Our Mission

It is our mission to cultivate cross-cultural understanding by enriching Deaf communities across Ontario.

Through information and inspiration, we endeavour to preserve our Deaf culture and heritage, celebrate the Deaf community and our accomplishments, and advance the education and awareness of Deaf culture to greatly improve the understanding between Deaf and hearing adults, youth and children.

In 1974, the Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf (OCSD) was affiliated with the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf (CCSD) to promote Deaf culture and heritage in Ontario and encourage Deaf individuals' contributions to the fields of art, drama, sign language, and literature. OCSD was formally established in 1980 and incorporated in 1987. In recent years, we have made great strides in our work to strengthen family ties between parents and their Deaf children and increase opportunities for the formal studies of American Sign Language (ASL), Langue des signes du Québec (LSQ), Indigenous Sign Languages (ISL), and Deaf culture. Our success through the years is built by a collaborative, strong group of Deaf and hearing members, including an all-volunteer Board of Directors.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Mindset

The Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf actively promotes and recognizes principles of fairness, equity, and social justice in relation to, and across, intersections of race, age, color, disability, faith, religion, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, social class, economic class, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, and all other identities represented among our diverse communities.

By appreciating the importance of inclusion, we acknowledge that the collective and individual talents, skills, and perspectives of members, constituent groups, and partners foster a culture of belonging, collaborative practice, innovation, and mutual respect. The Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf seeks to empower and engage community members, families, organizations, partners and affiliations in actions that productively contribute to accomplishing the goals of our organization. 

The programs we offer are influenced by our founding beliefs and positively impact a vast spectrum of participants, from families to individuals. We are diverse in our program offerings and highly value inclusion in everything we do.

Our Board

We would love to hear from you! If you’d like to contact us, please send an email to info@ocsdeaf.org. We are volunteers dedicated to assisting you. Please understand that we operate on a volunteer basis, and as such, responses may take between 2-4 days. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

2023-2025

Affiliated with…

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