Quebec Web Accessibility Standard (SGQRI 008 3.0)

Summary

Quebec's Standard gouvernemental en matière d'accessibilité des sites Web (SGQRI 008-3.0), enacted April 29, 2024 and updated March 28, 2025, is a binding government standard that requires all Quebec public bodies to design and maintain their websites so they are accessible to all users, including persons with disabilities. The standard mandates conformance to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as its primary baseline, and additionally incorporates select WCAG 2.2 criteria (focus visibility, target size minimums, accessible authentication). Only two Level AA criteria are exempted: live captions and pre-recorded audio descriptions. SGQRI 008 derives its statutory authority from two Quebec acts: RLRQ c. E-20.1 (which obliges the government to make its documents and services accessible to persons with disabilities) and RLRQ c. G-1.03 (which empowers the Conseil du trésor to set binding IT governance standards for public bodies). Compliance is required for all new web content from the design phase. The standard is overseen by the Ministère de la Cybersécurité et du Numérique (MCN). Enforcement is through government procurement requirements and MCN compliance review; no private right of action.

Scope & Coverage

Sources & References

• Official source →
• https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/E-20.1
• https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/lc/G-1.03

Notes

CONFIDENCE: HIGH. primary_url confirmed HTTP 200 (redirects to canonical path https://www.quebec.ca/gouvernement/ministeres-organismes/cybersecurite-numerique/publications/standard-accessibilite-sites-web). legisquebec E-20.1 EN URL redirects to FR page with langCont=en param — content confirmed accessible; G-1.03 FR URL confirmed HTTP 200. The EN entry point https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/E-20.1 was intermittently 502 during research (legisquebec infrastructure instability), but content confirmed on successful fetches. RLRQ c. E-20.1 s. 26.5 is the key provision: it obliges the government to establish a policy for reasonable accommodation enabling persons with disabilities to access documents and services, regardless of form. The SGQRI 008 standard implements that obligation. 'Public bodies' means all bodies covered under RLRQ c. G-1.03, which includes government departments, agencies, educational institutions, and health and social services networks — a broad scope comparable to other Canadian provincial accessibility statutes.