Summary

  • On 23 October, the CRTC awarded CAD 37,667.61 to the Deaf Wireless Consultative Committee of Canada for work in a home-Internet shopping hearing.
  • The regulator accepted 176 consultant hours and most travel costs, then removed CAD 417.65 for a fourth hotel night linked to a separate virtual meeting.

The argument over a broadband plan label reached a hotel receipt. The CRTC's costs order approved nearly all the work that the Deaf Wireless Consultative Committee of Canada, or DWCC, did to put Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing customers into the record. It also traced one night's accommodation to an unrelated meeting and crossed it off. This is what institutional access looks like when someone must pay for it.

The original Internet-shopping hearing asked whether service plans should carry standard labels, comparable performance information and clearer terms. It accepted video interventions in American Sign Language and Langue des signes québécoise. DWCC ran a national survey and showed the regulator how current consumer tools fail users of those languages. The CRTC said this evidence improved its understanding of the problem. It also accepted DWCC's explanation that multiple consultants, infographics and visual materials can demand more work than a conventional written intervention.

DWCC claimed 54 junior-consultant hours at CAD 110 each and 122 senior-consultant hours at CAD 225 each: CAD 33,390 in fees. It sought CAD 4,695.26 more for transport, accommodation, meals and printing. Bell Canada questioned the time entries, parking, ride-hailing and hotel stays. The commission allowed directly related administration, work performed while travelling, and local transport that got the team to the hearing.

The regulator treated two extra nights differently. A third night followed from a consultant's limited rural return connections. A fourth was for an urgent virtual meeting outside the hearing. The latter failed the necessity test, cutting CAD 417.65 from the claim. The final award is CAD 37,667.61. A prior interim award covered CAD 3,262, leaving CAD 34,405.61 outstanding. Rogers, TELUS, Bell Canada and Quebecor must pay the balance in shares of CAD 12,516.76, 10,834.33, 6,956.81 and 4,097.71.

The receipt exercise carried a bigger finding. Accessible evidence required a survey, specialist labour, visual material and a route into the hearing room. The CRTC approved those costs as part of the public record it needed to make its decision.

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