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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. Human rights commissions and economic and social rights

    2001 - This paper is one of several initiatives by the Ontario Human Rights Commission to explore ways in which human rights commissions can become more involved in protecting and promoting economic and social rights and in implementing international treaties to which Canada is a party. The challenge for human rights commissions is to find ways to maximize the potential of their mandates to promote international standards, including those contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

  4. Public lecture focuses on new ways to stamp out racial profiling

    Tuesday February 16, 2016 - York University’s School of Public Policy & Administration, Institute for Social Research, and Centre for Human Rights and the Ontario Human Rights Commission invite you to attend a public lecture to look at new ways to stamp out racial profiling. Keynote speaker and renowned journalist Haroon Siddiqui will talk about existing and emerging forms of racial profiling, and a panel will offer a variety of perspectives.

  6. E(RACE)r Summit on Race and Racism on Canadian University Campuses

    March 21, 2016 - Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane addressed attendees at the inaugural e(RACE)r Summit on Race and Racism on Canadian University Campuses, hosted by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Diversity and Equity Office and the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, on the United Nations (UN) Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Read her speech.

  7. Police Oversight Community Coalition Statement Launch: Remarks by OHRC Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane

    August 16, 2017

    TORONTO – Today, a coalition of community and advocacy groups, as well as the Ontario Human Rights Commission, issued a joint statement calling on the Government of Ontario and police oversight bodies to immediately implement recommendations of the Honourable Justice Michael Tulloch from his Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review. This statement was prompted by recent events that highlight several police accountability issues that require immediate action.  Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane delivered the following remarks at a press conference at Queen's Park.

  9. A collective impact: Remarks by Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane (2018)

    From: Public interest inquiry into racial profiling and discrimination by the Toronto Police Service

    Toronto - On International Human Rights Day (December 10, 2018), the OHRC released A collective impact, the interim report on its inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service. Read OHRC Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane's remarks.