Brantford Flying Club
Accessibility plan
Introduction
The Brantford Flying Club (also dba Brantford Flight Centre and herein also referred to as the BFC) is a non-profit organization established in 1929 located at the Brantford Municipal Airport in Brant County, Ontario. The foundational mission of the BFC has always been to provide quality flight training and aviation services while fostering a safe, inclusive, and professional environment for all employees, students and visitors. Areas of operation include a clubhouse building with offices, classroom, briefing areas and an aircraft simulator. The Club also operates a heated hangar used for aircraft storage and aircraft maintenance activities.
The BFC operates within Canada’s air transportation sector under Federal jurisdiction and remain committed to the identification, removal, and prevention of any barriers to accessibility throughout the organization, while maintaining the unique requirements of the civil aviation authority, particularly those mandated by Transport Canada. As a regulated entity, the Brantford Flying Club thoughtfully acknowledge our responsibility to advance accessibility within our immediate environment by utilizing our familiar continuous improvement process and safety management principles. The Company plan for accessibility may include physical, behavioral, developmental, or sensory elements as determined by the consultation and feedback process.
Definitions
The following definitions may be referenced throughout this document. They have been included here to provide a clear understanding of a few key words and/or phrases pertaining to the Accessibility Plan:
Barrier means anything – including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice – that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.
Disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment – or a functional limitation – whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.
Employee means any person employed by a regulated entity described in paragraph 7(1)(e) or (f) of the Act and includes a dependent contractor as defined in subsection 3(1) of the Canada Labour Code, but excludes (a) a person employed under a program designated by the employer as a student employment program; and (b) a student employed solely during the student’s vacation periods.
Planning and Reporting Cycle means a period of three consecutive years the first year of which is a year in which there is a date by which a regulated entity is required to publish a version of an accessibility plan under section 47, 56, 65, or 69 of the Act, as the case may be and in which the second and third years are years in which there is a date by which a regulated entity is required to publish a progress report under section 49, 58, 67 or 71 of the Act, as the case may be.
Other references as defined by the extended regulations that may be considered relevant to this plan or any part thereof including those that may not have been considered at all, shall be forwarded for review using the formal feedback process. This includes, but is not limited to, the need for a Support Person, Guide/Service Dog, and Personal Adaptive Devices, as applicable.
Principles
The following principles, as stated in the Accessible Canada Act, shall be referenced by the company to better understand and help steer the Accessibility Plan process:
All persons must be treated with dignity regardless of their disabilities;
All persons must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have regardless of their disabilities;
All persons must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society, regardless of their disabilities;
All persons must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices with support if they desire, regardless of their disabilities;
Laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their environments and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by persons;
Persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws, policies, programs, services and structures; and
The development and revision of accessibility standards and the making of regulations must be done with the objective of achieving the highest level of accessibility for persons with disabilities.
General
This Accessibility Plan will be used to guide the Brantford Flying Club through the implementation process as required by the Accessible Canada Act and its corresponding Regulations. The company Accessibility Plan, their annual progress reports, and revised plans shall also consider any policy and/or procedure changes that could potentially affect incorporated details of the Accessibility Plan. The BFC shall perform a review of applicable regulatory or legislative documents for updates that could also potentially affect the company Accessibility Plan, as part of the annual progress report.
The adoption of this Brantford Flying Club Accessibility plan represents our sincere intent as a community-based organization to help make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040. The groundwork for this project will be dependent upon gradual yet effective progress in the following priority areas:
Employment – The Company will review the existing recruitment process and account for any barriers that could otherwise prevent persons with disabilities from considering available work opportunities. Once identified, barriers can then be systematically removed through the introduction of accessible alternatives in specific areas as necessary.
Build Environment – The Company shall examine all physical work areas and public spaces for possible barriers to persons with disabilities. Once identified, these barriers can then be replaced with industry approved alternatives that will serve persons with disabilities.
Information and Communication Technology – The Company shall assess all current methods of information and communication technology used in the performance of daily activities to ensure that they can also be made available to any persons with disabilities. This includes computer hardware and/or software as well as physical access to work stations, where necessary.
Communication (other than the technology referenced above) – Communication throughout all applicable channels of daily operation is essential to everyone involved. The Company shall, therefore, review all established means of internal/external two-way communication to consider persons with disabilities as well. Any necessary changes will be implemented as appropriate to certain job functions.
Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities – The procurement of aviation related goods, services and facilities are at the heart of BFC operations and must remain clear to everyone involved. Potential barriers to persons with disabilities must be considered and modified to ensure accessibility for all.
Design and Delivery of Programs and Services – The Company shall study the current design and delivery of programs and services for potential barriers to persons with disabilities. These areas must be carefully assessed with respect to aviation operations in order to develop functional alternatives.
Transportation – the Brantford Flying Club operates within a strict regulatory framework mandated by Transport Canada in order to promote continued safety and efficiency in all aviation operations. For this reason, the Company may be limited in the scope necessary to achieve full accessibility compliance. The BFC will look at all options for practical implementation to ensure accessibility wherever possible.
Consultations
The consultation process is essential to the ongoing development of the BFC Accessibility Plan. An Accessibility team comprised of no less than three persons shall engage with both internal and external resources in order to ensure equal participation from management, persons with various types of disabilities, and accessibility professionals who may or may not have a disability themselves.
Consultation activities may include interaction among the subject matter participants through in-person contact, virtual group discussion, phone interviews, email correspondence, or any other means considered to be acceptable to the company. Although this manner of consultation was necessary for development of the initial plan, this strategy shall continue to remain integral to continued progress towards optimum accessibility within the organization.
The details of each consultation shall be documented and retained on file including the names of those in attendance, the details discussed and any resulting action items.
Feedback
The BFC shall provide an appropriate means for company employees, club members and the public to communicate with the designated person by mail, phone, email, or any other manner as provided by the organization. The feedback process must also provide an option for anonymous reporting. We will acknowledge receipt of any feedback in the same manner as it was received (other than anonymous submissions) using the contact information provided below. The standard response time for feedback is within 20 days.
The person designated to receive feedback pertaining to the described elements of this plan, on behalf of the organization, shall be the General Manager. Feedback response can also be requested in alternate formats such as print, large print, Braille, audio or an electronic format that is compatible with adaptive technology intended to assist persons with disabilities. Alternate formats such as Braille or audio may be used as they become available and may take up to 45 days for a response.
All company documents pertaining to the ongoing Accessibility plan, consultations and feedback shall be retained on file for a minimum of 7 years. Aside from referencing this document, feedback information is also posted on bulletin boards located on both levels of the clubhouse.
Awareness and Training
Actively working towards the integration of a comprehensive Accessibility Plan also fosters a growing culture of accessibility throughout the organization. Awareness and training initiatives shall continually reflect that philosophy in the creation of internal programs that are unapologetically inclusive for all.
The basis for this Accessibility Plan includes applicable sections of the Accessible Canada Act and the Accessible Canada Regulations. Other affiliations such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act may not be directly referenced here but nevertheless may influence the nature of the subject matter contained herein.
The Brantford Flying Club will identify, where necessary, any emergency response information specifically for persons with disabilities. This information takes into account any additional challenges presented as a result of a person’s disability coupled with the physical nature of the workplace. In the case of any employee with a disability, the BFC will consult directly with that person in the development of any specific requirements.
Internal training will be provided to all BFC employees upon initial posting of the Accessibility Plan. This training will be extended to any member volunteers, contractors and/or any other parties representing the Brantford Flying Club at the discretion of the General Manager.
The training program shall include the following elements which will remain subject to change based on the results of the annual progress review:
An overview of the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and Accessible Canada Regulations (ACR)
The details of the company Accessibility Plan and any subsequent updates
An introduction to various types of disabilities
A technical review of equipment and/or devices used by the company to assist persons with disabilities
How to access additional information or resources relating to assistive technologies and/or software
How to respond when a person with a disability is having difficulty accessing available services
All accessibility training shall be documented and the associated documents shall be retained on file for each person for a minimum of 7 years.
Contact information
Company name: Brantford Flying Club/ Brantford Flight Centre
Physical address: 110 Aviation Ave. Brantford, Ontario N3T 5L7
Mailing address: PO Box 903 Brantford, Ontario N3T 5S1
Phone: 519-753-2521
Email: info@flybfc.com
Website: www.flybfc.com
Revision: Original (26 May 2025)