Progreso Plan Accesibilidad

General

Summary

SAAM Towage Canada Inc. is the Canadian branch of SAAM Towage, a division of the SAAM Group, which is a multinational conglomerate employing over 4,000 people. The division provides towage services in over 13 countries across the Americas. For over 80 years, SAAM Towage Canada and its predecessor entities have operated in British Columbia, focusing on harbour towage and tanker escorts. Serving nine ports—Vancouver, New Westminster, Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Stewart, Squamish, Port Moody, Port McNeill, and Port Mellon—SAAM Towage Canada operates 26 tugs, each with a capacity of up to 85 tons of bollard pull. We serve these ports out of 3 regions: Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Port MacNeill. Last year we acquired two electric tugboats, highlighting our commitment to innovation and sustainability while playing a crucial role in sustaining the global food and essential resources supply chain.

SAAM Towage invests significantly in the continuous professional development of its employees. We encourage our workforce to engage in ongoing training and skill enhancement, reflecting the strong loyalty between the company and its dedicated personnel. In line with our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we offer an Indigenous Internship program providing 2-4 opportunities annually for members of Indigenous communities to become familiar with the industry. Most of our Indigenous crew members come from this initiative. During 2024, we also introduced a Female Internship program, offering 2 spots for women and were able to bring one female to become a Full-Time crew member. We activated our Accessibility Plan, and though our consultations within our employees haven’t had the reply we hoped for, we keep on seeking advice from organizations that can ensure our plans are sound and include participation of people with disabilities.

At December 2024, SAAM Towage employed 165 full-time staff members and continues to experience substantial growth. This Accessibility Plan specifically applies to SAAM Towage Canada Inc. employees, both onshore and at sea, and includes all SAAM Towage Canada subsidiaries, namely SAAM Towage Vancouver Inc., and Standard Towing Ltd.

Feedback

Feedback on our Accessibility Plan is offered through several means:

By filling out our survey: ACCESSIBILITY FEEDBACK

By clicking on a QR Code that leads the employee to the above survey. The QR Code is printed and displayed on whiteboards in all locations.

Employees were informed that additional format requests could be provided by sending an email to Alternative Accessibility Plan Format Request

Email: hrcanada@saamtowage.com

Phone: 604.252.2800

Address: 411-1930 Pandora Street – Vancouver, BC V5L 0C7

Formats

The following forms are available: Prints, Lage Print, Audio, Braille

Accessibility Committee

Steering committee:

1. HR Manager: Magda Diaz

2. SHEQ Officer: Katrina Bews

3. HR Coordinator: Diana Rios

4. VP Finance: Peter Byland

5. Operations Manager: Alex Irwin

Actions

Employment

• We commit to providing support to employees with disabilities and promoting an inclusive culture.
  • Action 1: Annually promote the disclosure of disabilities and encourage disclosure during onboarding.
    Progress 1: 5 individuals self-identified as having a disability. 5 individuals agreed to participate in focus groups.
  • Action 2: Develop an Accessibility Policy by June 2025.
    Progress 2: Draft Policy in final stage of approval
• We commit to incorporating accessibility into recruitment practices.
  • Action 1: Identify positions that can accommodate disabilities and reach out to specific groups by December 2024.
    Progress 1: It has been identified that all administrative positions located at our Administrative Office can be performed by individuals with varied degrees of disability to the point of undue hardship. These positions are widely advertised.
  • Action 2: Develop a request process for accommodations for interviews and identify internship opportunities by June 2025.
    Progress 2: A formal paragraph has been added to all of our interview invitations. During pre-screening we also communicated about the availability of accommodation for interviews:

    If you require any accommodations for the interview, please let us know in advance by replying to this invitation.

    Internship Opportunities haven’t been identified yet.

Additional Actions Identified during New Employees Onboarding:

• • Action 3: Include an EDI statement in our Job Postings
    Progress 3: All Job Postings have an EDI statement during the first few paragraphs of the posting as follows:SAAM Towage Canada is committed to Employment Equity, supports diversity in the workplace, and encourages applications from all qualified individuals including women, members of visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and persons with disabilities.

Built Environment

• We commit to providing accessible signage and website tools.
  • Action 1: Review and update signage for accessibility by the end of 2025.
    Progress 1: As of May 30, 2025

Next Steps 1: Investigate Budget Constrains for those items still outstanding and prioritize items for implementation during 2026.

• • Action 1.5: Ensure website accessibility by June 2025 – See items below:
    Progress 1.5:

• • Text alternatives (alt text) have been added to many images on the Canada pages, although there are still some missing. The content team has been asked to provide descriptions, and all new content has alt text added. 🟡
  • Most videos currently lack captions or transcripts. Editing and budgeting for these updates are under consideration.
  • The site is responsive (adaptable to different devices).
  • The design team is working on providing keyboard accessibility for all buttons. 🟡
  • Visual contrast was done when the site was first designed. Pictograms need to meet the minimum requirements for users with visual impairments.
  • No audio versions of written content are currently available. Investigating the use of AI for high traffic areas.
  • Emergency content review has not yet been completed for seizure-inducing elements.
  • The website currently lacks tools for users with input errors (e.g., form guidance or chatbot support).  Investigating supplier, implementation and budget.
  • Navigable: Compliant
  • Readable and Predictable: Compliant
  • Input Assistance:  Investigating supplier, implementation and budget.

Next Steps 1.5:
Planned improvements include updating all image alt text, prioritizing video captioning moving forward, improving keyboard navigation, and ensuring compliance with high-contrast standards. Progress to be studied by December 2025.

• We commit to investigating specific positions for accommodation.
  • Action1: Review positions and ensure budget availability for accommodation by October 2024.
    Progress 1: Ongoing meetings with Department Heads have identified that all administrative positions could be accommodated to the point of undue hardship.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

• We commit to providing accessibility tools.
• • Action 1: Train employees to create accessible documents by December 2024 and ensure website accessibility.
    Progress 1: Employees with positions which require high document output have been trained on the creation of accessible documents.Nex Steps 1: Creation of a Moodle Course to ensure adhesion and proper training is ongoing.

• • Action 2: Review existing software and set accessibility as a requirement for new implementations by December 2025.
    Progress 2: As of 2025, including Accessibility as a requirement during procurement or RFPs.Nex Steps 2: Check on progress

Communication (Non-ICT)

• We commit to providing communication tools for face-to-face meetings.
• • Action 1: Follow guidelines for inclusive meetings and train presenters on best practices by December 2024.
    Progress 1: Training to presenters done.Nex Steps 1: Seek other video courses that could compliment and reinforce knowledge to ensure adhesion to the principles is ongoing.

Procurement of Goods, Services, and Facilities

• We commit to incorporating accessibility in procurement whenever feasible.
• • Action 1: Develop a Responsible Procurement policy by December 2026 and re-evaluate vendor agreements.
    Progress 1: Ongoing

Design and Delivery of Programs and Services

• We commit to training client-facing employees.
  • Action 1: Provide training to HR and hiring managers by June 2025.
    Progress 1: Ongoing – Video assigned through Citation CanadaNext Steps 1: Keep on training all new client-facing employees.
• We commit to considering the impact on people with disabilities in new programs and policies.
  • Action 1: Annually review policies for their impact on people with disabilities
    Progress 1: Ongoing

Transportation

• We commit to accommodating transportation needs.
  • Action 1: Inform candidates of accommodation options for interviews and support employees’ transportation needs if requested by December 2025.
    Progress 1: Since January 2024, any invitation for in-person interviews comes with a paragraph informing candidates of the process for requesting accommodation.

Consultations

During our self-identification survey, five employees declared a disability. We shared this document with them and engaged them in one-to-one conversations for additional feedback.

During Onboarding and Exit Interviews, specific questions about which other items we can considered to remove barriers for people with disabilities are asked to keep on informing and improving our plan.

No additional feedback was provided through our ongoing methods (Survey, email, phone) for specific Accessibility Feedback.

We offer the document in various formats, including large font, print, and PowerPoint.

We worked closely with ACCESS to ensure candidates referred by them were provided questions ahead of time, to minimize mental health barriers that could impact their abilities to get a job. We shared with them points of the accessibility plan and received positive feedback about the areas that we work on.

We have also contacted Work-Able, Neil Squire and BC-CFA (BC Centre for Ability) to review our plan and our progress and provide additional feedback. To this date, we still haven’t received a reply from them. However, we are committed to ensure that engagement is achieved so we can ensure we have a more wholesome understanding and review of the accessibility plan progress.

Future Consultations

Our employees with disabilities have been guiding the updates to our Accessibility Plan.

We commit to keep on trying to engage organizations such as Work-Able, BC-CFA, the Rick Hansen Foundation, etc.

We align with the slogan «Nothing about us without us,» ensuring that disability rights are developed with the inclusion of people with disabilities and their representative organizations. To this end we ensure consultation with the people that have identified as having a disability.

Resources

Budget and Resource Allocation:

Review non-compliance items to seek budget allocation whenever possible. Present budgeted items during the October budget season each year, allocating resources based on recommendations from employees with disabilities and related organizations.

Training:

Provide training on creating accessible documents, accessible practices, and planning inclusive meetings among others:

Creating Accessible Documents:
https://a11y.canada.ca/en/how-to-create-accessible-documents-in-microsoft-365/

Planning Inclusive Meetings
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/disability/arc/inclusive-meetings.html#h2.1-h3.2

Conclusion

SAAM Towage Canada is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for all employees, including those with disabilities. We recognize that this requires ongoing effort and dedication to act on the commitments in our Accessibility Plan. By upholding our core values of Safety, Service, Responsibility, Respect, and Honesty, we strive to ensure a workplace where everyone can succeed.

Implementing and regularly updating our accessibility strategies based on feedback from our employees with disabilities and their communities is vital for identifying barriers and finding effective solutions. We are committed to fostering a culture where all voices are heard and valued.

By embracing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles, we celebrate our workforce’s unique backgrounds and experiences while creating additional value for our communities and customers.