Receipt of public assistance

Ontario is one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world. Yet, there are still many Ontarians who do not have access to adequate and affordable rental housing. There appear to be several reasons for this, including a shortage of housing supply, low social assistance and wage rates and discrimination practiced by housing providers. Measures have been undertaken in recent years to address housing supply, for example the much talked about Canada/Ontario Affordable Housing Agreement. However, it is clear that much remains to be done.

Toronto - Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall today released the Ontario Human Rights Commission's 2010-2011 Annual Report.

Toronto – As part of its ongoing work with community partners in the area of human rights and housing, the Commission announced today that it has written to media and housing websites to ask them for help in addressing discriminatory housing advertisements. Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner, commented that, “Over the years, we have heard many stories of discrimination in rental housing. That some people are still facing discrimination right at the very start of their search for housing is unacceptable.”

Toronto – Marking International Human Rights Day, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) today launches Rental Housing e-learning at an event hosted by the York Centre for Human Rights. This second in a series of e-learning courses provides online learning and training for everyone who needs information on human rights issues that come up in rental housing.

Toronto - The Ontario Human Rights Commission is launching Human Rights 101, the first in a series of eLearning modules on human rights. Developed with assistance from the New Media Studies Program at the University of Toronto Scarborough and input from community stakeholders, Human Rights 101 users will be able to learn about human rights information from anywhere they have internet access. Created to be accessible to a wide range of users, students, office or factory workers, employers or those new to Canada will be able to get information on human rights history, principles, legislation and policies at the click of a button any time of the day.

Toronto - A major joint initiative between the Toronto Police Service (TPS), the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB), and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) to bring about institutional change in combating racism and discrimination celebrates a new milestone. An event celebrating the project’s completion is being held today at 11:50 a.m, at St. Lawrence Hall.

Toronto - This morning, senior business and community leaders joined the Ontario Human Rights Commission to launch “Count me in!”, a new guide that provides information and advice on collecting human rights-based data in a wide variety of sectors across Ontario.

Toronto - The Ontario Human Rights Commission, the City of Toronto, the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario, the Greater Toronto Apartment Association and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre have joined forces to promote housing as a human right. The partners are encouraging Toronto tenants and landlords to learn more about these rights by today launching a poster that will appear in 120 transit shelters across Toronto during the month of March.

Municipalities have to consider the needs of everyone - including people with disabilities or on social assistance - when making bylaws. The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) made that ruling late last week, saying “municipalities – and this Board – are bound by the [Human Rights] Code”.

Toronto - New guidelines will help improve equal access to rental housing for all Ontarians. The Policy on Human Rights and Rental Housing, Canada’s first comprehensive look at how barriers to housing can be indentified and eliminated, was released today by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC).