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Municipalities in Ontario come in all shapes and sizes. Each has different issues, different neighbourhoods and different community needs. And each has a different capacity to respond to these needs. This guide offers a variety of steps municipalities can tailor to meet their unique circumstances, while also meeting their human rights responsibilities. About the Human Rights Code The Ontario Human Rights Code offers protection from discrimination in five social areas:

New Jersey, Massachusetts and California have all taken noteworthy steps to promote affordable housing. While each state’s approach may be different, they all share the following features, which may serve as best practices for future consideration in Ontario:

The OHRC knows that low social and economic status is a common factor in many types of housing discrimination. People identified by Code grounds are disproportionately likely to have low incomes. The shelter allowance rates for people and families who receive social assistance are far below market levels.

This section includes contact information for various government bodies that monitor both tenancy and human rights issues. Tenants have a number of options for making complaints: Human Rights Tribunal of OntarioTo file a human rights claim, tenants or prospective tenants can contact the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario at:Toll Free: 1-866-598-0322TTY: 416-326-2027 or Toll Free: 1-866-607-1240Website: www.hrto.ca

Legislation like the Planning Act and the Municipal Act, along with the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 (PPS) and other Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing public documents offer many well-known tools to plan for affordable housing and make neighbourhoods healthy and inclusive.

Planning Act The Planning Act provides a framework for municipalities to make land use decisions to fit local needs and circumstances. It also recognizes human rights as part of the planning process. In making these decisions, municipalities must make sure they do not violate the Human Rights Code.

Licensing rental housing Under the Municipal Act, 2001 and the City of Toronto Act, 2006, municipalities have broad powers to pass bylaws (subject to certain limits) on matters such as health, safety and well-being of the municipality, and to protect persons and property.

Responsibility for housing, either as a Service Manager or as a landlord, also includes a responsibility for human rights. A human rights lens needs to be applied to all housing matters, including the use of tools enabled by legislation. Municipalities must follow a variety of provincial legislation regulating housing and housing-related issues. Examples are the Residential Tenancies Act and the Housing Services Act. Both of these contain provisions that can help prevent discrimination and encourage inclusiveness.

The following human rights principles apply to housing:

NIMBYism – a human rights issue When affordable housing is being considered, there is almost always some opposition. Some of it may be legitimate (such as wanting to build a high-rise apartment building on a street with only single detached housing) – but other opposition has the potential to leave municipalities vulnerable to human rights complaints.

Every person has the right to be treated equally in the area of housing without discrimination because of any of the grounds set out in the Code. The purpose of anti-discrimination laws is to prevent the violation of human dignity and freedom by imposing disadvantage, stereotyping, or political or social prejudice.

March 2012 - The OHRC will focus its comments on the issues and barriers identified in the CRSAO’s reports that connect to the OHRC’s current priority initiatives dealing with racism experienced by Aboriginal people and other groups as well as disability, especially mental health discrimination.

For an electronic copy of this Consultation Report or for a copy of the Human Rights Issues in Insurance Discussion Paper, please visit the Commission’s Web site at www.ohrc.on.ca Alternative formats are also available upon request. The Commission would be pleased to receive further input on this Report or the Discussion Paper or on any other matter related to human rights and insurance. You can contact the Commission in several ways:

March 2012 - A story this week in the Toronto Star told of a candidate for a job with a police service who was asked, at an interview, to provide the password for his Facebook page. The story provoked a discussion on the blog of law professor David Doorey; is asking for such information contrary to Ontario’s Human Rights Code?

Glossary of Gender This glossary was compiled by Transgender Nation (San Francisco, California). The organization is a diverse group of transgendered and non-transgendered people united “in anger” and resolved to directly empower all transgendered people by direct political action. assigned gender at birth - the gender one is considered to be at birth, due to the presence of whatever external sex organs. Once this determination is made, it becomes a label used for raising the child in either one gender image or the other.

Toronto - A report on first year activities undertaken as part of joint Project Charter with the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was released today by the Windsor Police Service (WPS), the Windsor Police Services Board (WPSB) and the Ontario Police College (OPC).

Toronto – Two public interest inquiries by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) will explore if new rental housing licensing bylaws in North Bay and Waterloo create discriminatory barriers to rental housing. New bylaws in the two municipalities come into force in the next few months – Waterloo’s on April 1, 2012 and North Bay’s on May 1, 2012.

March 2012 - Ontario’s human rights system faces challenges unprecedented in our history. Across the province, our communities are changing. New groups are arriving in what were once homogeneous areas; the population is aging; there is a much greater awareness of the rights and needs of people with disabilities and a greater awareness of social justice issues in general, although much remains to be done.

Toronto - Ontario Human Rights Commission Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall today launched the Living Rights Project, a web-based living library that puts real people into the human rights discussion. The project was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ontario’s Human Rights Code, and to be an ongoing resource for all Ontarians. Hall made the announcement at Parkdale Collegiate Institute, which will serve as a program partner.

Your Worship, Chair Polhill, and Committee Members, I am writing to comment on proposed amendments to the City’s Official Plan and Zoning By-Law. As you consider these amendments, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) would like to outline some human rights principles that may affect your decision, and to ask some questions.

 

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Ontario’s Human Rights Code calls upon us all to work toward “the creation of a climate of understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of each person so that each person feels a part of the community and able to contribute fully to the development and well-being of the community and the Province” (Preamble to the Code). At the OHRC, we describe that task as “building a culture of human rights”.

2012 - This guide offers an overview of the human rights responsibilities of municipalities in housing. It offers information about the various legislated tools municipalities have, and shows some examples of how municipal planners, councillors, Housing Service Managers, District Social Service Boards and others can use “best practices” to overcome discriminatory neighbourhood opposition and promote housing that is free from discrimination. The guide can also be a resource for organizations and advocates who are working with municipalities to advance human rights in housing.

Kingston - Attorney General John Gerretsen today joined Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, to launch In the zone: Housing, human rights and municipal planning. The guide offers municipalities information about their legal obligations, and about the tools and best practices they can apply to connect human rights and housing when making zoning and planning decisions.