You have the right to be free from discrimination when you receive goods or services, or use facilities. For example, this right applies to:
Relevant policies and guides:
From: Time for action: Advancing human rights for older Ontarians
The Commission heard that elder care is a growing need, and largely provided in the community by family members. As well, the gendered nature of elder care and the disproportionate burden that women face in caring for aging relatives was noted. Consultees described the stress caused by caring for older persons and the need for efforts to address caregiver stress.
From: Policy on discrimination against older people because of age
Section 1 of the Code prohibits age discrimination in "services, goods and facilities". This includes but is not limited to educational institutions, hospitals and other health services, community care access centres, long-term care facilities, insurance providers, public places like malls and parks, public transit services, stores and restaurants.
Older persons have a right to the same level and quality of services as everyone else and service providers have a legal responsibility to ensure accessibility, subject to the undue hardship standard.
From: Annual Report 2011-2012 - Human rights: the next generation
From: Human rights and the family in Ontario
Section 1 of the Code prohibits discrimination based on family status in the social areas of services, goods and facilities. This is an extremely broad social area, covering everything from corner stores and shopping malls, to education, health services and public transit. The issues are therefore also extremely diverse. However, very little attention has been paid to these issues.
From: The cost of caring: Report on the consultation on discrimination on the basis of family status
A number of submissions received by the Commission identified barriers for families in the receipt of services. The Commission heard concerns about a broad range of services, including large public services like transportation, education and health, as well as small private services.
From: Policy and guidelines on discrimination because of family status
Section 1 of the Code prohibits discrimination on the basis of family status in services, goods and facilities. This includes, but is not limited to, educational institutions, hospitals, public transit services, social services, public places like malls and parks, and stores and restaurants.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
Every student in Ontario needs to have opportunities to learn and succeed. This does not happen when students are suspended because of mental illness beyond their control, or can’t take the courses they need because they use a wheelchair and the school does not have an elevator, or they are disciplined for not following the dress code because they wear a hijab in accordance with their creed, or they are bullied for being lesbian, gay or transgendered.
From: Count me in! Collecting human rights-based data
Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) is a large patient care, teaching and research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. Since 2007, Media Corp Inc. has named MSH one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers. MSH seeks to be a national leader in all of its diversity and human rights programs, and to have a staff team that reflects the diverse patients they serve.
From: Human rights and mental health research and policy consultation paper
The Code protects people in the social area of goods, services and facilities. Services are broadly defined, but include health care (including mental health care), the criminal justice and the court system (for example police), government services (including social assistance), education, child welfare, insurance, shops and restaurants. Many issues may exist for people with mental health disabilities and addictions when they seek services.
