Accessibility Policy

Our Statement of Commitment

HSB Canada strives at all times to provide our goods and services in a way that respects the dignity and independence of persons with disabilities and meets the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities in a timely manner, including those who do business with us as well as those who are a part of our team.

We will work towards our goal of preventing and eliminating barriers for our customers and employees through practices that meet accessible customer service and integrated accessibility standards.

Providing Accessible Customer Service to Persons with Disabilities

We are committed to giving persons with disabilities the same opportunity to access our goods and services, allowing them to benefit from the same services, in the same place and in a similar way as other customers. We will provide alternative formats and communications to our customers in response to an accessibility request, and it will be provided with no additional expense for an accessible format. Customers who require information in an accessible format other than what is currently available are asked to speak with their individual representative so we may provide suitable assistance.

Communication

Communication is an important part of our customer service commitment; therefore we will make every reasonable effort to communicate with persons with disabilities in ways that take into account their accessibility needs due to disability and adheres to the principles of independence, dignity, integration and equal opportunity.

As individual people may have their own preference regarding how they would like to communicate, we will train staff who communicate with customers, to consider individual preference and to consult with our customers regarding their preference of how best to communicate with them.

Our staff are available to communicate by phone, email or phone relay services to assist our customers.

Assistive Devices

Customers are welcome to use personal assistive devices to access our office locations and/or services. We will provide training to those of our staff who work directly with customers, on the various assistive devices that may be used by customers with disabilities while accessing our goods or services.

Support Persons & Service Animals

Service animals and support persons accompanying customers with disabilities are welcome in areas of our offices open to the public to enable our customers continued access to the assistance they require.

Notice of Temporary Disruption

HSB Canada will provide customers with notice in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption to those facilities or services for which interruption would impact service specific only to persons with disabilities. Notices will be made available on our company website and will include information about the reason for the disruption, its anticipated duration, and a description of alternative facilities or services, if available.

Self Service Kiosks

As a company committed to providing accessible customer service, we will have regard to the accessibility for persons with disabilities should we at any time in the future design, procure or acquire self-service kiosks for public use.

Staff Training

We will provide training that is appropriate to responsibilities to our employees including those who deal with the public or third parties on our behalf, and those who are involved in the development and approval of customer service and accessibility policies, practices and procedures. Training will be provided as it is practical, including to applicable new employees during their training period and to staff on an ongoing basis when changes are made to these policies, practices and procedures.

Training will include:

Our commitment to accessibility and supporting procedures.
Information on applicable Human Rights Code legislation as it pertains to persons with disabilities
The purpose of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act including related regulations: Customer Service Standard, and Integrated Accessibility Standards.
How to interact and communicate with persons with various types of disabilities.
How to interact with persons with disabilities who use an assistive device or require the assistance of a service animal or support person.
How to use equipment or devices provided by our organization, as applicable, that may help with the provision of our goods or services to a person with a disability.
What to do if a person with a particular type of disability is having difficulty accessing our goods or service.

Joining Our Team

We are committed to the practice of accommodating applicants with disabilities in our recruiting processes. Applicants who are selected to participate in our interview processes are asked to advise us of any accommodation requirements they may have so we may discuss what suitable alternative arrangements should be made that would take into account the applicant’s accessibility needs due to disability.

Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

As part of our commitment to prevent and eliminate barriers to persons with disabilities, our current multi-year accessibility plan which will be our focus over the next five years includes the following:

Utilize the participation and input of key individuals within our organization with expertise in the areas of our customers’ and employees’ experiences, who will on an on-going manner, give consideration to and identify ways in which we as an organization are able to improve on our ability to be more accessible.
Implement additional future accessibility requirements specified including those relating to:
Communicating to applicants, new hires and employees about accommodation
Providing additional employee training
Seeking ways to provide information and communication provided by our organization to our customers in accessible formats
Review our processes for feedback to ensure accessible formats appropriate to our customers are or may be made available
Evaluate our effectiveness in consulting with those who require accommodation to ensure that the requests of the individuals requiring accommodation are being appropriately met
Assessing and updating applicable web content with accessible formats

This multi-year accessibility plan will be reviewed and updated at least once every five years. The next scheduled plan review will take place before December 2028.

Questions and Feedback

This policy is made available to the public via our company website. It is also available via telephone and email as alternate formats upon request.

The goal of HSB Canada is to meet and surpass customer expectations while providng our products and services to persons with disabilities. Questions and/or feedback regarding how well those expectations are being met are welcome and appreciated and can be forwarded via the following methods to:

Louise Bom
Director, Human Resources
HSB Canada
390 Bay Street, Suite 2000
Toronto, ON M5H 2Y2
Via email: lbom@hsb.ca
Via phone: 416-216-8427

Alternative methods of accessible formats and communication supports are also available upon request. Feedback comments and/or questions will be reviewed on an individual basis; responses will be provided within 14 days of receipt.