Archive

The federal government and all Canadian provinces and territories have human rights laws with agencies to enforce their legislation. However, not all offer the same human rights protections. For example, not all provinces protect people because of their political beliefs or social condition.

Much of Canada's human rights legislation was developed in the 20th century. The Constitution of the United States deals in large part with human rights; however, the British North America (BNA) Act did not address the issue at all. It focused instead on the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces and territories.

This section includes ideas for other curriculum areas, like role-play techniques in drama classes. Where appropriate, additional references have been provided, but many of the resources are already in this package. For example, to do role-plays during dramatic arts activities, use the case studies in the Students' handouts.

The case studies in the Students' handouts section can be approached in two ways. The first is a forum discussion of each of the case studies. The second has students role-play at a human rights tribunal hearing. Using both approaches will give students a more complete understanding of how the Code is applied.

If there’s time, students can re-do the human rights quiz and compare their answers with those from their first attempt. Discuss their answers to the quiz. Provide information as required to ensure that everyone understands the concepts shown in each situation. The story and discussion points for each situation appear below. You may wish to read or have students read from these discussion points. Make sure that the Preamble and the charts listing the social areas and prohibited grounds covered by the Code are posted prominently in the classroom.

For this activity, students may need to look up the meaning of some words. Give each group a set of Fact sheets 2 through 6 (Students' handouts) that describe types of discrimination: direct discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, poisoned environment, constructive discrimination and systemic discrimination. Tell them that the Code deals with all of these types of discrimination.

In this activity, students work in small groups in a cooperative learning process called a “jigsaw.” A jigsaw is a cooperative learning activity designed for use in the classroom. For more information about this teaching strategy, see Coelho, E., Jigsaw Plus, Unionville, 1991. If your class already has a “home group” structure, the following activity will flow naturally from these groupings.

Instructions: Tell students that they will now learn where and how the Ontario Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination. First, review the Preamble and ask them to keep in mind how the various parts of the Code you will be dealing with reflect its “intent” as expressed in the Preamble.

Instructions: Distribute the human rights quiz (Students' handouts) to your students. Tell them that the quiz looks at some situations where the Ontario Human Rights Code may have been violated. Have them work individually or in groups of two to three.

In this activity, students explore the concept of discrimination and gain an appreciation of its complexity. Break the class into small groups, and have each group develop its own definition of discrimination. At this point, they should not have seen the definition in the Glossary. Remind them to think about the points raised in the Preamble. Ask them to consider questions like:

What is the Human Rights Code? The Ontario Human Rights Code is the law in Ontario. This legislation was written to provide comprehensive human rights protections for all people in Ontario.

The Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) is one of the most important pieces of legislation in Ontario. This guide is designed to help educators discuss with students the rights and responsibilities the Code covers. It explains human rights protections and identifies who is responsible for protecting everyone's rights.

Lodging houses are an important form of affordable housing for many vulnerable groups identified by Human Rights Code grounds, including residents who receive public assistance, racialized persons, people with disabilities, newcomers, older and younger people, and single women. For this reason, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) offers the following comments on the proposed lodging house licensing bylaw and the accompanying zoning bylaw amendment.

23. 2010 Angus Reid Poll on multiculturalism – good or bad for Canada? Multiculturalism Thinking now about the policy of multiculturalism, do you personally think multiculturalism has been good or bad for Canada?   Region  

22. HRTO application review

Key questions What, if anything, is unique or specific to creed accommodation and its analyses? What aspects of creed accommodation require further discussion and clarification? How far does the duty to accommodate and inclusively design for creed beliefs and practice extend? When and under what circumstances may one limit or deny creed accommodations? 1. Context

This section examines broader underlying trends shaping contemporary forms of discrimination because of creed. While the OHRC seeks to combat prejudice and intolerance based on creed, and related -isms and -phobias, by educating the public, not all of the issues discussed below can be dealt with under the Code. The Code only prohibits incidents of discrimination and harassment based on creed in specified “social areas.” These areas are:

Background trends The Ontario Human Rights Code focuses on prohibiting discrimination in five protected social areas: employment; housing; goods, services and facilities; contracts; and vocational associations. Part of the OHRC’s role is to create policies that give the details for making this vision a reality.

This document outlines the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) multi-year AODA accessibility plan (accessibility plan) for 2020–21 – 2025–26 to: Prevent and remove barriers for persons with disabilities Meet the requirements set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 and its regulations.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) continues to have significant human rights concerns about racial profiling and its impact on racialized and Aboriginal Peoples.

Community organizations representing various communities of colour are organizing a day of dialogue to build solidarity with the Aboriginal Communities to promote truth and reconciliation. The event “From Remembrance to Reconciliation - A Shared Community Dialogue on Our Roles as Treaty Peoples" taking place today at Osgoode Professional Development, 1 Dundas Street West, 26th floor, Room C, will also mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

2013 - The primary aim of this paper is to report on OHRC research and consultation findings and analysis to date on key creed-based human rights issues, options and debates. We hope that this will add further transparency to our creed policy update process, and help to increase general public awareness of creed-based human rights issues. Another goal is to develop a stronger contextual framework for understanding and addressing contemporary creed-based human rights issues.