| Canadian Human Rights Act | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliament of Canada | |
| |
| Citation | RSC 1985, c. H-6 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of Canada |
| Assented to | 1977 |
TheCanadian Human Rights Act[1] (French:Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne) is astatute passed by theParliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensureequal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set of prohibited grounds. The prohibited grounds currently are:race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex,sexual orientation,gender identity orexpression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics,disability, and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.[2] Before the act was enacted, at least two provinces had enacted their own anti-discrimination laws. Ontario passed itsRacial Discrimination Act in 1944, and Saskatchewan passed itsBill of Rights in 1947.[3]
The act applies throughout Canada, but only to federally regulated activities; each province and territory has its ownanti-discrimination law that applies to activities that are not federally regulated. TheCanadian Human Rights Act created theCanadian Human Rights Commission that investigates claims ofdiscrimination as well as theCanadian Human Rights Tribunal to judge the cases. Before a case can be brought to the Tribunal it must go through several stages of investigation and remediation by the Commission. After this process has been completed, if the parties are not satisfied, the case will go to the tribunal.
If a complainant can show a valid case of discrimination the defendant can rebuke it by showing that their practice was for a justified reason. The process is generally known as the "Meiorin test" which is similar to theOakes test justification in aCharter challenge. In 2018, theSupreme Court of Canada found that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's determination that theIndian Act did not violate theCanadian Human Rights Act was reasonable due tojudicial deference.[4]
In 2016, the government ofPrime MinisterJustin Trudeau introducedAn Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (C-16) in theHouse of Commons of Canada, to add and include "gender identity or expression" to the legislation. The bill passed the Commons on November 18, 2016, and the Senate on June 15, 2017. It receivedroyal assent on June 19, 2017. The law went into effect immediately.
TheCanadian Human Rights Act formerly had a provision, section 13, dealing with communication of hate messages. The provision was repealed by the Parliament of Canada in June 2013, with the repeal coming into force one year later.[5]