Ena Chadha is an Indo-Canadian human rights lawyer, investigator, author and educator, known for her equality rights litigation and adjudication. She was appointed as the interim Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on July 22, 2020. Chadha was the 2019 recipient of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce's Female Professional of the Year Award. She was a co-reviewer of allegations of racism within the

Peel District School Board The Peel District School Board (PDSB; known as English-Language Public District School Board No. 19 prior to 1999) is a school district that serves approximately 153,000 kindergarten to grade 12 students at more than 259 schools in the Region o ...

, the second largest public school board in Canada, in 2019.

Biography

Ena Chadha was born in

New Delhi, India New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, ...

, and moved to Canada at 2 years of age. She first lived in the Regent Park area of

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and later settled in

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

, where she attended elementary and high school, graduating from

North Park Secondary School North Park Secondary School is a public high school located at the major intersection of Williams Parkway and North Park Drive in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1978, making it one of the oldest high schools in the area. North Park i ...

in 1986. Chadha has a journalism degree from

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Tor ...

, a law degree from

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, and a Masters of Law degree from

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Family

Chadha's parents are Rajinder and Mohinder Chadha and she has a sister, Meena Chadha. After her mother's death, Chadha and her family established an entrance scholarship at the

for a first year female law student of indigenous background to honour her mother's legacy of community service and belief in supporting disadvantaged women.

Career

Chadha was appointed as the interim Chief Commissioner of the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...

on July 22, 2020. Her appointment came at a critical moment as the OHRC sought to address human rights issues emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, while initiating a Right to Read public inquiry and a systemic racism inquiry into the Toronto Police Services. Highlights of Chadha's career include being the chair of the board of directors of the Human Rights Legal Support Center (2018-2020), Director of Litigation of ARCH: Disability Law Centre (2000-2007) and her appointment as vice-chair at the

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , formed = , dissolved = , jurisdiction = Province of Ontario , headquarters = 25 Grosvenor Street Toronto, Ontario , minister1_name = Attorney General ...

(2007-2015), where she was a mediator and adjudicator rendering important rulings in the areas of race discrimination and sexual harassment. Chadha has been recognized by the

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was he ...

as a "Leader of Change" for her work in challenging institutionalized inequality and racial barriers.

Publications

Chadha has written extensively on the topic of human rights. Her articles have been published in the ''Supreme Court Law Review'', ''National Journal of Constitutional Law'' and ''Journal of Law and Social Policy''. She has contributed to equality rights books and co-wrote a chapter in a 2018

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

treatise about international human rights law for women with disabilities and is a frequent public speaker promoting human rights.

List of articles

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Book chapters

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadha, Ena Living people Human rights lawyers People from New Delhi Toronto Metropolitan University alumni University of Saskatchewan alumni Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)