HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1  This Act may be cited as the Accessibility Act.

2  The purpose of this Act is to

(a) achieve accessibility by preventing and removing barriers that disable people with respect to

(i) the delivery and receipt of goods and services,

(ii) information and communication,

(iii) public transportation and transportation infrastructure,

(iv) employment,

(v) the built environment, so that all new construction is accessible,

(vi) education, and

(vii) a prescribed activity or undertaking;

(b) facilitate the timely implementation of accessibility standards with a goal of achieving an accessible British Columbia by 2024.

3  In this Act,

"accessibility plan" means a plan to address the identification, removal and prevention of barriers in the policies, programs, practices and services of a public sector body;

"barrier" means anything that hinders or challenges the full and effective participation in society of persons with disabilities including a physical barrier, an architectural barrier, an information or communications barrier, an attitudinal barrier, a technological barrier, a policy or a practice.

4  This Act will require public sector bodies to prepare annual accessibility plans to show how they are working to remove barriers within their organization.

5  This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.