On November 9, 2021, the OHRC released its Policy statement on human rights in COVID-19 recovery planning. The OHRC has shared this statement with ministers across all relevant sectors, as we believe it will help guide their ministry’s pandemic recovery efforts.
Engaging the human rights principles contained in the OHRC Policy statement on human rights in COVID-19 recovery planning will result in evidence- and human rights-informed approaches to recovery planning, policy and program design. Rooting the pandemic recovery in human rights principles and proactively taking equity into account will support governments and service providers in meeting their legal obligations to eliminate discrimination and advance substantive equality.
While receiving a COVID-19 vaccine remains voluntary, the OHRC takes the position that mandating and requiring proof of vaccination to protect people at work or when receiving services is generally permissible under the Human Rights Code (Code) as long as protections are put in place to make sure people who are unable to be vaccinated for Code-related reasons are reasonably accommodated.
The OHRC responded to a second request from Seniors for Social Action Ontario for the OHRC to undertake a section 31 public interest inquiry into the institutionalization of older adults in Ontario.
To keep Ontario’s people and communities safe, it is critical for Ontario’s justice sector to once again make sure the prison custody numbers come down and stay down.
The OHRC is concerned about accounts from members of Ontario’s South Asian communities of hate and stigmatization in reaction to the ongoing COVID-19 humanitarian crisis in India.
The OHRC is concerned that the most recent expansion of police discretionary power to enforce the latest “stay-at-home order” will likely result in a disproportionate impact on members of marginalized and vulnerable communities.
The OHRC responded to a request from Seniors for Social Action Ontario for the OHRC to undertake a section 31 public interest inquiry into the institutionalization of older adults in Ontario.
The OHRC responded to a request from Ontario Council of Hospital Unions-CUPE, Ontario Health Coalition and the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly for the OHRC to undertake a section 31 public interest inquiry into the institutionalization of older adults in Ontario.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) urgently calls on the government to clarify the status of the Adult Critical Care Clinical Emergency Standard of Care for Major Surge protocol (the Emergency Standard of Care) that was circulated to hospitals in January. The government must also confirm that the Health Care Consent Act prevails to protect the rights of patients and families at this time.
