Use of the term “accommodation” refers to housing. You have the right to equal treatment when buying, selling, renting or being evicted from an apartment, house, condominium or commercial property. This right also covers renting or being evicted from a hotel room.
The Code applies to terms and conditions in contracts and leases such as the amount of rent, security deposits, the requirement of guarantors, occupants’ rules and regulations, lease termination and eviction. Your right to housing without discrimination also includes suitable access to doors, laundry rooms, swimming pools, other common areas, repairs and other aspects of housing.
The Code does not apply if you have a “personality conflict” with the landlord or another tenant that is not linked to a Code ground. Also, the Code does not apply if you share a bathroom or kitchen with the owner or the owner’s family.
The Code also applies to municipalities, as both regulators and providers of housing. They must ensure that their bylaws, processes and decisions do not target or disproportionately affect groups relating to a Code ground.
OHRC policies, guides and other publications include:
On human rights and rental housing:
- Policy on human rights and rental housing
- Human rights for tenants (brochure)
- Human rights in housing: an overview for landlords (brochure)
- Writing a fair rental housing ad (fact sheet)
- Guidelines on developing human rights policies and procedures
- Discrimination based on disability and the duty to accommodate: Information for housing providers
On municipal responsibilities in planning and licensing housing:
- In the zone: Housing, human rights and municipal planning
- Room for everyone: Human rights and rental housing licensing
- Neighbourhood housing tip sheet
- Planning and human rights: legal cases and resources (fact sheet)
- From Exclusion to Inclusion: Human Rights and Planning (OPPI webinar)
For other publications on housing, click “Resource Types” on the left-hand panel.
OHRC and HRPA webinar on a human rights approach to COVID-19
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and the Human Resources Professionals Association recently held a webinar on a human rights approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In employment and in delivering services, discrimination (including harassment) against any persons or communities related to COVID-19 is prohibited when it involves a ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code, such as race, age, citizenship, sex, etc.
OHRC and HRPA webinar on a human rights approach to COVID-19
Employers must recognize their human rights obligations and consider the potential disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on the vulnerable groups they employ or serve.
In employment and in delivering services, discrimination (including harassment) against any persons or communities related to COVID-19 is prohibited when it involves a ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code, such as race, age, citizenship, sex, etc.
OHRC letter to Sudbury landlords who refuse to rent housing to people on ODSP and Ontario Works without direct payment agreements
Given the vulnerability of tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic, the OHRC wants to remind the Greater Sudbury Landlord Association and the City of Greater Sudbury as a housing service manager and OW administrator, of their human rights obligations relating to rental housing.
Letter to President/CEO of Ontario Health re: COVID-19 triage protocol, data collection, essential support persons
Over the last two months, the OHRC has met with a range of stakeholders representing racialized communities, people experiencing poverty, people with disabilities, older people and other Code-protected groups. These groups are concerned that certain aspects in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic are having a negative impact on their human rights, and have raised four immediate concerns
OHRC submission regarding Ontario’s next Poverty Reduction Strategy
I am writing today on behalf of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) about the government’s consultation on Ontario’s next Poverty Reduction Strategy (Strategy). The OHRC calls on Ontario to take a human rights-based approach to poverty reduction by entrenching the types of economic and social responses to COVID-19 into permanent solutions that will once and for all protect the well-being of everyone in our province.
Policy statement on a human rights-based approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic
Under the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code), the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has the mandate to make policies that provide guidance on human rights obligations under the Code and to make recommendations that promote human rights during situations of tension or conflict.
Actions consistent with a human rights-based approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic
This document sets out various actions that governments can take that are broadly consistent with a human rights-based approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. These actions are neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. Instead, they are a compilation of possible responses that are consistent with Canada and Ontario’s human rights obligations.
OHRC policy statement on the COVID-19 pandemic
Following the lead of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) urges Ontarians to keep human rights principles under Ontario’s Human Rights Code (Code), the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) and relevant international human rights treaties at the centre of decision-making during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
OHRC files human rights application related to deaths of Joey Knapaysweet, Agnes Sutherland
On the second anniversary of the deaths of Joey Knapaysweet and Agnes Sutherland, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) announced it has filed an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) alleging discrimination based on Indigenous ancestry by public service providers in Timmins, Ontario.
OHRC statement on Facebook announcement on preventing discriminatory advertising
The OHRC welcomes today’s announcement by Facebook Canada that aims to ensure advertisements cannot discriminate based on factors such as age, gender, or postal code.