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The Ontario Human Rights Code

The Ontario Human Rights Code is a provincial law that guarantees everybody in Ontario equal rights and opportunities without discrimination in areas such as employment, housing and services.

The Code's goal is to prevent discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race, colour, sex, disability and age.  In total, there are sixteen grounds mentioned in the Code.

Section 1 of Ontario’s Human Rights Code guarantees the right to equal treatment for all people living in Ontario.  This includes the right to the equal treatment of new immigrants to Canada and children with special education needs.

According to Section 1 of Ontario’s Human Rights Code:

Every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or disability.

The following is a link to the Ontario Human Rights Commission web site.  This web site includes a plain language guide to Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

Ontario Human Rights Code-Plain Language Guide

What is a Human Rights Complaint?

Some parents and guardians who believe that their child has not received appropriate services because of their race, sex, colour, disability, etc. have filed Human Rights Complaints with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

If you believe your rights or the rights of your child under the Human Rights Code have been violated, you may want to file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.  The following link outlines the process for filing a human rights complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Filing a Human Rights Complaint-OHRC

The Right to Exercise Your Rights without Reprisal

Section 8 of Ontario’s Human Rights Code guarantees the right of people in Ontario to claim their rights under the Code without reprisal, such as harassment or threats.  This means that if you file a complaint about your child’s school or the School Board with Ontario’s Human Rights Commission, that any mistreatment of you or your child is a violation of your rights under the Code.

According to the Human Rights Code:

Every person has a right to claim and enforce his or her rights under this Act, to institute and participate in proceedings under this Act and to refuse to infringe a right of another person under this Act, without reprisal or threat of reprisal for so doing.

Human Rights Settlement-Toronto District School Board

Another function of the Ontario Human Rights Commission is to investigate problems of discrimination in a community, and to encourage and coordinate plans, programs and activities to reduce or prevent the problem.

In July 2005, the Ontario Human Rights Commission initiated a complaint against the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).  The complaint alleges that the TDSB had failed to meet its duty to accommodate racial minority students and students with disabilities in the application of discipline, including providing adequate alternative education services for racial minority students and students with disabilities who are suspended or expelled.  The complaint also alleged that these failures to accommodate racialized students and students with disabilities violated Section 1 of the Ontario Human Rights Code, and that the TDSB was, therefore, not meeting its obligation under the Code to provide equal access to education services for these groups of students.

The complaint was not referred to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.  Instead, a settlement was reached about what the TDSB was prepared to do to avoid discrimination against racial minority students and special needs students in the application of school discipline.

This settlement has implications for other School Boards in Ontario, and should provide a guideline for other schools about what needs to be done to avoid discrimination against racial minority students and special needs students in the application of school discipline.

The TDSB agreed to the following terms of settlement.

Toronto District School Board-Terms of Settlement

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