The Human Rights Code is a statute in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

that guarantees

equality before the law Equality before the law, also known as equality under the law, equality in the eyes of the law, legal equality, or legal egalitarianism, is the principle that all people must be equally protected by the law. The principle requires a systematic ru ...

and prohibits discrimination in specific social areas such as housing or employment. The code's goal specifically prohibits discrimination based on

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

, gender identity or expression,

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

and other grounds. The code is administered by 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 ...

and enforced by 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 ...

History

The Human Rights Code was the first law of its kind in Canada. It replaced various laws that dealt with different kinds of discrimination. The code brought them together into one law and added some new protections. The code came into force on June 15, 1962. June 15 was chosen as the proclamation date for the code because it was the 747th anniversary of the signing of the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

. The code replaced the province's existing anti-discrimination legislation, including: * Fair Employment Practices Act, 1951 which prohibited discrimination based on race and religion in employment; * Female Employee's Fair Remuneration Act, 1951 which prohibited an employer from paying a female employee less money for the same work done by a man in the same establishment * Fair Accommodation Practices Act, 1954 which prohibited discrimination in public places on racial, religious or ethnic grounds; * Ontario Anti-Discrimination Commission Act, 1958 which created a commission to administer the above acts and develop educational programs; At the same time that the

was created, the government of the day, led by Premier

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

introduced an amendment to the Fair Accommodation Practices Act to prohibit discrimination because of race, colour or creed in the renting of apartments in buildings which contain more than six units. The Human Rights Commission led an extensive review of the Code in the mid-1970s, culminating in a report titled ''Life Together: A Report on Human Rights in Ontario.'' Some of the report's recommendations were adopted in the ''Ontario Human Rights Code, 1981'', which passed in December 1981.

Grounds

The code prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, the receipt of public assistance (housing only), record of offences (employment only), or by association with a person identified by any of those grounds. The most recent amendment to this list was on June 19, 2012, to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds.

Administration

The

(HRTO) is the administrative, quasi-judicial tribunal tasked with hearing complaints that the code has been violated. It has the power to grant

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

and

specific performance Specific performance is an equitable remedy in the law of contract, whereby a court issues an order requiring a party to perform a specific act, such as to complete performance of the contract. It is typically available in the sale of land law, ...

to remedy discriminatory acts. The HRTO is subject to

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

by the Divisional Court of the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

. Before June 30, 2008, human rights complaints were filed with the

(OHRC), which investigated claims of discrimination. Since June 30, 2008, claims of discrimination are filed directly with the HRTO, leaving the OHRC to concentrate its resources on systemic discrimination, public education and policy development.

Content

The code is divided into an introductory section, or "preamble", followed by seven parts. *Part I sets out basic rights and responsibilities. *Part II explains how the code is interpreted and applied. *Part III explains the role and structure of the

(OHRC). *Part IV explains the role and structure of the

(HRTO). *Part IV.1 establishes the Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC) and sets out its governance. *Part V deals with general matters such as the power to make regulations and sets out that the Human Rights Code has primacy over other provincial legislation (section 47(2)). *Part VI of the code deals with the transition from the "old" system, where complaints were investigated by the

to the "new" system (which took effect on June 30, 2008) where applications are now filed directly with the

without any investigation.

Application

The code does not apply to federally regulated activities, such as banking, intra-provincial transportation, aeronautics and telecommunications, which are subject to the ''

Canadian Human Rights Act The ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' (french: Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne) is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be vi ...

''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Ontario Human Rights Code
(full text)
Ontario Human Rights Code
at the

Ontario provincial legislation Human rights legislation in Canada 1962 in Ontario 1962 in Canadian law