Corps professoral

Legal Framework and Inclusion Policies

All Quebec educational institutions have the obligation to offer accommodation measures to students with disabilities. These provisions are a part of the legal framework and institutional policies specific to each teaching institution.

The Notion of Accommodation

The notion and the obligation of accommodation can be defined as follows: In accordance with the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (section 10), a University has a legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodation measures to ensure the right to equality. Accommodation measures may be applicable to assessment methods, deadlines, term papers, examination processes, etc. The duty to accommodate refers to the legal obligation to do what is appropriate to eliminate discrimination arising from a rule, a practice or a barrier that has or could have a negative impact on people with disabilities.

The majority of universities have an internal policy that promotes the inclusion of students with disabilities. In general, a reasonable accommodation measure does not cause an undue hardship for the University and is consistent with the objectives and requirements of the study programme or course to which the measure applies.

Resources

A virtual guide presents and explains these rules (CDPDJ, updated 2018).
http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/Publications/Guide_virtuel_accommodement_En.pdf

Document “How to Handle a Reasonable Accommodation Request”
http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/Publications/infographie_gestion-accommodement_En.pdf  

For support, you can also turn to the office for students with disabilities of your institution. The teaching support office is also a valuable resource.

For more information on the subject, you can view the video of a conference on the notion of accommodation within a teaching context given by Marc Santerre, a lawyer at the Université de Montréal (video in French). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkPhb2_inCI&feature=youtu.be