Guide
AODA training requirements
Training is the duty most organizations have partly done. The regulation sets two: one on the standards and the Human Rights Code, one on serving customers with disabilities. Both apply at every size; records are required from 50 employees.
Who must be trained (both duties)
- All employees and volunteers.
- Everyone who participates in developing your policies.
- Everyone who provides goods, services or facilities on your behalf (contractors, agency staff).
Training must be appropriate to the person's duties, given as soon as practicable, and repeated when your policies change (s. 7(2) to (4); s. 80.49(2), (3)).
Duty 1: the standards and the Human Rights Code (s. 7)
Training on the requirements of the accessibility standards in the regulation and on the Ontario Human Rights Code as it pertains to persons with disabilities. Ontario offers free modules for this on its training page.
Duty 2: customer service (s. 80.49)
Training on providing goods, services or facilities to persons with disabilities. The content must include (s. 80.49(4)):
- A review of the purposes of the Act and the requirements of the customer service standard.
- How to interact and communicate with persons with various types of disability.
- How to interact with persons who use an assistive device or need a guide dog, service animal or support person.
- How to use equipment or devices available on your premises that help people with disabilities access your goods, services or facilities.
- What to do if a person with a particular type of disability is having difficulty accessing your goods, services or facilities.
Records
- 50 or more employees and public sector: keep a record of the training, including the dates and the number of individuals trained (s. 7(5); s. 80.49(5)). Also a written training policy describing the content and when training is given, available on request (s. 80.49(6)).
- 1 to 49 employees (businesses and non-profits): no record is required. A simple sign-off sheet (name, date, topics) is still the easiest way to show the training happened if anyone asks.
A workable approach
- Use Ontario's free training for duty 1 and add a short session on your own policies for duty 2 (your equipment, your premises, your feedback process).
- Train new people during onboarding; put it on the checklist.
- Keep one record: date, topic, who attended, who delivered it. Retrain when a policy changes.
Lisavel flags the common contradiction (“everyone is trained” but no record) and, for 50 or more employees, drafts your training policy and a training record template listing the required topics. For 20 to 49 employees the record template is recommended, not required. Start with the free check (about a minute), then see pricing.
Sources
Not legal advice. The regulation on e-Laws prevails.