Website Accessibility Testing in Quebec

SGQRI binds government sites. Here is what binds everyone else in Quebec.

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The short answer for Quebec

Quebec has no accessibility statute of the kind Ontario and Manitoba passed, and its web standards work differently. The SGQRI standards set accessibility requirements for Quebec government websites, which is real and enforceable if you are a public body or you supply one. For a private business in Quebec they set nothing at all. That gap is the single most useful thing to know here.

So what reaches a Quebec website is federal or nothing. The Accessible Canada Act carries CAN/ASC-EN 301 549, which holds WCAG 2.1 AA inside it. It binds federally regulated organizations wherever they sit. Banking, telecoms, broadcasting, airlines, Crown corporations. Everyone else is left with the Charter of human rights and freedoms and the commercial cost of a checkout nobody can finish. We audit Quebec sites against all 55 WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules by hand, with a professional blind screen-reader user on your real journeys, and every finding arrives with its screenshot and its fix.

Which law lands on you in Quebec

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

Read the full Accessible Canada Act page

Inside an audit for a site in Quebec

Start with the honest part. The audit is the same in Quebec 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 Quebec is a question for your lawyer, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

Straight answers for Quebec

My site is in Quebec. Does that change what you test?

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.

What law am I actually answering to in Quebec?

Accessible Canada Act is the one that reach Quebec 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.

Should I be publishing an accessibility statement here?

At least one of the laws that reaches Quebec 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.

What am I paying, and what turnaround do I get?

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.

Who does the human half of the testing?

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 Quebec, and the guides that turn it into work your team can do.

Cities we test in Quebec

Show all 110

Other provinces and territories in Canada

Accessibility testing in other countries

Show all 49

Find out where your site stands in Quebec

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 Quebec can act on.

Order your audit · $499 Or scan 10 pages free first