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Race and related grounds

Under the Code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment in the social areas of employment, services, goods, facilities, housing accommodation, contracts and membership in trade and vocational associations. You should not be treated differently because of your race or other related grounds, such as your ancestry, ethnicity, religion or place of origin. 

Canada, its provinces and territories have strong human rights laws and systems in place to address discrimination. At the same time, we also have a legacy of racism – particularly towards Indigenous persons, but to other groups as well including African, Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, Jewish and Muslim Canadians – a legacy that profoundly permeates our systems and structures to this day, affecting the lives of not only racialized persons, but also all people in Canada.

Relevant policies: 

  1. "Paying The Price: The Human Cost Of Racial Profiling": Ontario Human Rights Commission releases report

    December 9, 2003

    Toronto - "Racial profiling has no place in our society. We have to stop debating the issue and start acting on it," was the key message delivered today by Chief Commissioner Keith Norton at the release of the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s report on the effects of racial profiling. Entitled, Paying the Price: The Human Cost of Racial Profiling, the Report is based on over 400 personal accounts of experiences with profiling that individuals shared with the Commission during the course of its Racial Profiling Inquiry held earlier this year. The Report looks at the human cost of racial profiling on individuals who have experienced it, their families and their communities and the detrimental impacts of this practice on society as a whole.

  2. Commission restates concerns about potential discrimination arising from Ontario's "Safe Schools Act"

    May 14, 2004

    Toronto - The Ontario Human Rights Commission has asked the Toronto District School Board and Ontario’s Ministry of Education to recognize that "zero tolerance" disciplinary legislation and related school board policies may be having a discriminatory effect on racialized students and students with disabilities.

  3. Canadian Commission for UNESCO's "call for a coalition of cities against racism" receives support from Ontario's Human Rights Commission

    March 11, 2005

    Toronto - The Canadian Commission for UNESCO and Ontario’s Human Rights Commission announced today that they and other partners are setting up a working group of government and non-government organizations to develop and promote a proposal to Call for a Canadian Coalition of Cities Against Racism. Other partners include the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and the Metropolis Project.

  4. Human rights commission to champion in Ontario UNESCO's proposal for a Canadian coalition of municipalities against racism

    June 16, 2005

    Toronto - The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCU), and other partners, released a draft proposal this week calling for the establishment of a Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism, and is asking human rights commissions from across Canada to promote the proposal in their regions.

  5. Ontario cases show racism and racial discrminiation are still common

    June 24, 2005

    Toronto - As the Ontario Human Rights Commission (the “OHRC”) prepares to release its Policy and Guidelines on Racism and Racial Discrimination later this month, Chief Commissioner Keith Norton noted that allegations raised in recent cases dealt with by the OHRC and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “HRTO”) are a troubling reminder that racism and racial discrimination are still a significant problem in this province.

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