costs to fail, and the section above settles that.
The work itself runs in three passes. A machine finds the failures a machine can prove. A human works every one of the 55 A and AA rules by hand. Then a professional blind screen-reader user opens your real journeys and tries to finish them, the way your customers would. Every finding arrives with its screenshot and the fix that closes it, drawn from our free library of 432 guides.
None of the reference sits behind a form, either. Every number below counts pages you can go and read right now, free, whether you ever buy an audit or not.
- A and AA rules we check
- 55
- Techniques and failures
- 432
- ACT test rules
- 90
- ARIA roles documented
- 94
- Terms in the glossary
- 131
- Checklists to work from
- 9
- A free 10-page scan that finds what a machine can prove, before you spend anything
- Paid audits at fixed prices on the pricing page, $499 for 10 pages in 5 business days, $1,499 for 25 in 10
- The exact deliverable, free to read, as the sample report
The honest limit
And an audit is evidence, not a legal opinion. We tell you what fails, who it stops, and what closes it. Whether that satisfies a regulator or a court in Canada is a question for your lawyer, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
What owners in Canada want to know first
Is accessibility testing in Canada different from anywhere else?
No. WCAG is the same standard everywhere, so the testing is identical wherever you are. What changes is which law is watching and what failing it costs, and that is what the law section on this page settles.
Who sets the rules for a website in Canada?
Accessible Canada Act is the one that reach Canada first, and each has its own page here covering what it asks for, who it lands on, and how it gets enforced. Sell into more than one market and more than one of them can reach you at the same time.
Does Canada expect a published accessibility statement?
At least one of the laws that reaches Canada names an accessibility statement, so plan on publishing one. Our free generator writes it from what the audit found, so the page says what actually works today rather than what you hope works.
How much is an audit, and when does the report land?
A Rapid Audit is $499 for 10 pages, with the report in 5 business days. A Standard Audit is $1,499 for 25 pages in 10 business days. Once your team has fixed things, the re-audit is half price within 3 months.
Is a real screen-reader user involved, or just software?
Yes, on every audit. A professional blind screen-reader user opens your real journeys and tries to finish them, and we write down where they stop. That is the pass no scanner can run.
Related on this site
The reading behind the law that reaches you in Canada, and the guides that turn it into work your team can do.
Provinces and territories we test in Canada
Accessibility testing in other countries
Show all 48
- Denmark
- Norway
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Estonia
- Finland
- Greece
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Argentina
- Colombia
- China
- Hong Kong
- Taiwan
- Saudi Arabia
- Qatar
- United Arab Emirates
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Japan
- South Korea
- India
- Israel
- Brazil
Find out where your site stands in Canada
Run the free scan. Read the sample report. Order the audit when you want the humans on it, and what lands is a report your developers, your lawyer or a regulator in Canada can act on.