Squamish Terminals Progress Report 2025

General

Summary

SSA Marine Squamish Ltd. (“SSA Marine Squamish”), previously Squamish Terminals, a SSA Marine Canada Holdings Ltd. Company, has made significant progress toward most of the goals set in our Accessibility Plan. Our Accessibility Plan consisted of 10 goals with 29 associated actions, of which we have:

Completed 13 action items
Made progress on 8 action items
Have 3 pending action items
4 action items that have been established as ongoing

We did have to discontinue 1 action item in 2023/2024 and worked with our consulting partners and accessibility working group to establish compensatory actions.

Accessibility Working Group

SSA Marine Squamish will establish an accessibility working group within a broader Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Our current Accessibility Plan working group is led by:

Jessie Rai
Director, Human Resources
SSA Marine

Feedback Process

SSA Marine Squamish is committed to providing an open and transparent feedback process. For more information, to provide feedback, or to request alternative formats of this Plan, please contact SSA Marine Squamish through one of the following methods:

Point of Contact: Jessie Rai – Director, Human Resources
Website: www.ssamarine.ca
Email: DEI@ssamarine.ca
Mail: #15 Mountain Hwy, North Vancouver, British Columbia, V7J 2J9
Telephone: 1 (604) 904-2800
Anonymous feedback form: https://www.ssamarine.ca/contact/

Alternative Formats

SSA Marine Squamish’s Progress Reports and Accessibility Plan are available in the following formats:

Print
Large Print
Electronic
Audio

A Braille copy of SSA Marine Squamish’s Accessibility Plan may be requested:

By email at DEI@ssamarine.com

By phone at 1 (604) 904-2800 or
Through our online form https://www.ssamarine.ca/contact/

PRIORITY AREAS

Area 1: Employment

Actions

Goal 1: SSA Marine will implement additional candidate attraction and recruitment strategies that promote employment opportunities and growth for individuals with disabilities by:

1.1 Reviewing policies to ensure that accessibility is fully incorporated into an Anti-Discrimination policy and have it clearly articulated on all job ads and associated job activities by December 2023.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: In the previous year, we updated SSA Marine Squamish’s Violence and Harassment Policy to incorporate anti-discrimination and accommodation principles. The Policy has been reviewed and approved by the joint Health & Safety Committee.

2024/2025 Actions: Further to the Violence and Harassment Policy updates, we published a new Accommodation Policy. The policy has been included in our Employee Handbook and is available to all employees through our internal SharePoint. In addition to establishing a standard accommodation request process, the policy provides specifics for requesting accommodations related to training and development opportunities and establishes expectations for equal access to career advancement.

1.2 Including a statement that encourages applicants to request accommodations during the application process by December 2023.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish added the following statement to all job ads and job postings: “SSA Marine is committed to Employment Equity. We welcome and embrace applicants with diverse experiences, abilities, backgrounds, and perspectives. If you have preferred pronouns, please let us know when you apply.

Furthermore, we are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible environment. If you require accommodation during the recruitment process, please let us know, and we will work with you to support your request.”

2024/2025 Actions: This goal was completed in 2023, and no additional action has been taken since our last progress report.

1.3 Expanding our candidate outreach program to include accessible job boards geared towards underrepresented groups, including people with disabilities, by December 2023.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: The recruitment team at SSA Marine Squamish has expanded the reach of our job ads to ensure further visibility and to encourage people with disabilities to apply. We have included the following job boards for our job ads: Wounded Warrior, BC Centre for Ability, Work-Able, Able and Accessible, Work BC, Steps Forward – Inclusion Faculty at UVic, Jobs Ability, Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, Inclusive Employers Hiring Hub.

2024/2025 Actions: This goal was completed in 2023, and no additional action has been taken since our last progress report.

1.4 Creating an annual internship program through British Columbia’s Work-Able Internship program and applying in March 2024.

Status: Discontinued

As part of Employment Goal 1, SSA Marine Squamish had committed to creating an annual internship program through British Columbia’s Work-Able Internship program and applying in March 2024. However, upon further discussions with Work-Able, SSA Marine Squamish is not eligible to participate in this program.

As an alternative, we have included Work-Able’s job board in our standard list of job boards for all recruitment activity and have begun work with local universities to engage students with disabilities. We hope that we will expand the reach of employment opportunities at SSA Marine Squamish, and we will continue to look for opportunities to bring in staff with diverse abilities.

1.5 Establishing at least three community partnerships, such as associations and post-secondary institutions to further promote employment opportunities within the disability community by 2026.

Status: In Progress

2023/2024 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish has begun working with associations and a post-secondary institution to further promote employment opportunities within the disability community:

The BC Centre for Ability (BCCFA) – SSA Marine Squamish is working with the Team Lead, Vocational Services at the BCCFA to review job descriptions to ensure plain language, accessible design, and accessibility consideration in our postings.
The University of Victoria (UVic) – SSA Marine has partnered with UVic to identify and provide meaningful work experience for students from underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities.

2024/2025 Actions: We have continued to work with BCCFA and UVic to promote accessible employment opportunities and strengthen our connection to the disability community. We will also continue to seek out additional partnerships where possible. Additionally, the BCCFA team is now subscribed to our job alerts and will notify any suitable candidates in their network of relevant openings.

Goal 2: Provide a safe, welcoming, and barrier-free environment for employees with disabilities by:

2.1 Providing allyship and unconscious bias training to all managers through the Blue Ocean Brain Platform and other means (as deemed appropriate) starting in 2023.

Status: Ongoing

2023/2024 Actions: We have introduced a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Foundational Training program through Blue Ocean Brain. This program, We Belong: SSA Marine Squamish’s DEI Program aims to provide training and education to help our employees understand and address bias and discrimination in the workplace. The program is designed to help everyone understand and recognize the impact of bias and discrimination and provide them with the tools and skills needed to create a more inclusive and equitable workplace. Our focus is on ensuring that the training is relevant, interactive, and includes diverse perspectives and voices. The training provided was self-paced lessons on a variety of themes, including DEI topics as well as personal growth and development.

Additionally, our leadership team and managers participated in a DEI training provided by the Humphrey Group focused on leadership communication skills to facilitate positive interactions between groups of employees and grow the skills, knowledge, and motivation of people to interact with diverse groups. Humphrey Group provided four 1.5-hour highly engaging lessons across the span of 4 weeks, on top of self-paced learning modules and a one-on-one coaching session for each of the participants.

Our goal is to continue to provide additional opportunities for employees and leadership to participate in training that focuses on promoting an inclusive environment free of bias and barriers.

2024/2025 Actions: DEI Training is an ongoing effort for all SSA Canadian entities. If there are changes to our management team, we will assess the need to revisit additional DEI leadership training.

2.2 Collecting feedback from employees on DEI, including accessibility, starting in 2023.

Status: In Progress & Ongoing

Our focus has been to first understand the demographics of our employee base. SSA Marine Squamish is a member of the BC Maritime Employers Association’s (BCMEA) Waterfront DEI Council. The DEI Council launched a DEI Dashboard as part of its commitment to measure DEI progress transparently and accurately across the waterfront. The DEI Dashboard contains demographic information about the waterfront workforce and is used as an internal tool to track DEI progress as an industry. Through the DEI Dashboard, SSA Marine Squamish has access to industry-wide demographic data about the waterfront workforce composition. Data collected is based on the following variables: Sex, Visible Minority, Aboriginal, and Persons with Disabilities.

In late 2021, the BCMEA launched a confidential survey (2021 Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Survey). This survey has been developed in partnership with the DEI Waterfront Council and is being facilitated by Envol Strategies, an HR consulting firm. The survey is expected to run again in 2025.

Going forward, we will look at combining this goal with 2.4 below to better understand the overall employee experience as it relates to DEI.

2024/2025 Actions: Collecting feedback and establishing action plans related to feedback on accessibility and DEI will be an ongoing initiative for SSA Marine Squamish. In 2024, we established multiple feedback mechanisms to create opportunities for employees to provide their feedback:

In November 2024, we introduced our new Onboarding Survey to better understand the new employee experience. The survey is shared with employees within the first 4 weeks at the company and asks questions related to:
- Their general experience during pre-boarding and onboarding
- Tools, equipment, and access to systems
- Training materials and resources
- Role expectations and goals
- Our commitment to accessibility
- Ease of requesting accommodations, if required
- Suggested improvements

Additional information regarding the results of the survey has been included in the “Feedback” section of this report.

In December 2024, SSA Marine Squamish, as part of SSA participated in the Great Places to Work Employee Engagement Survey (GPTW Survey). The GPTW Survey is designed to assess employee engagement across a wide range of employee programs, including DEI. The survey included questions related to:
- Psychological safety at work
- Fair treatment regardless of age, gender, race, or sexual orientation
- Care and support provided to employees
- The physical work environment
- Feelings of inclusion and full participation
- Ability to take time off work

Additional information regarding the results of the survey has been included in the “Feedback” section of this report.

Also in December 2024, SSA Marine Squamish participated in the BCMEA’s DEI Council’s DEI Audit Self-Assessment. Additional details are provided in our 2024/2025 Actions for “Area 1: Employment” Goal 2.5 below.

Due to timing with the GPTW, we were unable to complete the 2024 Employee Perceptions Survey. We will be working with the Waterfront DEI Council to establish a timeline that allows us to participate fully in both surveys without creating repetition or survey fatigue for our employees. Our goal is to run a full Employee Perceptions survey in 2025/2026.

2.3 Establishing a policy to provide employees with disabilities accommodations for training and development opportunities to ensure equal access to career advancement by December 2023.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: Our plan to set up training to support employees who need accommodations at work has been pushed to 2024. The BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) has provided an industry-standard accommodation policy and process that SSA Marine will be implementing this year. Although this delayed our policy rollout, we believe having an industry-wide standard will provide a more consistent experience for all employees working on the Vancouver waterfront.

2024/2025 Actions: We published a new Accommodation Policy in November 2024, including specific details regarding access to career advancement and training opportunities. The policy is available in our Employee Handbook, on our internal SharePoint, and is communicated to new employees during onboarding.

The policy provided details on:

Relevant definitions
Roles and responsibilities
The request process
Handling medical and other confidential information
Appeals

To ensure full awareness, when a new training program is announced or scheduled, employees are provided with instructions to contact Human Resources to request accommodations. Each request is reviewed per the policy.

2.4 Assess the effectiveness and impact of past manager training related to accessibility and inclusion training programs starting in 2024.

2023/2024 Actions: In Progress

Action: We began the assessment of our accessibility and inclusion training by surveying employees on their level of satisfaction with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program provided by Blue Ocean Brain. Roughly 88% of SSA’s employees have participated in at least one Blue Ocean Brain course, and we received 52 responses to the survey. Overall, the results were very positive, with 90% of employees reporting that they found the core lesson to provide moderate to extreme insight into creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.

25% of employees have requested additional topics related to DEI. We will continue to examine the effectiveness of these programs and look for more ways for our employees and managers to further the understanding of DEI. 2024/2025 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish is working with the Waterfront DEI Council to establish a new Employee Perceptions surveyto better assess employee experience and needs related to accessibility and DEI, including the impact of training. The 2025/2026 survey will aim to establish a new baseline for each member company to understand the current state and provide insights on where improvements are needed. These insights will be used in the development of our future accessibility goals.

2.5 Conducting an audit of employee-facing human resources systems and tools to identify barriers and develop a barrier removal plan by 2026.

Status: In Progress

2024/205 Actions: As part of the BCMEA DEI Council’s DEI Audit Self-Assessment, we reviewed our current policies and practices to make sure we have an up-to-date Equal Employment Opportunity statement, our policies account for female work and minority work experience, we are actively complying with the duty to accommodate legislation, our employees have a mechanism for reporting workplace misconduct including a clear response process, and we actively adhere to pay equity legislation.

Publishing the inclusive policies is only the first step; our next step is to ensure they are being implemented and followed effectively. In partnership with the Waterfront DEI Council, we are hoping to develop a more in-depth self-assessment and employee DEI perceptions survey to better understand the impact that our policies have in practice on our work environment.

Goal 3: Launch a comprehensive employee communication campaign starting in 2023 to inform them of new accessibility policies and services available to them. Communications will include awareness of disability definitions and common barriers to accessibility.

Status: Ongoing

2023/2024 Actions: We have begun rolling out communication to our employees regarding our accessibility initiatives. We have started by defining disability and common barriers in the workplace to help inform our internal communication standards. This work is closely linked to our initiatives in “Area 4: Communications.”

2024/2025 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish, in partnership with our consultants, has launched a new Inclusive Communication Guide that promotes inclusive communication practices and standards. More details on the guide are provided in “Area 4: Communications” of this report.

These standards will support our ongoing efforts to share information about accessibility at SSA Marine Squamish and other SSA companies. Our goal for 2026 is to create a communication plan for all new accessibility initiatives that covers everything from approval to FAQ for employees and other stakeholders, where relevant.

Area 2: Built Environment

Goal 1: Create a physical environment that is free from barriers and provides safe access to all employees by:

1.1 Implementing training for all new employees during onboarding on the proper use of accessibility features throughout the facilities by December 2023.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: We have completed the “Accessibility Technology Guide” and posted it for employees on the SharePoint Hub. The Guide will be shared with new hires during onboarding to ensure all new employees are familiar with the accessibility features throughout the facilities. Further details on this are provided in “Area 3: Information & Communication Technologies.”

2024/2025 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish is in the process of integrating a new intranet site that will allow employees to access information, including policies, best practices, and guides, in an accessible digital environment. While in development, our HR team actively shares information about our “Accessible Technology Guide” and Accommodation process during onboarding for all new employees.

1.2 Conducting a formal inventory and list of upgrades for all common spaces, including but not limited to lunchrooms, washrooms, common areas, access points, and parking spaces that will need to be upgraded with accessibility features by December 2024.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: Our facilities team has engaged the Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF) to perform a full assessment of all SSA Marine’s locations. We are currently in the process of getting a quote from RHF for the assessment and gap analysis to identify best practice measures for accessible facilities.

Once the gap analysis has been completed and we understand what work will need to be done at each of our locations, our on-call contractors will provide a quote to complete the work. This will help us figure out the budget and timeline for making our buildings more accessible.

2024/2025 Actions: We worked with Universal Access Design, a Rick Hansen Certified (RHFAC) contractor to complete the accessibility assessment of our built environment. The Lead design consultant, Stan Leyenhorst, an RHFAC accredited consultant, provided valuable insights into enhancing accessibility.

We received a preliminary score of 579 /747 (78%), earning SSA Marine Squamish an Accessibility Certified designation. An additional 19 points would bring Lynnterm up to 80% and elevate the designation to Accessibility Certified Gold.

1.3 Establishing a priority list, budget and approvals for all accessibility upgrades by June 2025.

Status: In Progress

2023/2024 Actions: Once we have completed the consultation with the Rick Hansen Foundation, we will be able to provide an update on the anticipated budget and timeline for additional upgrades throughout the facility.

2024/2025 Actions: Based on the accessibility assessment results from Universal Access Design, budgets have been established and approved for our Squamish building. Our DEI Committee is currently reviewing the approved projects and working to establish a priority list. Examples of the projects we are committed to include:

Adding vertical signage for our designated accessible parking stalls
Installing signage at key decision points
Replacing doorknobs with levers for ease of use
Ensuring sit/stand desks are available for all staff
Construct a fully accessible washroom
Adding washroom identification signs at an appropriate height on the door
Adding additional grab bars in the accessible washrooms
Improving the emergency exit and evaluation instruction signage

1.4 Obtaining approval and establishing a timeline for the implementation of all accessibility upgrades by June 2026.

Status: In Progress

2024/2025 Actions: We are actively working on the accessibility improvements listed above. We have a targeted completion date of June 2026.

Area 3: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Actions

Goal 1: Ensure that all employees have access to the tools and systems they need to perform their job duties by:

1.1 Consulting with professionals with lived experience of disability to develop a formal process for employees to request adaptive technology for interpretation and accessibility by January 1, 2024.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish’s IT Onboarding Checklist form now includes a section for accessibility. The form is completed by HR and the new employee’s manager in consultation with the new employee to ensure any IT-related accessibility tools are provisioned in advance of the employee’s first day. Additionally, a new accessibility section has been added to the “IT Policies and Standard Operating Procedures,” which will be shared with employees during orientation.

2024/2025 Actions: Our HR team went through an orientation session to review and understand the Accessibility Technology Request process, the New Employee IT Checklist, and the Accessible Technology Guide. This will allow them to provide new employees with additional support during onboarding.

Now, when a new employee joins any of the SSA companies, they are provided with a New Employee Computer Orientation Checklist, which includes the Accessibility Technology Guide and a training video that walks them through the guide.

1.2 Establishing an understanding of employees’ need for adaptive technologies, then creating a budget for securing and implementing adaptive technologies requested by employees starting in 2024.

Identifying government programs that offer employers subsidies to provide adaptive technologies starting in 2024.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: The IT team at SSA Marine Squamish has included adaptive technologies, including Microsoft native software (Narrator/screen reader, Magnifier, Voice Access, Live Captions, Virtual Assistant) and accessible input devices (adaptive keyboards/mice) in their budget. These tools and systems can be made readily available for all our employees upon request.

2024/2025 Actions: This goal was completed in 2024, and no additional action has been taken since our last progress report.

1.3 Amending guidelines for fonts and colour schemes for all digitally published and broadcast communication materials by December 2024 and implementing the guidelines starting in 2025.

Status: In Progress

2023/2024 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish works with a 3^rd party vendor to develop and maintain our website. The vendor conducted a full accessibility audit in 2023 to ensure that we meet Web Content Accessibility Guide 2.1 AA standards. We continue to update our branding guidelines as needed and review them on an annual basis. Additionally, we have implemented standards on LinkedIn, our primary social sharing platform, to ensure alt tags are added to any image or attachment associated with a social post.

2024/2025 Actions: Our branding guidelines are now owned by our parent company, SSA, and our website has been updated to reflect the new brand standards. There are plans for SSA to review brand guidelines in Q2 2025. While the SSA Marine team will not own this project, we will aim to work with our parent company to consider accessibility when establishing new brand standards. We will be conducting another assessment of the website to confirm our WCAG 2.1 status.

We continue to use LinkedIn as our primary external communication channel and provide alt tags to all of our images and attachments.

Goal 2: Further understand the barriers that exist in our ICT infrastructure and ensure plans are in place to remove barriers where possible and upgrade our standards to WCAG 2.2 by:

2.1 Creating an internal ICT Accessibility Assessment tool by December 2023.

2023/2024 Actions: Our objective to create an internal ICT Accessibility Assessment tool has been delayed slightly to allow SSA Marine Squamish to work with the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and other leaders in the maritime industry to establish industry-wide standards for ICT Accessibility. The BCMEA published an industry-wide assessment tool in early 2024, which will allow us to remain on track for the other two elements of this goal.

2024/2025 Actions: The ICT Accessibility Audit tool was completed and made available to all BCMEA member companies in 2024.

2.2 Conducting an Accessibility Assessment of all ICT systems by December 2024.

Status: In Progress

2.3 Establishing actionable goals to address any barriers identified during the assessment by December 2025.

Status: Pending

Area 4: Communication, other than ICT

Actions

Goal 1: Develop and incorporate a communication standard designed to eliminate barriers and ensure accessibility from the outset by:

1.1 Establishing a best practice manual that incorporates accessible design principles and communication standards (e.g., plain language) for creating documents, presentations, memos, etc. for all published and broadcast communication materials by December 2024.

Status: Complete

2024/2025 Actions: In partnership with the BC Centre for Ability and Envol Solutions Inc., we developed SSA’s Inclusive Communication Guide. The Guide includes definitions for inclusive communication and accessibility, best practices for general inclusive communication in print and digital media, guidance on inclusive communication for face-to-face interactions, and details on creating communication materials such as slide decks, social media posts, and emails.

The Guide has been made available to all SSA employees through our SharePoint and was actively shared with employees directly responsible for communications, including marketing, human resources, and customer service.

1.2 Providing regular training for key stakeholders on effective communication strategies for accessible communication starting in 2024.

Status: Completed & Ongoing

2024/2025 Actions: Following the publication of SSA’s Inclusive Communication Guide, we launched our first live Inclusive Communication training sessions. This session was designed for employees directly responsible for communications, including marketing, human resources, and customer service.

The session was recorded and will be made available to all employees and provided during onboarding for new employees.

1.3 Collecting feedback from employees and the public regarding our overall communication strategy and the level of accessibility starting in 2026.

Status: Pending

Goal 2: Ensure that all employees have access to training opportunities and career advancement by:

2.1 Establishing a process for employees to request accommodations in advance of training sessions to ensure that training platforms and materials are accessible by December 2023.

Status: Complete

Our plan to set up training to help employees who need accommodations for training has been pushed into 2024. As mentioned in “Area 1: Employment,” SSA Marine Squamish is collaborating with the BC Maritime Employers Association and other employers on the Vancouver Waterfront to create a standard for accommodations across the industry. Although this delay affects our policy rollout, we think having an industry-wide standard will provide a more consistent experience for all employees working on the Vancouver waterfront.

2024/2025 Actions: We have now published our new Accommodation Policy and provided specific instructions for employees to request an accommodation for training purposes. When employees are invited to a training session or a new training is made available, employees are reminded of the policy and that they may request accommodation for each specific training.

Area 5: Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities

Actions

Goal 1: Incorporate accessibility as a key component in the procurement of goods, services and facilities by:

1.1 Including accessibility consideration in the development of a Responsible Procurement policy by December 2026.

Status: In Progress

2023/2024 Actions: SSA Marine Squamish is in the process of establishing a new Enterprise Resource Planning tool that will need to be taken into consideration when revising our Procurement Policy.

2024/2025 Actions: The new Enterprise Resource Planning tool was implemented in 2024 and is now available for all our Canadian entities. Additionally, a new global procurement and purchasing process is being set up by our parent company. We are in the beginning stages of creating an internal purchasing department that will own this process.

1.2 Establishing a formal process to re-evaluate agreements with existing vendors to address barriers that exist in the procurement process and delivery of those goods, services and facilities by December 2026.

Status: Pending

Area 6: Design and Delivery of Programs and Services

Actions

Goal 1: SSA Marine Squamish aims to provide accessible communication with our customers to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of programs and services.

1.1 Training all our customer-facing employees on accessible communication standards informed by subject matter experts starting in 2024.

Status: Complete

2023/2024 Actions: Customers generally do not have direct access to many of the services provided by Squamish Terminals for safety and security reasons. The services are performed by trained professionals in labour-intensive roles with bona fide occupational requirements. As such, accessibility has not been a priority in the design and delivery of programs and services.

2024/2025 Actions: Our public-facing employees were provided accessibility training through Envol Solutions. Additional sessions will be held on an ongoing basis to ensure employees stay up to date on their training and any new employees receive training.

Area 7: Transportation

SSA Marine Squamish operates under the jurisdiction of Transport Canada and is subject to the accessibility requirements outlined in the Canada Transportation Act. We are not, however, involved in the transportation of the public.

Where we work with carriers, including other entities of SSA, SSA Marine Squamish will facilitate, promote, and encourage high standards of accessibility and the removal of barriers.

FEEDBACK

In the first year following the publication of SSA Marine Squamish’s Accessibility Plan, we did not receive any feedback from employees, customers, or the general public. As such, we were unable to incorporate any feedback into our first Progress Report.

In an effort to be more proactive in our collection of feedback, we have started to identify opportunities to seek feedback from employees in a more ongoing process. We integrated two:

Asking new employees about accessibility during their onboarding process
Asking general diversity, equity, and inclusion questions as part of our Great Places to Work annual survey.

Onboarding Feedback

Our onboarding survey asks new employees the following questions:

How would you rate your overall onboarding experience so far?
Did you feel adequately prepared on your first day?
Were all necessary tools, equipment, and access set up and ready for you?
How would you rate the clarity and usefulness of the training materials or resources provided?
Do you have a clear understanding of your role and responsibilities?
Were the goals and expectations for your position clearly communicated?
Did you have an opportunity to meet and connect with your team members and relevant colleagues?
How clearly was our commitment to accessibility communicated to you during onboarding?
Did you find information about requesting accommodations easy to locate?
What could we have done to make your onboarding experience better?

Between June 2023 and June 2025, SSA Marine Squamish onboarded 1 employee. Unfortunately, in that time, we did not receive any specific feedback from employees regarding accessibility.

Great Places to Work Survey

The Great Places to Work (GPTW) Survey examines multiple aspects of our business from the employee’s perspective, including equity, fairness, and justice. Examples of the questions asked in the survey include:

This is a psychologically and emotionally healthy place to work.
People here are treated fairly regardless of their age.
I can be myself around here.
People here are treated fairly regardless of their race.
People care about each other here.
Our facilities contribute to a good working environment.
People here are treated fairly regardless of their sexual orientation.
Management shows a sincere interest in me as a person, not just an employee.
I am treated as a full member here regardless of my position.
I am able to take time off from work when I think it’s necessary.

While the questions posed in the GPTW Survey are more general, we feel that there are some valuable insights from the results that can help inform the level of overall accessibility at SSA Marine Squamish and SSA as a whole.

Between 2023 and 2024, SSA saw an improvement in our scores across equity, fairness, and justice:

Equity: +5 points from 56% to 61%
Fairness: +5 points from 65% to 70%
Justice: +7 points from 75% to 82%

We believe that these results show SSA’s dedication to improving our employee experience for all employees, including those with disabilities.

Collecting feedback specifically on the Accessibility Plan, Progress Reports, and overall accessibility at SSA Marine Squamish has been a challenge. We are actively working internally and with our partners at the Waterfront DEI Council to build out new mechanisms for collecting feedback.

CONSULTATIONS

Summary

Understanding the lived experience of people with disabilities is a key factor in the development of our Accessibility Plan and our first Progress Report. The Government of Canada’s Accessibility Strategy starts with the guiding principle, “Nothing without us”. These plans and strategies cannot meaningfully progress accessibility without input and guidance from people with disabilities. SSA Marine Squamish worked with the British Columbia Centre for Ability (BCCFA) in the review and development of our Progress Report.

Consultation Process

We provided the BCCFA with a draft of our Plan for their review. We followed this with a live session to discuss the impact and significance of our goals towards creating an accessible workplace and experience for our employees, customers and the public.

The session was hosted via Teams on April 16, 2025, with the BCCFA. We inquired about any accommodations that could be made to support the full engagement and participation of the BCCFA consulting team in advance of the meeting.

During the consultation session, each priority area of the Plan was discussed and accompanied by a presentation visible to all participants.

Results

During the consultation session, each of SSA Marine Squamish’s goals and corresponding actions that have been taken over the last year to progress our Accessibility Plan forward were discussed. We asked the members of the BCCFA team the following questions about each action:

Is the action written clearly and easy to understand?
What are your initial impressions of the actions we have taken?
Do you feel that the actions adequately address the needs of people with disabilities?
Will the action taken have a positive impact?
Is there an alternative action that would have a better impact?
Are there any additional actions that you would suggest we take at this time?

The BCCFA offered strong support for the accessibility plan and shared a few thoughtful suggestions to enhance it further. They recommended noting that the BCCFA is subscribed to SSA Marine Squamish’s job alerts, which could demonstrate a direct link to the disability community and show proactive recruitment efforts. We have added this to our plan and will continue to work with the BCCFA to identify appropriate roles to share with their network.

They also encouraged us to consider using “gender” instead of “sex” in future demographic data collection, noting that this terminology is more inclusive and aligns with best practices. Lastly, they suggested exploring potential funding opportunities for accessibility-related upgrades, such as signage, to support our ongoing efforts to improve accessibility at SSA Marine Squamish as quickly as possible. We are looking into these options and will consider how to implement them into future activity.

Further Consultations

To truly exemplify the notion of “Nothing Without Us”, SSA Marine Squamish aims to conduct a more robust consultation process. Our goal is to work with additional organizations, collect testimonials and feedback from our employees and customers, and survey the public (where applicable) for future updates and republications of our Accessibility Plan.