About CAV
About CAV
The Canadian Administrator of Video Relay Service (CAV), Inc., or CAV, is a not-for-profit telecommunications services company with a mandate from 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, Hard of Hearing or speech-impaired Canadians who use American Sign Language (ASL) and langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) to make telephone calls via Internet-based videoconferencing technology.
CAV and its Board of Directors are responsible for Canada’s national VRS, Canada VRS which was launched September 28, 2016, and is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 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 that CAV is responsible for.
Deaf, Hard of Hearing or speech-impaired Canadians who use sign language can download and register for a free Canada VRS app for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac computers with Safari and Waterfox web browsers.
Once registered they are given a VRS number which they use to make and receive calls. The app connects Canada VRS users to a sign language interpreter who relays the call in real time, in ASL and LSQ.