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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

    October 2003 - The Report begins with a brief explanation and definition of racial profiling. In addition, the Report explains the human cost of racial profiling on the individuals, families and communities that experience it. It details the detrimental impact that profiling is having on societal institutions such as the education system, law enforcement agencies, service providers and so forth. It also outlines the business case against profiling – in essence the economic loss sustained as a result of racial profiling.

  2. Preliminary findings: Inquiry into assaults on Asian Canadian Anglers

    December 2007 - During the summer and fall of 2007, there were reports of a series of incidents across southern and central Ontario in which Asian Canadian anglers were physically or verbally assaulted. Racial slurs were associated with a number of these incidents. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) was gravely concerned by these reports.

  3. Fishing without fear: Report on the inquiry into assaults on Asian Canadian anglers

    May 2008 - During the Inquiry into Assaults on Asian Canadian Anglers, the Commission met with 21 organizations to identify solutions. These organizations included police services, municipalities, provincial government ministries, and community organizations. The Commission obtained over 50 commitments from these organizations and made an additional seven commitments. This report is an account of the results of the Inquiry.

  4. Fishing without fear: Follow-up report on the Inquiry into assaults on Asian Canadian anglers

    April 2009 - The goal of this report is to identify the progress of the commitments made by 22 organizations across Ontario in response to the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (“Commission”) Inquiry into Assaults on Asian Canadian Anglers. From these commitments, best practices can be drawn. The Commission has also been monitoring any further incidents, and a description of these is provided.

  6. Human Rights Project Charter - Windsor

    The Windsor Police Service (Service) and the Windsor Police Services Board (Board) for many years have been open to the concerns brought forward by various ethno-racial, cultural and faith organizations and communities. The Board and Service responded with Service-wide change initiatives aimed at protecting and promoting human rights and equity, including the development of a Diversity Statement in August, 2004.
    In view of these factors, the Board and Service approached the OHRC proposing a project charter modeled after the Toronto project charter.

  10. Racial profiling inquiry: Objectives (fact sheet)

    December 2003 - The Commission’s racial profiling inquiry initiative was undertaken in response to community concerns about the impact of profiling on members of their respective communities. The inquiry’s main objectives were to give individuals who had been subjected to profiling an opportunity to share those experiences and to show its effects on their families and communities. In doing so, the Commission hoped to raise public awareness of the harmful effects and the social costs of racial profiling.

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