Accessibility plan | National Bank National Bank – Three-Year Accessibility Plan (2026-2029) PDF version Accessibility Plan [Accessible PDF - 447.2 KB] Accessibility Plan [PDF - Large print - 1.4 MB] Audio version Accessibility Plan [MP3 - 54,1 MB] Web version 1. Message from the Accessibility Lead 2. General Information 2.1. Who are we? 2.2. Give feedback or contact us 3. About the Accessibility Plan 3.1. The Accessible Canada Act 3.2. Glossary and definitions 3.3. Consultations 3.4. Timeline for the implementation of priorities 4. Our Commitment to Accessibility 4.1. Measures taken to prevent barriers 4.2. Priority areas 4.2.1. Area: Employment 4.2.2. Area: Design and delivery of programs and services 4.2.3. Area: Built environment 4.2.4. Area: Information and communication technologies (ICT) 4.2.5. Area: Communications other than ICT 4.2.6. Area: Procurement of goods, services and facilities 4.2.7. Area: Transportation 4.3. Implementation 4.4. Parties responsible 1. Message from the Accessibility Lead At National Bank, our mission reflects our ongoing commitment to building a prosperous future as a bank that puts people first. It meets a collective need to evolve banking practices by putting people at the centre of our decisions and creating a positive and sustainable impact for all our stakeholders. To achieve this, we focus on delivering simple, accessible and human experiences to our clients and our employees alike, through our products, services, environments and working conditions. We aim to be an inclusive organization that acknowledges and values diversity in all its forms, including age, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, and physical or cognitive abilities. In a rapidly changing environment and amid strong competition for talent, we recognize that accessible and inclusive environments support both engagement and performance across the organization. Likewise, accessible products, services and channels allow for smoother experiences tailored to diverse abilities, circumstances and literacy levels. By providing clearer, simpler, and more understandable information, we make doing business easier and contribute to better protecting our clients, especially the most vulnerable. Recognizing that barriers still exist and that achieving full accessibility is an ongoing process, we remain committed to identifying, eliminating, and preventing them through continuous learning and organization‑wide engagement.  By putting accessibility and inclusion at the centre of our decision‑making and leveraging the range of talents and perspectives, we enhance our collective capacity to innovate, perform and create a positive impact on society. Andrea Baldwin Vice-President – Voice of the Organization, Culture and Community Top ↑ 2. General information 2.1 Who are we? National Bank is a bank on a human scale that stands out for its courage, entrepreneurial culture, and passion for people. Our mission is to have a positive impact on people’s lives by building lasting relationships with our clients and our employees. For the purposes of this plan, National Bank includes its Canadian subsidiaries that are subject to the Accessible Canada Act.  Founded in 1859, the Bank offers financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional clients and governments across Canada and internationally. We are one of the six systemically important banks in Canada, with a market capitalization of $61 billion. We serve more than 3.1 million people across Canada. More than 35,000 people are employed in the organization (including more than 23,000 in Canada), of which 32.8% are from cultural communities, representing more than 160 countries and more than 70 languages spoken. In this respect, we position ourselves as an employer of choice in promoting inclusion and diversity. The Bank strives to meet the highest standards of corporate responsibility while having a positive impact on all its stakeholders. The Bank is a founding signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking. One of the core principles of this global framework is ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, aimed at proactively and responsibly partnering with them to achieve societal objectives.  Our mission is aligned with our continued efforts to drive social and economic development. In response to changing trends in the banking industry, we’ve adopted a people-first approach that will help us achieve our objectives and collaborate better with communities. Top ↑ 2.2 Give feedback or contact us To help us improve the accessibility of our products and services, or share feedback and suggestions on the implementation of our accessibility plan, contact us:  By submitting a request via the following link: https://www.nbc.ca/forms/contact/contact-us.html By phone: 1-888-300-9004 By email: [email protected]   By mail: write to your nearest branch Your comments or suggestions can be made anonymously and will be forwarded to the teams concerned at the Bank. For all feedback received, other than anonymous feedback, an acknowledgment of receipt will be provided to you within a reasonable time via the same communication channel you used to give us feedback.  If you are an employee of the Bank, you can use the feedback process for our clients and the general public or the internal feedback process. The internal feedback process can be used via your preferred communication channel (telephone, email or mail). The different feedback channels are described on the My HR platform intended for this purpose. Employees can also make an anonymous suggestion or comment by contacting the Employee Ombudsman’s Office. An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the employee as quickly as possible.  To obtain the plan in an alternative format, such as large print, braille or audio, please contact us:  By phone, email or mail: write to your nearest branch Top ↑ 3. About the Accessibility Plan 3.1 The Accessible Canada Act The purpose of the Accessible Canada Act is to make Canada barrier-free by 2040. The Act provides that federally-regulated organizations, including financial institutions, must identify, remove and prevent barriers to accessibility in Canada. In accordance with the Act, National Bank published its first three-year plan in 2023 and annual progress reports in 2024 and 2025 on the progress made in implementing the measures set out in the accessibility plan.  The feedback processes in place allow the Bank to oversee comments or suggestions from clients, employees or any other individual who would like to share feedback on barriers encountered. The new plan outlines the methods prioritized by the Bank to continue to prevent and gradually eliminate barriers to accessibility in the following seven areas:  Employment  Design and delivery of programs and services  Built environment  Information and communication technologies (ICT)  Communications other than ICT  Procurement of goods, services and facilities  Transportation Top ↑ 3.2 Glossary and definitions Disability The Accessible Canada Act (2019) defines disability as follows: “any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.”  Barrier The Accessible Canada Act (2019 defines a barrier as follows: “anything — including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice — that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.”  Employment All an employee’s activities and experiences during the full cycle of their career path.  Design and delivery of programs and services All products and services provided by the Bank through its employees, including the client experience, whether it be digital, in person or remote.  Built environment All physical spaces intended for employees, clients and the public.  Information and communication technologies (ICT) All of the Bank’s technological solutions used by internal and external users, clients and employees to communicate and access information sources.  Communications other than ICT All activities intended to spread a message or promote the image of a product or service.  Procurement of goods, services and facilities All procurement activities including the identification of goods or services required, the method of selecting suppliers, the implementation of that method and the awarding of agreements.  WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) The Accessible Canada Regulations (2021) define the term “WCAG” as “the most recent version available in both English and French of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium.”  Top ↑ 3.3 Consultations In order to develop its accessibility plan, the Bank used several data collection methods to evaluate the accessibility of the products and services offered to its clients, employees and partners. The combination of all these data collection methods helped guide the drafting of the plan and the actions taken to eliminate or reduce barriers. I. Inventory: The Bank started by drawing up an inventory of the initiatives, tools, products and services available for each of the applicable areas. This exercise enabled us to carry out a self-assessment of existing accessibility practices and prioritize various action plans.  II. Consultation with clients: Every year, National Bank surveys its clients to better understand their experience, expectations and irritants encountered during their journey. This expanded listening strategy makes it possible to gather specific insights into our products, services and interactions across all our channels. During the 2026-2029 cycle, the Bank plans to organize focus groups or individual interviews with senior clients, clients with disabilities and/or vulnerable clients to gain deeper insights and involve the people concerned in the decision-making process. The results of these surveys and interviews will be key in guiding our priorities, measuring the evolution of the client experience and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement. By giving our clients a voice, we strengthen our ability to design solutions that are simpler, more accessible and better adapted to the diversity of needs. III. Consultation with employees: Employees are consulted through an annual survey that covers topics such as work organization, the use of technology, services offered, working conditions, etc. Individual and group interviews are also conducted on a periodic basis with a sample of employees with disabilities who have expressed an interest in taking part in the consultations. In addition, the Bank works closely with the employee resource group R.I.S.E. (Respect, Inclusion, Support, Equity) whose mission is to promote the wellbeing of every person at the Bank, particularly in the areas of mental health, accessibility and disability. IV. Document review: Different sources of information have been reviewed to evaluate accessibility and monitor market trends, including:  Accessibility audit reports  Internal standards, policies and guides  Action plans  Complaint reports  Results of internal surveys and feedback from clients and employees Statistics on employee experience Top ↑ 3.4 Timeline for the implementation of priorities Rollout deadlines for each priority set out in the Bank’s accessibility plan are as follows:  Short-term: Less than 12 months Mid-term: 1 to 3 years Long…