Richard Belzile brings a rare combination of legal training and lived accessibility policy experience to his advocacy work. He earned his LL.B. in Law, with a focus on Human Rights, from Queen’s University (1987–1991), and began his legal career as Legal Counsel at the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Over the following two decades, he held a series of senior policy roles within the Ontario Public Service — including Senior Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Senior Program Advisor in the OPS Diversity Office, Special Advisor in the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services’ Inclusion Unit, Web Accessibility Lead in the OPS Accessibility Office, and Senior Advisor at the Ontario Treasury Board Secretariat — work centred on implementing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and its accessibility standards.

In April 2022, he became Executive Director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf / Association des Sourds du Canada (CAD-ASC), leading the organization’s national advocacy efforts, representing the Deaf community before federal regulators including the CRTC, and overseeing publications such as the Quiet Waves Report.

He is now channeling that legal and policy experience into a new legal practice dedicated to advocating for Deaf individuals.