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Ontario’s human rights system consists of three separate and independent parts: 1. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (the “OHRC”) works on the roots of discrimination in order to effect systemic change. It develops policies and provides targeted public education, monitors human rights, does research and analysis, and conducts human rights inquiries. In matters affecting the broad public interest, it may take its own cases to the Tribunal or intervene in human rights cases before the Tribunal.

Ontario's Human Rights Code, the first in Canada, was enacted in 1962.  The Code prohibits actions that discriminate against people based on a protected ground  in a protected social area.

1. The context for interpreting the Code a) Background and history In 1962, many laws dealing with discrimination were brought together, along with additional protections, to create the Code. The Code has been amended at various times since then. The most recent amendments were passed in December 2006. The Ontario Code only provides protection against discrimination in Ontario. There are other pieces of human rights legislation in each of the other provinces and territories and federally.

The Code does not define “employment,” but the Commission interprets this word in a broad way. Employment includes full-time and part-time work, contract work, work done by temporary staff from agencies, probationary periods and even includes volunteer work.

The right to “equal treatment with respect to employment” protects persons in all aspects of employment, including applying for a job, recruitment, training, transfers, promotions, terms of apprenticeship, dismissals, layoffs and terminations. It also covers rate of pay, codes of conduct, overtime, hours of work, holidays, benefits, shift work, performance evaluations and discipline. A fundamental starting point for complying with the Code in relation to all of these is to have a workplace setting where human rights are respected and applied.

Even without the legal requirement not to discriminate, providing a fair work environment that respects the dignity of all employees is in an organization’s best interests. Today's global economy, multicultural society and highly competitive corporate environment place greater demands on all organizations. Employers need to recruit and retain the best employees for their organizations, and part of that process involves selecting and keeping employees with diverse backgrounds and talents from the widest possible pool of candidates.

Appendix A – other OHRC publications The Commission website (www.ohrc.on.ca) is the most current and exhaustive source of information about the work of the Commission. All Commission publications are available on the website. This includes approved policies and guidelines, consultation documents, and plain language publications. Information can also be found on current Commission activities. Bound copies of Commission documents are available through Publications Ontario at 1-800-668-9938.

The Code has prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability for over 20 years. Persons with disabilities have the right to equal treatment in accessing services such as those provided by restaurants, shops, hotels, movie theatres and other public places. Businesses have an obligation to make their facilities accessible. A failure to provide persons with disabilities with equal access to a facility or equal treatment in a service would constitute discrimination under the Code and can be the subject of the human rights complaint to the OHRC.

With the recent passage of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act[1] (“the AODA”), accessibility issues in Ontario are now governed by three pieces of complementary legislation: the Code, the AODA, and the Ontario Building Code (“OBC”).

Following the launch of the Policy in March 2001, the OHRC initiated an inquiry under section 29 of the Code into accessibility in the restaurant industry. The objectives of the inquiry were to:

A total of 26 restaurant chains have now committed to the five steps towards accessibility. These restaurants are:

Many of the restaurants that the OHRC corresponded and met with emphasized that removing barriers for persons with disabilities, older persons, and families with young children was not only a matter of complying with the law, or of corporate social responsibility: it was also good business practice. They emphasized that persons with disabilities, older persons, and families with young children are their customers and their potential customers; they cannot afford to make their services inaccessible or inconvenient to such a significant demographic.

The restaurants that have reached voluntary agreements with the OHRC have become leaders in planning for, and moving towards accessible services for all Ontarians. They have demonstrated that accessibility can be achieved, and in a way that is positive both for business owners and operators, and for their customers.

Section 5 (1) Every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to employment without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability. Section 11

2012 - The Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) provides for equal rights and opportunities, and freedom from discrimination based on various grounds. The Code recognizes the dignity and worth of every person in Ontario, in employment, housing, facilities and services, contracts, and membership in unions, trade or vocational associations. The Code protects you from discrimination in these areas based on your family status.

2012 - The Ontario Human Rights Code protects people from discrimination under the ground of age. The Code defines age as 18 years or older. However, persons age 16 or older are also protected from discrimination in housing if they are not living with their parents. This means that people cannot discriminate against you because of your age where you work or live, or when providing services.

2012 - The Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) provides for equal rights and opportunities, and freedom from discrimination. The Code recognizes the dignity and worth of every person in Ontario. It applies to the areas of employment, housing, facilities and services, contracts, and membership in unions, trade or vocational associations. Under the Code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment.

2012 - The Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) is a law that provides for equal rights and opportunities and recognizes the dignity and worth of every person in Ontario. The Code makes it against the law to discriminate against someone or to harass them because of sex, including pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Overall Change Objective The identification and elimination of any discrimination that may exist in all employment and service activities of the Correctional Services Division of MCSCS. Specific Change Objectives A.

Social housing often fills the gap for low-income people by providing supportive housing, government-funded subsidies and rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing that would not necessarily be available to tenants in the private rental housing market.[210] When they are properly funded[211] and operated efficiently, social housing programs have the potential to provide viable housing o

During the summer and fall of 2007, a number of serious incidents were reported to the authorities regarding assaults targeting Asian Canadian anglers in southern and central Ontario:

Headquartered in Toronto, with more than 2,300 locations and 74,000 employees worldwide, The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Financial Group (TD). TD Bank Financial Group is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves more than 18 million customers in four key businesses, operating in a number of locations in key financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Insurance; Wealth Management, including TD Waterhouse and an investment in TD Ameritrade; U.S.

The OHRC website (www.ohrc.on.ca) is the most current and exhaustive source of information about the work of the OHRC. All OHRC publications are available on the website. This includes approved guides, policies and guidelines, consultation documents and plain language publications. Information can also be found on current OHRC activities. Bound copies of OHRC documents are available through Publications Ontario at 1-800-668-9938.

Committees are often a central part of municipal anti-racism and anti-discrimination work. Establishing and running effective committees often makes a difference between some success and failure.

As well as working with Seneca College, the Commission teamed up with students in Humber College’s Media Studies program. The students’ mission – to help the OHRC achieve a new “brand” that represented its transformed operations. Student teams made recommendations on all facets of the branding process, including work to define the OHRC’s core business and core audiences, creating ideas for a new logo and tagline, and coming up with many compelling creative ideas for advertising in media ranging from bus shelters to internet search engines.