Our Mission

We are the Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf (OCSD), formally established in 1980 and incorporated in 1987. 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 communities (Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Child of Deaf Adults, Deafened, Oral Deaf, ASL signers) 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.

Our Process

To do this, we establish programs and events that serve specific groups based on the voices of the community. Some examples of these groups include: Deaf adults, Deaf children, hearing parents of Deaf children, Sign Language teachers, Deaf Culture educators, Deaf artists and content creators, Deaf entrepreneurs and business owners, Deaf newcomers to Ontario, and the Deaf community as a whole. In addition, we partner with organizations that share our goals in order to reach bigger and more diverse audiences so that we can have the greatest impact. At times, we act as an information directory where we help those seeking information match with the best providers, resources, and organizations to help them in their journey.

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

OCSD is non-profit and is completely volunteer-run. Every board member is Deaf, hard-of-hearing, or has significant life experience within the Deaf community. We work tirelessly toward creating the fully accessible future we envision. Donations we receive go toward expanding our programs, our reach, and ultimately, our overall impact on Deaf Ontarians.

Thank you for considering OCSD as a beneficiary of your generosity.