WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY

The North Candles cares deeply about the customer experience of everyone, regardless of disabilities. This is why The North Candles has adopted the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA as its Web Accessibility standard for the shopping experience on thenorthcandles.com

If you have any trouble accessing information or services on thenorthcandles.com, please contact us. Please specify the nature of the accessibility issue and the assistive technology you use. This will help us in our ongoing effort to deliver a great customer experience for all our customers.

COMPLIANCE WITH THE ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

The North Candles is committed to providing a barrier-free environment for our customers:

INTEGRATED ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS REGULATION: STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT, POLICY AND PLAN

ONTARIO STORES ONLY

This policy and plan formalizes The North Candles commitment to accessibility, and outlines those steps that The North Candles will take to remove barriers and improve opportunities for people with disabilities through compliance with the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (the “Integrated Standard”).

STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT:

The North Candles is committed to treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. The North Candles believes in integration and equal opportunity, is committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner, and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility and meeting the accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.

POLICY AND PLAN:

General:

The North Candles provides training on the requirements of the Integrated Standard and on the Ontario Human Rights Code as it relates to people with disabilities. The North Candles takes the following steps to ensure that training is provided to all of our employees, volunteers and those persons who develop our policies and provide goods, services of facilities on our behalf:

• develops and consolidates training materials that address the requirements of the Integrated Standard, including information about achieving accessibility by 2025 and on the disability-related regulations obligations under the Human Rights Code;
• reviews the duties of those individuals that require training, and tailors the training to be appropriate for such duties;
• delivers the training via a method that is appropriate for the audience and the needs of The North Candles;
• keeps a record detailing those employees that were trained and when; and
• ensures that new employees are trained as soon as practicable after being hired and when The North Candles accessibility policies change.

At this time, The North Candles does not utilize kiosks. However, should the use of kiosks become a part of The North Candles business in the future, we will ensure that our employees consider the needs of people with disabilities when designing, procuring or acquiring self-service kiosks.

Information and Communication:

The North Candles is committed to meeting the communication needs of people with disabilities.

The North Candles is ensures that our existing processes for receiving and responding to feedback are accessible to people with disabilities upon request.

The North Candles ensures that, upon request, we provide or arrange for the provision of publicly available information that is in respect of our goods, services or facilities in an accessible format and at a cost that is not more than that charged to others by:

• consulting with the person making the request to determine the most appropriate accessible format or communication support, given the needs of the person, whether the content is convertible and The North Candles capability;
• providing the accessible format or communication support in a timely manner and at no additional cost; and
• notifying the public about the availability of accessible formats and communication supports.

The North Candles has enacted a process to provide its customers and clients with publicly available emergency procedures, plans or public safety information in an accessible way, as soon as practicable upon request.

The North Candles is committed to meeting the communication needs of people with disabilities, and undertakes significant effort in the hopes that all of its new websites and new web content on those sites conform with WCAG 2.0, Level AA. Online content is always changing, however, and compliance with WCAG standards is therefore a continuous process. We monitor our website regularly for compliance with the WCAG standards and we diligently work to quickly rectify errors or omissions when they are identified.

Employment:

The North Candles is committed to fair and accessible employment practices. We:

• notify the public and our staff that we will accommodate people with disabilities during the recruitment process, either through our website, via a recruiter or the applicable job posting, as applicable;
• notify job applicants, when they are individually selected to participate in an assessment or selection process, that accommodations are available upon request in relation to the materials or processes to be utilized;
• consult with job applicants who request accommodation to support them through the recruitment, selection and/or assessment process and take into account their needs, so that the accommodations provided are effective; and
• notify the successful applicant of The North Candles policies for accommodating our employees with disabilities.

The North Candles informs our employees of the policies used to support employees with disabilities, including, but not limited to, policies on the provision of job accommodations that take into account an employee’s accessibility needs due to disability, by:

• consulting with our employees with disabilities to determine those accessible formats or communication supports that may be of assistance, and how such accommodation may be provided; and
• providing the information as soon as practicable after commencement of employment, and updates whenever there is a change to the policies.

The North Candles has provided individualized workplace emergency response information to our employees with disabilities, if the disability is such that the individualized information is necessary and The North Candles is aware of the need for accommodation.

The North Candles has developed and put in place a process for the creation of individual accommodation plans for those employees who have been absent from work due to a disability. This process shall be implemented by:

• considering how employees with disabilities will participate in the development of their accommodation plan and what the plans may include;
• establishing where the plans will be stored and what steps will be taken to protect the privacy of employee information; and
• determining when and how the individual accommodation plans will be reviewed and updated.

The North Candles has developed and put in place a documented return to work process for those employees who have been absent from work due to a disability and require disability-related accommodation in order to return to work. This process outlines the steps that The North Candles takes to facilitate the return to work of the applicable employees and the use of individual documented accommodation plans.

The North Candles takes into account the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities (as well as their individual accommodation plans) when implementing its performance management process. This is achieved by:

• reviewing an individual’s accommodation plan to understand their needs and determine whether it should be adjusted to improve job performance;
• providing performance-management related documents in accessible formats; and
• providing informal and formal coaching and feedback in a manner that takes into account an employee’s disability.

The North Candles takes into account the accessibility needs of its employees with disabilities (as well as their individual accommodation plans) when providing career development, advancement, or redeployment. This may occur through the consideration of what accommodations employees with disabilities may need to succeed elsewhere within our organization, to take on new responsibilities in a current role, or when redeployment has become necessary.

Design of Public Spaces

At the present time, The North Candles does not plan on developing or redeveloping any of its public spaces, as defined in the Design of Public Spaces Standard. However, should it choose to do so, this policy and plan will be revised to include the requirements thereunder and how we will achieve compliance.

Going Forward:

The North Candles will endeavour to identify and remove accessibility barriers going forward.

Document updated effective: June 2021.

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

The North Candles Customer Service Policy: Providing Goods and Services to People with Disabilities

Purpose: The goal of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the “Act” or “AODA”) is to create a more accessible Ontario, by identifying, and to the extent possible, preventing, and eliminating barriers experienced by persons with a disability. The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (the “Standard”) has been established under the Act to ensure goods and services are, where possible, equally accessible to every member of the public.

Commitment to accessibility: We at The North Candles are committed to providing a barrier- free environment for our customers. The objective of this policy (the “Policy”) is to ensure we meet the requirements of the Standard and promote the underlying core principles of the Act. We are committed to developing customer service policies and practices that respect and promote the dignity and independence of people with disabilities.

The North Candles strives to provide its goods and services in a way that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are also committed to giving people with disabilities the same opportunity to access our goods and services and allowing them to benefit from the same services, in the same place and in a similar way as other customers.

Core Principles of the Policy: We endeavour to ensure that the Policy and related practices and procedures are consistent with the following four principles:

1. Dignity – Persons with a disability must be treated as valued customers as deserving of service as any other customer.

2. Equality of Opportunity – Persons with a disability should be given an opportunity equal to that given to others to obtain, use and benefit from our goods and services.

3. Integration – Wherever possible, persons with a disability should benefit from our goods and services in the same or similar place and in the same or similar manner as any other customer. In circumstances where integration does not serve the needs of the person with a disability, goods and services will, to the extent possible, be provided in another way that takes into account the person’s individual needs.

4. Independence – Goods and services must be provided in a way that respects the independence of persons with a disability. To this end, we will always be willing to assist a person with a disability but will not do so without the express permission of the person.

Application: This Policy applies to all staff and customers of The North Candles in Ontario and all other persons who are otherwise governed by the Act.

Practices, Procedures and Training: The North Candles is committed to communicating with and serving our customers in a manner that demonstrates our commitment to accessibility. Customers with assistive devices, support people or service animals are welcome in our stores, subject only to applicable law. The North Candles is committed to providing training to store staff on serving customers with disabilities, and will document and report such training in compliance with the Act.

Notice of temporary disruption: The North Candles will provide customers with notice in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption in the facilities or services usually used by people with disabilities. This notice will include information about the reason for the disruption, its anticipated duration, and a description of alternative facilities or services, if available. The notice may be placed at public entrances and service counters on our premises.

Feedback process: Comments on our services to customers with disabilities are welcome and appreciated. Feedback regarding the way The North Candles provides goods and services to people with disabilities can be made.