Peradeo Blog · Canada · Published 2026-08-27 · 7 min read
Manitoba's Web Accessibility Law: What the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) Requires From Your Website
By Vatsal Shah — Founder & CEO, IAAP WAS-Certified Accessibility Professional
Manitoba is one of the few Canadian provinces with a fully enforceable web accessibility standard. Under The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA), enacted in 2013, the province has been rolling out accessibility standards for customer service, employment, information and communication, transportation, and the built environment. For websites, the one that matters is the Accessible Information and Communication Standard Regulation (M.R. 47/2022) — and as of May 1, 2025 it applies to virtually every organization in the province.
Who must comply
The standard was phased in by sector:
| Deadline | Who |
|---|---|
| May 1, 2023 | The Manitoba government |
| May 1, 2024 | Public sector organizations, Crown corporations, health authorities, large municipalities, libraries, and educational institutions |
| May 1, 2025 | All other organizations — private sector businesses with one or more employees (shops, restaurants, professional services, agencies), non-profits, charities, places of worship, and small municipalities |
In other words: if you run a business in Manitoba with even a single employee, this regulation applies to you today.
What the regulation requires from your website
The regulation names a specific technical benchmark: WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Your web content must meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 AA if any of the following applies:
- The content was published on or after the date the standard applied to your organization (May 1, 2025 for most businesses);
- The content is required to access your goods or services — for example product pages, menus, booking forms, pricing, and checkout flows, regardless of when they were published;
- You launch a new web application or give an existing one a significant update.
Public sector organizations, educational institutions, and libraries must also make their intranet content WCAG 2.1 AA conformant.
Beyond the website itself, the standard requires organizations to provide information in accessible formats on request, ensure accessible communication practices, and train employees and volunteers who communicate with the public.
Enforcement is ramping up
Manitoba's Accessibility Compliance Secretariat follows a progressive enforcement model that starts with education — but the AMA provides for fines of up to $250,000, and the province has signalled that compliance audits of large public sector bodies will run through 2026 and 2027, with a monetary penalty framework in development for wilful non-compliance. Waiting until an inspector or a customer complaint forces the issue is a costly strategy: retrofitting an inaccessible site under deadline pressure is far more expensive than fixing it on your own schedule.
Practical steps to comply
- Audit your website against WCAG 2.1 AA. Automated scanners catch roughly a third of issues; a proper audit combines automated tools with manual testing using screen readers such as NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver.
- Prioritize content required to access goods and services. Contact forms, product listings, booking flows, and payment pages carry the clearest legal obligation.
- Fix issues in code, not with overlay widgets. Accessibility overlays do not achieve WCAG conformance and have drawn legal complaints in other jurisdictions.
- Document your conformance. Keep an accessibility statement and an audit trail showing your WCAG 2.1 AA status and remediation plan.
- Train your team so new content and features stay accessible.
How Manitoba compares to other jurisdictions
Manitoba's standard is notable for applying to every employer in the province, not just large organizations — Ontario's AODA only reaches private organizations with 50+ employees. If you also serve customers federally or internationally, see our guides to the Accessible Canada Act, the ADA in the United States, and the European Accessibility Act.
How Peradeo can help
Peradeo is a web accessibility company based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Our IAAP-certified specialists audit websites and web applications against WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 AA using real assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver), remediate the issues hands-on as developers, and prepare the compliance documentation — including VPAT® / Accessibility Conformance Reports and accessibility statements — that regulators and procurement teams ask for.
- Learn more about our web accessibility audit & remediation services
- Request a free accessibility check of your website
This article is provided for general information only and is not legal advice. Requirements change over time — consult a qualified lawyer for advice about your specific obligations.