Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Enabling Accessibility Fund
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGM04 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Social Development
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) provides funding to increase physical accessibility and eliminate barriers in communities and workplaces across Canada under two streams: the Workplace Accessibility Stream and the Community Accessibility Stream.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enabling Accessibility Fund | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $301M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: Number of communities with funded projects | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators dropped: Number of community spaces and workplaces that are more accessible due to Enabling Accessibility Fund funding. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators added: Number of community spaces and workspaces that are more accessible due to Enabling Accessibility Fund funding. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators dropped: Number of communities with funded projects | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $82M, against $25.6M in 2020-21 (+221%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Employees (FTEs) 63, against 31 in 2021-22 (+103%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023 | Budget 2023 measure “Enabling Accessibility Fund”: $10M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2023, PDF page 168 |
| 2023-24 | Employees (FTEs) 25, against 63 in 2022-23 (−60%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $27M, against $89.4M in 2022-23 (−70%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators added: Number of community spaces and workplaces that are more accessible due to Enabling Accessibility Fund funding. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators dropped: Number of community spaces and workspaces that are more accessible due to Enabling Accessibility Fund funding. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $15.7M, against $23.3M in 2027-28 (−33%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 637 | 2019 | 473 Of the 473 Enabling Accessibility Fund projects, 420 were small projects and 53 were youth driven projects. The number of projects supported in fiscal year 2018 to 2019 was less than expected. The maximum funding amount eligible under the calls for proposals was increased to $100,000 from $50,000 which resulted in fewer projects approved. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 400 | 2020 | 376 Because of a Budget 2019 commitment, the program transferred $1 million to the Social Development Partnership Program – Disability component to help produce new accessible reading materials. While this resulted in a slightly lower number of funded projects than projected, the program still achieved 94% of its target. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 400 | 2022 | 1,290 The results are significantly higher than the target due to additional funding received through Budget 2021: $129.2M ($58M in Grants & Contributions for 2021-2022) to the Enabling Accessibility Fund, specifically: $45.5M supported an additional 623 small projects from the 2020 Call for Proposals inventory; $12.5M supported at least 225 small projects specifically in Early Learning and Child Care. | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 870 | 2023 | 1,048 The average value of small and youth-driven projects was lower than anticipated which allowed the program to fund 20% more projects. | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 316 | 2024 | 437 The average value of youth-led projects was lower than anticipated which allowed the program to fund 38% more projects. | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 287 | 2025 | 425 The EAF program received additional funds from lapsed programs which allowed the EAF to fund 48% more projects than initially targeted. | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 200 | 2021 | 175 The program funded fewer communities in 2020-2021 due partly to the removal of the leveraging requirement under the 2020 Small Projects Component CFP. In the past, the program has used leveraging in order to fund more projects, in more communities, requiring organizations to fund 25% to 50% of their project. The removal of the requirement means that more funding is provided to successful applican… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 139 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $22.8M | $22.4M |
| 2019-20 | $22.5M | $21.4M |
| 2020-21 | $22.5M | $25.6M |
| 2021-22 | $22.8M | $82M |
| 2022-23 | $84.8M | $89.4M |
| 2023-24 | $22.8M | $27M |
| 2024-25 | $28M | $33M |
| 2025-26 | $28.1M | — |
| 2026-27 | $23.3M | — |
| 2027-28 | $23.3M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $15.7M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 18 | 17 |
| 2019-20 | 18 | 21 |
| 2020-21 | 18 | 18 |
| 2021-22 | 19 | 31 |
| 2022-23 | 72 | 63 |
| 2023-24 | 19 | 25 |
| 2024-25 | 24 | 33 |
| 2025-26 | 24 | — |
| 2026-27 | 18 | — |
| 2027-28 | 18* | — |
| 2028-29 | 13* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $22,807,476 | $22,807,476 | $22,807,476 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $22,529,297 | $22,529,297 | $22,529,297 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $22,525,627 | $22,525,627 | $22,525,627 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $22,778,380 | $22,779,074 | $22,779,074 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $84,799,955 | $22,767,000 | $22,767,000 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $22,771,620 | $22,771,620 | $22,771,620 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $27,995,205 | $28,029,110 | $23,269,630 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $28,067,741 | $23,300,592 | $23,300,592 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $23,282,056 | $23,276,476 | $15,681,173 | ||||||||
| Actual | $22,424,879 | $21,388,175 | $25,566,853 | $81,993,882 | $89,421,401 | $27,011,190 | $32,987,393 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
