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In May 2010, the Toronto Police Service, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ontario Human Rights Commission celebrated a major milestone in their joint project to bring about institutional change to eliminate racism and discrimination – the completion of the three-year Human Rights Project Charter initiative.

Policing is a critical part of communities across Ontario – police officers are woven into our neighbourhoods and our daily lives, and are often the first people we see in times of crisis. A person’s experience with police – positive or negative – can affect them in a lasting, personal way. That’s why adding a human rights perspective to policing is so important.

The OHRC provides tools and approaches that individuals, organizations and sectors across Ontario can use in their own efforts to advance human rights. But the need to understand human rights extends beyond employers and the provincial government. Local governments make decisions on issues ranging from child care to public transit – in fact, they provide many of the direct services in our communities. The rules they set and the services they provide can have a major impact on human rights.

In June 2010, the OHRC joined its colleagues across Canada to launch www.cashra.ca, a new website to showcase the work of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial human rights agencies. This site provides links to all human rights agencies in Canada as well as to initiatives, news and opinions of national interest coming from the partner organizations.

“Getting the message out” is a critical part of the work we do. This past year the OHRC began to take advantage of the communication tools offered by social media. In a few months we’ve attracted 400 “friends” to our Facebook page and more than 500 ”followers” to our Twitter stream. We’ve discovered that those two media reach different audiences looking for different sorts of stories. We’ve also found that we are increasing the awareness of all our work among people who we might not reach with ”traditional” publications.

Even though e-learning and other electronic options make training large numbers of people more possible, there is still a need to meet with people across Ontario – and in some cases across Canada and the world – to “put a face” to human rights. Staff consulted and offered human rights training on mental health, racism, school discipline, Aboriginal issues, municipal zoning and other issues. Here are some highlights:

When a new issue arises, we often hear about it first in the media. And the media is often the best venue for commenting on an issue to a wide audience. The OHRC continued to use media interviews, releases and advisories, and letters to the editor to respond to issues, correct inaccuracies and educate new audiences about human rights. Examples of letters to the editor from Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall included:

The Province of Ontario will mark the 50th anniversary of the Human Rights Code – the first in Canada – in June, 2012.

Following a lengthy hearing process, involving a complaint filed under the Human Rights Code by Michael McKinnon against the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, it was proposed that a joint working group of the three parties be struck to both support MCSCS’s change initiatives and to satisfy the OHRC’s need to ensure the process for change addresses its public interest concerns.

Access to Affordable Rental Housing It seems clear that one of the central causes of the difficulty that many individuals in Ontario have in accessing living accommodations is the lack of adequate, affordable rental housing.

In 2004-2005, the Commission received 100 complaints relating to discrimination in housing.[51] While this number amounts to only about 4 percent of the total complaints received by the Commission during this time period, the complaints that have been filed frequently raise significant systemic issues, issues that potentially affect large numbers of people besides the actual complainant.

All jurisdictions in Canada provide for some protection from discrimination in the social area of housing.[53] Harassment is not explicitly addressed in all cases,[54] but may be dealt with as a form of discrimination.

The international community has long recognized that housing is a human right worthy of protection.

Status and Purpose of the Code The Code is quasi-constitutional legislation which has primacy over all other legislation in Ontario, unless the other legislation specifically states that it applies despite the Code.[77] This means that if another piece of legislation contains a provision which conflicts with or contravenes the Code, the Code will prevail.

Discrimination in rental housing can take various forms. One does not have to show that the discrimination was deliberate, malicious or even intentional. Even actions that are unintended or comments that are “only a joke”, are prohibited if they are offensive and discriminatory based on a ground in the Code.

Under the Code, housing providers have a duty to accommodate the Code-related needs of tenants, to ensure that the housing they supply is designed to be inclusive of persons identified by Code grounds, and to take steps to remove any barriers that may exist, unless to do so would cause undue hardship. Costs will amount to undue hardship if they are quantifiable, shown to be related to the accommodation, and so substantial that they would alter the essential nature of the enterprise or so significant that they would substantially affect its viability.

The Code protects against discrimination in rental housing on the following grounds:

Those seeking rental housing who are in receipt of public assistance, as well as other Code-identified individuals with low incomes, have been particularly affected by the application of minimum income criteria. Many landlords apply a standard guideline that a tenant applicant should be spending no more than 25-35 percent of his or her income on rent. Those who fall short of this ratio are rejected.

Vulnerable groups protected by human rights legislation are more likely to experience low social and economic status or condition.[218] Poverty is linked inextricably with inequality, particularly for women (especially lone mothers and elderly women), Aboriginal persons, racialized groups and persons with disabilities.

It is clear from the issues raised by this Paper that there is a need for further examination of human rights issues that arise in the area of rental housing. Given the importance of adequate housing to an individual’s overall quality of life and ability to participate meaningfully in society, the time to conduct this examination is now.

Affordability is defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation as “housing that costs less than 30 percent of total before-tax household income.”[257]

Participants in the consultation suggested the following approaches, which they believe are important to the development of any human rights mental health strategy. The OHRC will consider incorporating these principles into its strategy.

The OHRC welcomes your feedback related to the areas of concern identified and/or specific interventions that it should consider undertaking. Please feel free to comment on any of the information provided in this paper, or on the questions identified below: Within the Areas of Concern identified above, are there priority areas that the OHRC should consider in its strategy? Within the Areas of Concern identified above, are there priority initiatives that the OHRC should consider undertaking? 

Barbara Hall – Appointed November 2005 Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission and former Mayor of Toronto, has served for more than 40 years as a community worker, lawyer, municipal politician and champion of a grassroots approach to community-building.