About CAV
About CAV
The Canadian Administrator of Video Relay Service (CAV), Inc. is a not-for-profit telecommunications organization mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to design, implement and oversee the delivery of Video Relay Service (VRS) in Canada.
Canada VRS enables Deaf, DeafBlind, hard-of-hearing, and other Canadians who use American Sign Language (ASL) or langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) as their primary language to communicate with voice telephone users through Internet-based video technology.
Working in collaboration with communities, partners, and service providers across Canada, including Indigenous communities, CAV is committed to delivering an accessible, reliable, and high-quality VRS that supports communication across signed and spoken languages.
Canada VRS was launched on September 28, 2016, and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Vision
A connected Canada where people can reliably communicate across signed and spoken languages.
Mission
Evolve inclusivity and diversity in telecommunications by collaborating with communities and partners to deliver an accessible, high-quality, and equitable Video Relay Service.
Mandate
To design, implement and oversee the delivery of a national VRS in Canada to all individuals who use ASL and LSQ as their primary language of communication due to a disability.
Canada VRS is the name of the service administered by CAV.
Deaf, DeafBlind, hard-of-hearing, and other Canadians who use sign languages can download and register for the free Canada VRS app on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac computers.
Once registered, users receive a personal VRS number that allows them to make and receive telephone calls.
When a call is placed, the app connects the user with a sign language interpreter who relays the conversation in real time between signed and spoken languages, including ASL and LSQ.