ACCESSIBILITY

We, our parent, subsidiary, affiliated and related entities recognize that the Government of Ontario supports the full inclusion of persons with disabilities as set out in the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (“AODA”). AODA’s goal is to create a more accessible Ontario, by identifying, and to the extent possible, preventing and eliminating barriers experienced by persons with disability. This policy (the “Accessibility Policy”) establishes policies, practices and procedures relating to our provision of services to persons with disabilities, their representatives and other third parties.

We are committed to being in compliance with the customer service standard of AODA and to providing services that are accessible, and delivered in a manner that:

• respects the dignity and independence of persons with disabilities;
• ensures that our provision of products and/or services to persons with disabilities and others are integrated unless an alternate measure is necessary, whether temporarily or on a permanent basis, to enable a person with a disability to obtain, use, or benefit from our products and/or services;
• ensures that persons with disabilities are given an opportunity equal to that given to others to obtain, use and benefit from our products and/or services.

We will therefore implement the following procedures and practices:

• when communicating with a person with a disability, the communication will be done in such a manner to take into consideration the person’s disability;
• persons with disabilities who are accompanied by either a support person or a service animal are permitted on our premises;
• notice will be provided when a known disruption will likely affect persons with disabilities;
• persons with disabilities are free to use their assistive devices; and
• individuals are free to provide feedback on how we provide products and/or services to persons with disabilities by contacting us by using the contact information set out below;

Training

We provide training on the accessibility standards for customer service to:

• employees, volunteers and any other people who interact with the public on our behalf, whether the person does so as an employee, volunteer or otherwise; and
• employee, volunteers and any other people who are involved in developing our company’s policies, practices and procedures governing the provision of services to members of the public or other third parties.

The training may include without limitation:

• a review of the purposes of AODA and the requirements of the customer service standard;
• a review of our current internal policies, practices and procedures regarding the provision of services to persons with disabilities;
• how to interact and communicate with people with a disability;
• how to interact with people with disabilities who use an assistive device or require the assistance of a guide dog or other service animal or the assistance of a support person;
• how to use equipment and devices, if and where available on our premises or otherwise provided by us, that may help with the provision of our products and services to a person with a disability; and
• what to do if a person with a disability is having difficulty accessing our products and services.

Revised training will be provided in the event of changes to AODA and/or our Accessibility Policy.

Communication

We will communicate with persons with disabilities in ways that take into account their disability. We will train employees, volunteers and any other people who interact with the public on our behalf on how to interact and communicate with people with various types of disabilities. We encourage you to identify accessibility needs when communicating and interacting with us.

Assistive Devices

We are committed to enabling persons with disabilities, who use assistive devices, to obtain, access and use our services. Persons with disabilities may use their assistive devices as needed when accessing our services.

Service Animals and Support Persons

Persons with disabilities may bring their service animal on the parts of our premises that are open to the public or other third parties, except where the animal is excluded by law. If the service animal is excluded by law, reasonable steps will be taken to accommodate the person with a disability on a case by case basis, such as meeting the person in a different part of the premises.

Persons with disabilities may be accompanied by a support person. When a support person is required (e.g. sign language facilitators, interpreters etc.), he or she will be permitted to accompany the disabled person on the parts of our premises that are open to the public. The support person may be required to sign in with his/her name, address, identification, and name of the accompanied person with a disability. At no time will a person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person be prevented from having access to his/her support person while on our premises.

Accessible Document Formats

Within a reasonable time, following request by a person with a disability, we will take steps to make documents available in a format that is accessible to that person, unless it is not technically feasible to do so.

Notice of Temporary Disruptions

We will provide notice in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption in the facilities or services usually used by persons with disabilities. This notice will include information with respect to the reason for the disruption, how long the disruption is expected to last, and a description of any alternative facilities or services if available. The notice will be posed in a conspicuous place on the premises.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the manner in which we provide services to persons with disabilities, please contact us at:

By Mail:	Privacy Officer (c/o Legal Department) Galleria Developments 1700-2235 Sheppard East Toronto, Ontario M2J 5B5
By Email:	bnorman@almadev.ca
By Telephone:	416-223-4403 x 297

Your privacy will be respected, and all feedback will be reviewed for possible action that can be taken to improve our policies, practices and procedures.

Complaints will be dealt with as soon as reasonably practicable. We will endeavour to provide feedback responses and/or documents requested in a format that is accessible to the complainant.

Modifications to the Policy

We are committed to ensuring that this Accessibility Policy, our practices and procedures respect and promote the dignity and independence of all persons with disabilities. Therefore, no changes will be made to this Accessibility Policy before considering the impact on persons with disabilities.

Any of our other operational policies that do not respect and promote the dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity of persons with disabilities will be modified or revoked.