OVERVIEW

About Fibreco Export Inc.

Fibreco Export Inc. is one of the largest wood biomass handling terminals in the world and we recently enhanced our terminal to accommodate the export of agricultural products to Europe and Asia. Fibreco’s efficient rail delivery logistics coordination, dry bulk storage, and loading processes are integral to our business, providing a high level of value-added service for our customers to ensure a low cost and efficient supply chain from source to vessel. Our strategic location on the north shore of Burrard Inlet in North Vancouver, B.C. provides our clients with the advantage of efficient rail access within Canada and convenient marine access to international markets.

Our unwavering dedication to our people and community is the driving force behind our introduction of the Accessibility Plan.

Requirements & Standards as per ACA

As a federally regulated company, Fibreco is governed by the Accessible Canada Act (ACA). The Accessible Canada Act is a Canadian federal legislation that aims to enhance accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities in Canada. It establishes standards for accessibility, promotes compliance, and ensures accountability through the implementation of regulations and enforcement mechanisms. The goal is to create a barrier-free Canada where all individuals, regardless of their abilities, can fully participate in society.

The Act requires that organizations:

• Prepare and publish an initial Accessibility Plan.
• Set up feedback process.
• Prepare and publish reports on a regular basis.

Our Accessibility Plan must be reviewed in its entirety and published every three years.

GENERAL

Accessibility Statement

Fibreco Export Inc. is devoted to recognizing and resolving accessibility barriers that minimize the participation of individuals with disabilities in our offices. We are steadfast in engaging the public, our staff, and community partners and consultants to prevent the emergence of new challenges while striving for enhanced accessibility.

Accessibility Committee

The current individual overseeing our Accessibility Plan comprises of:

Bal Mann
Fibreco Exports Inc.

Feedback

For more information, to provide feedback, or to request alternative formats of this Plan, please reach out to Bal Mann through one of the below methods:

• Website:
• Email: feedback@fibreco.com
• Mail: Fibreco Export Inc. 1209 McKeen Avenue North Vancouver, B.C., Canada V7P 3H9
• Telephone: (604) 980-6543

Alternative Formats

Fibreco’s Accessibility Plan may be available in the following formats upon request:

• Print
• Large Print
• Electronic
• Audio

A Braille copy may be requested by using one of the below methods:

• By email at – feedback@fibreco.com
• By phone at – (604) 980-6543

PLAN OVERVIEW

This plan applies to Fibreco’s operating location in North Vancouver. It outlines our strategy for identifying and eliminating obstacles in the below areas:

1. Employment
2. The built environment
3. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
4. Communication, other that ICT
5. The procurement of goods, services, and facilities
6. The design and delivery of programs and services
7. Transportation

Area 1: Employment

Fibreco highly regards the diversity within its workforce and endeavors to create an inclusive and supportive environment that caters to the needs of all its employees.

Accessibility Commitment

Fibreco has a lot of jobs that are very labor-intensive with bona fide occupational requirements, and so, our accessibility efforts have been limited. Our goal is to assess our current policies and introduce an inclusive and accommodating environments for all our employees.

Current Level of Accessibility

Fibreco values a diverse workforce and strives to resolve any barriers to not only our current employees, but also to all future employees.

Commitments

1. Incorporate additional methods to attract and hire candidates, with the goal of improving job prospects and career advancement for people with disabilities by:
   • Examining current Recruitment and accessibility policies to strive towards complete integration of accessibility and prominently offering accommodations in all our recruitment processes by December 2024.
   • Using specialized job platforms designed for individuals with disabilities, consulting with community-based organizations, and expanding our outreach efforts in the hiring process by December 2024.
2. Ensuring that the workplace environment is secure, inclusive, and accessible for employees with disabilities by implementing appropriate measures:
   • Offering unconscious bias training to all department managers, executives, and HR personnel by December 2025.
   • Implementing a feedback process for current employees to be able to provide comments regarding accessibility in the workplace by December 2025.
   • Conducting a review of all existing HR systems and policies to determine any obstacles to career progress by December 2025.
3. Incorporate a statement that encourages applicants to request accommodation during the application process is built into each job posting and all forms of communications during the recruitment process by December 2024.

Area 2: Built Environment

Accessibility Commitment

Fibreco’s office was built in 1977 and has not been updated in a while. It is worth noting that since most jobs in the company are labour-intensive with bona fide occupational requirements. We recognize that accessibility has not been our top priority, but we aim to focus on creating a barrier-free workplace for our workforce.

Current Level of Accessibility

Fibreco provides accommodation for employees wherever possible per the safety standard of each job performed. Currently, Fibreco’s office buildings and common spaces are not accessible. We welcome this opportunity to take a big leap towards a barrier free workplace.

Commitments

1. Establish an environment devoid of obstacles and ensuring safe accessibility for all employees by:
   • Creating a plan to assess the needs for upgrades in the North Vancouver office building and the common spaces (ramps, washrooms, lunchrooms, parking spaces) by December 2024.
   • Creating and approving a budget required for the upgrades by June 2025.
   • Take feedback from current employees when creating the above list.

Area 3: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Accessibility Commitment

The primary objective of Fibreco is to equip all employees with the essential tools and systems to perform their job duties and identify any digital barriers. The company will maintain continuous monitoring of our online accessibility.

Current Level of Accessibility

Fibreco has adopted a proactive stance to provide all employees with the requisite hardware and software for fulfilling their job duties. We rely on our IT provider Happier IT.

All employees can request any technological accommodation they may need, such as standing desks, screen magnification, screen reader, software for voice-to-text conversion, and other adaptive technologies.

Commitment

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

• Consulting current employees and community-based organizations that support persons with disabilities and lived experience.
• Developing a formal process for employees to request adaptive technology for interpretation and accessibility by December 2024.
• Creating and approving a budget based on the current need for adaptive technology by June 2025.
• Assess WCAG 2.1 standards periodically as adaptive technology evolves.

Area 4: Communication, other than ICT

Accessibility Commitment

Fibreco has always aimed to provide clear and concise dialogue with all stakeholders. All policies are crafted in clear and succinct terms to ensure comprehension by employees at every level. Employees are encouraged to offer feedback and communicate any obstacles they encounter to their managers or HR.

Commitments

1. Develop and incorporate a communication protocol focused on eliminating barriers and ensuring inclusivity by:
   • Training all managers and HR staff on effective communication techniques, with a particular focus on accessible communication strategies by December 2025.
   • Collecting feedback from employees regarding our current level of accessibility by April 2025.
   • Setting attainable goals informed by employee input to improve the inclusiveness of our communication strategy by December 2025
2. By December 2026, ensure all policies may be available upon request in alternative formats by such as:
   • Large Print
   • Audio Formats
   • Accessible PDFs
   • Plain Text
   • Easy Read
   • Braille
   • Video (sign language, descriptive video, close captioning)

Area 5: Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities

Accessibility Commitment

Fibreco upholds and advocates for an inclusive and barrier-free environment. Consequently, we aim to collaborate with vendors who share these values, are owned, and operated by individuals with disabilities, and/or have established accessibility goals.

Current Level of Accessibility

Currently, Fibreco has not made a deliberate effort to prioritize accessibility when procuring goods, services, and facilities.

Commitments

1. Incorporate accessibility as a central element in the procurement of goods, services, and facilities by:
   • Conduct internal audit of vendors by developing a survey for them by December 2025.
   • Establish a formal process to choose vendors which takes accessibility into account when selecting vendors to procure goods, services, and facilities by December 2026.

Area 6: Design and Delivery of Programs and Services

Accessibility Commitment

Fibreco is not a customer-facing business. Our goal is to always provide our customers with a barrier-free experience when interacting with us in all capacities.

Current Level of Accessibility

As previously stated, Fibreco is not engaged in customer-facing operations, and therefore, there is no need for our customers to be physically present at any stage of our trading processes. Nevertheless, we recognize the significance of digital accessibility in the modern era and are committed to establishing an environment free of barriers.

Commitments

1. Incorporate accessibility as a pivotal aspect for customers or visitors opting to visit our offices by:
   • Ensuring all visitors to our site are encouraged to request accommodation that they might need.
   • Fibreco Export may investigate publishing all our accessibility information on our public website.
   • Train all customer-facing roles to be able to provide information to customers promptly.

Area 7: Transportation

Accessibility Commitment

Fibreco Export is a logistics provider and therefore we do not provide transportation to the general public. Our goal is to limit barriers and support our employees while they are on duty.

Current Level of Accessibility

To make our yard more accessible, Fibreco Export has well-marked directions to ensure the safety of trucks in the yard.

Commitments

1. Encourage employees who work in the yard to provide feedback on what accommodations they may need to do carry out their responsibilities in a safe manner by December 2024.
   • Creating an actionable plan based on the findings of the feedback by December 2025.
   • Accessible signage in multiple languages displaying important information by December 2025.
   • Provide managers and staff with any training that they may need.

CONSULTATIONS

Summary

Understanding the lived experience of people with disabilities is a key factor in the development of our Accessibility Plan, and therefore, Fibreco Export consulted with BC Centre for Abilities (BC CFA) which a community-based organization that works to make communities inclusive where persons with diverse abilities thrive at all stages of life.

Consultation Process

Below are the steps of the consultation process:

1. Emailed the final ACA Plan to consultants from BC CFA
2. A zoom call with Mike Taculad from BC CFA
3. Making changes to the plan as per advice received

CONCLUSION

Fibreco is committed to this Accessibility Plan and its ongoing efforts and improvements in identifying, removing, and preventing barriers to accessibility in various priority areas.