SaskPower Accessibility Plan 2025-2028

Our corporate values guide our approach to accessibility:

• Safety: We prioritize creating safe and accessible environments for everyone.
• Openness: We foster trust and adaptability, embracing and harnessing diverse perspectives.
• Accountability: We act with integrity, ensuring our actions align with our corporate values and policies.
• Collaboration: We value diverse abilities and viewpoints, working collectively to address challenges and innovate solutions.

For our customers and community members, we strive to create empowering and welcoming spaces by using universal service design practices in the planning and building of our facilities that consider the needs of all individuals.

For our employees, we aim to cultivate a workplace where diversity is not only welcomed but celebrated, providing appropriate accommodations, professional development, mental health and well-being supports, and promoting an inclusive culture.

Our strategic direction focuses on leading Saskatchewan toward a strong energy future through innovation, performance, and service. This vision is closely aligned with our commitment to accessibility. We are investing in advanced technologies and solutions that enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities. By leveraging innovative assistive devices and accessible digital platforms, we are working towards creating a more inclusive world.

Under the principle "Nothing about us, without us" and in the spirit of working as "One Team," SaskPower is dedicated to enhancing accessibility through our facilities, programs, and services for everyone while fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and barrier-free workplace for our employees.

Sincerely,

Rupen Pandya
President and Chief Executive Officer

We recognize that every individual should be able to participate fully and independently in their community. Our dedication to eliminating barriers and enhancing access for individuals utilizing our facilities, programs, and services is grounded in this principle.

By taking proactive measures to identify, remove, and prevent accessibility barriers for our employees, customers, and citizens, we aim to achieve the following objectives:

• Promote inclusion, equity, and fairness for all individuals
• Advocate for and advance the full participation of persons with disabilities in the workplace
• Foster an accessible and barrier-free organization, thereby enriching our community.

Physical barriers arise when spaces are designed in ways that hinder mobility or access. Examples include:

• Hosting public events at venues accessible only by stairs.
• Building parking lots without curb cuts that make it difficult to access sidewalks.
• Designing washrooms lacking accessible stalls or automatic door openers.

Commitment 1 – Improve physical environment

Continue to improve and modernize SaskPower spaces to meet or exceed accessibility standards.

Achievements To Date

• In 2018, SaskPower conducted a facilities review based on Canadian Standards Association guidelines and Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification. Recommendations were integrated into SaskPower’s Diversity and Accessibility Guidelines in 2020 and Properties Standards in 2022 and are updated annually.
• Standards for all-gender washroom and change room facilities have been revised.
• Visual impairment features are included in signage, with consistent symbols and colour specifications. Additionally, braille is utilized on standard area signage, with the font colours and non-glare acrylic lens requirements for visually impaired individuals.
• Visual strips have been added to glass walls and doors for enhanced visibility.
• Employee parking requests for the head office are handled on a case-by-case basis, in collaboration with Health and Wellness.

Actions For 2025-28

• Ensure all new facilities and renovations have automatic door openers on all automatic closer hinges. This feature will be added to the Properties Standards.
• Continue to engage employees to identify barriers to the built environment and use innovative technologies as appropriate to support accessibility.
• Increase awareness of accessibility features in SaskPower’s physical environments.

Information and communications barriers exist when information or material is shared in a way that is not accessible to all people. Examples include:

• Using small print that is hard to read.
• Developing websites and documents that are not accessible for screen readers.
• Creating videos that do not have closed captioning.

Commitment 2 – Improve accessibility of content and digital services

Enhance the accessibility of SaskPower’s website, customer care centre and written communications to ensure effective and easy access to our services.

Achievements To Date

• The use of plain language in all communications to ensure compatibility with screen readers and assistive technologies.
• Adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), including using alternative text for images and video captions and ensuring accessible navigation.
• Utilizing accessible templates for documents and incorporating accessible features in creating forms while maintaining inclusive design in corporate branding.
• Employing Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing practices to improve accessibility and enhance search rankings.
• Equipping event venues with accessible technology to support assistive hearing devices and speaker notes functionality.

Actions For 2025-28

• Improve compatibility with assistive technology like screen readers and text-to-speech software.
• Enhance social media and newsletter accessibility by including descriptions and alternative text.
• Strengthen compliance with WCAG and continue to meet or exceed utility benchmarks.
• Continue to ensure that employee and customer communications are shared in accessible formats.
• Continue to adhere to SaskPower’s readability and accessibility standards and evolve those standards as applicable.
• Review customer facing program and service information for accessibility and update if appropriate.

Attitudinal barriers arise when individuals act based on false assumptions. Examples include:

• Excluding persons with disabilities from decisions that impact them.
• Assuming a person’s ability to communicate or perform tasks independently.
• Avoiding interaction with a person with a disability out of fear of causing offense.

Commitment 3 – Increase accessibility and disability awareness

Foster an inclusive culture by increasing accessibility and disability awareness, ensuring equitable treatment and access to services and opportunities.

Achievements To Date

• SaskPower’s Network for Employees with Disabilities (NED) enhances recruitment and retention for persons with disabilities by advocating for better accessibility, career development, and leadership support.
• NED promotes disability awareness through informative articles and presentations at events like SaskPower’s annual Diversity Fair.
• SaskPower sponsors and hosts the Neil Squire Society's "Hacking for the Holidays" event, modifying toys with adaptive technology for children with disabilities. These toys are donated to Jim Pattison Children's Hospital and Wascana Rehabilitation Centre each year.
• Mental Health First Aid training has been added as a learning offering to raise awareness, boost confidence, and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.
• SaskPower recently developed a Wellness Strategy aimed at improving the overall well-being of its employees and their families. This strategy offers a range of programs and supports tailored to meet individual needs.

Actions For 2025-28

• Integrate disability awareness content into corporate learning offerings to cultivate an accessibility-informed workplace.
• Encourage employees to join the NED resource group for professional development, networking, and support, and recognize NED's contributions at corporate events.
• Continue to acknowledge disability-related observances and publish educational content on visible and invisible disabilities and workplace accommodations.
• Continue to promote equity self-declaration to foster support, community and reduce stigma around disabilities.

Employment barriers arise when securing and maintaining employment is hindered due to inadequate accommodation practices and measures in the workplace. Examples include:

• Inviting a person with a physical disability to attend an interview in a building that is not wheelchair accessible.
• Failing to provide a sign interpreter when introducing a complex project to a hearing-impaired employee.
• Assuming a visually impaired employee is not high performing.

Commitment 4 – Appropriate accommodations for persons with disabilities

Provide appropriate accommodations to persons with disabilities to ensure all individuals can contribute and thrive, reflecting the organization's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Achievements To Date

• Recently reviewed workplace accommodation policy where a standardized process for requesting and receiving accommodations was identified.
• Accessible workstations and office equipment are a standard for SaskPower employees as part of the corporate Properties Standards.
• Ergonomic training and support are offered to all employees.
• SaskPower participates in the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s “BlindSquare Enabled” Program, placing beacons at our Head Office to assist persons with visual impairment in navigating the space and downtown area. 
• Enhanced self-declaration system allows employees to voluntarily self-identify as a member of one or more equity groups, including persons with disabilities.
• Job application system includes fields for prospective candidates to identify disabilities and provide information on accommodations needs.

Actions For 2025-28

• Ensure accommodation processes are communicated and accessible to all employees.
• Improve communication on how to request an accommodation and continue to promote current programming and initiatives.
• Continue to monitor representation gaps and strive to increase recruitment and retention of persons with disabilities at SaskPower.
• Consider targeted recruitment practices (i.e., summer student program).
• Identify limitations and create opportunities and support for career progression.
• Promote accommodation discussions within NED to support employees with disabilities.

Ableism: Prejudice and discrimination against persons with disabilities.

Accessibility: The quality of an environment that enables a person to access it with ease.

Accessible: The ability to be reached, entered or accessed by persons with disabilities.

Accommodation: Any technical aid or device, personal support or disability-related support that a person may require. This can include, but is not limited to, accessible document formats, mobility supports, interpretation or captioning services, or ensuring space has sensory sensitive features.

Adaptability: The ability to be modified for a new use or purpose.

Alternate formats: Alternate ways of providing information beyond traditional printed material. Examples include large print, text-only documents and braille.

Alternative text: Also referred to as alt tags or alt attributes. Alternative text provides a verbal description of a visual or graph for individuals with visual impairments who use screen readers.

Barrier: Anything that hinders or challenges the full and equal participation in society of persons with disabilities.

Captioning: Text at the bottom of the screen allows people to follow spoken dialogue and distinct noises. Closed captioning is similar, but the text must be decoded to appear on the screen.

Designated groups: The designated groups under the Employment Equity Act are women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and visible minorities.

Disability: Any impairment that hinders an individual’s full and equal participation in society. Disabilities can be permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, and may or may not be evident. There are many types of disabilities that people experience, including physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication and sensory impairments.

Discrimination: The unjust or prejudicial treatment of a person/group of people that deprives them of or limits their access to opportunities that are available to other members of society.

Diversity: Recognizing that each person is unique, has different values, comes from different social or ethnic backgrounds and is of different genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, etc.

Equality: The principle of treating everyone in the same manner by ensuring they have access to the same resources and opportunities. Equality does not necessarily lead to fair outcomes since it does not consider people’s unique experiences and differing situations.

Equity: The principle of considering people’s unique experiences and different situations, and ensuring they have access to the resources and opportunities that are necessary for them to attain just outcomes. Equity aims to eliminate disparities and disproportions that are rooted in historical and contemporary injustices and oppression.

Inclusion: Providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups.

Large print: Printed information provided in a large font size (18 pt or larger) for people who are visually impaired.

Microaggression: An action that is regarded as a subtly expressed prejudice against a person or group of people. Microaggressions are generally indirect and can be unintentional.

Minority: A group of people who share characteristics different from those of the majority or dominant population, and who often experience discrimination or exclusion.

Person with a disability: A person with a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, sensory, learning or communication impairment, or a functional limitation, whether apparent or not, and permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, that hinders their full and equal participation in society when they face a barrier.

Plain language: Clear, conversational communication that makes sense to the intended audience. The goal of plain language is to communicate so clearly that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use the information.

Self-identification: A person’s own assertion of belonging to a certain group or category of people.

Self-determination: People being empowered to make their own choices and control their own lives.

Service animal: An animal with specialized training to assist a person with a recognized physical and/or mental disability.

Stigma: The disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society.

Systemic barrier: A barrier that results from seemingly neutral systems, practices, policies, traditions or cultures, and that disadvantages certain individuals or groups of people. Systemic barriers disadvantage minority groups, racialized groups, people with disabilities, people from LGBTQ2+ communities, Indigenous people and other marginalized groups.

Unconscious bias: A preconceived judgment that is held unconsciously by a person, and that influences their perception of or their behaviour towards another person or group of people. Unconscious biases are influenced by a person’s background, culture and personal experiences. They can be manifested through favouritism towards or discrimination against a person or group of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, (dis)ability, age, religion, or socioeconomic status.