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Ontario Human Rights Code

II. Introducing the Ontario Human Rights Code

From: Human Rights at Work 2008 - Third Edition

1. The context for interpreting the Code

a) Background and history

In 1962, many laws dealing with discrimination were brought together, along with additional protections, to create the Code. The Code has been amended at various times since then. The most recent amendments were passed in December 2006. The Ontario Code only provides protection against discrimination in Ontario. There are other pieces of human rights legislation in each of the other provinces and territories and federally.

Housing as a human right

From: Right at home: Report on the consultation on human rights and rental housing in Ontario

Adequate housing is essential to one’s sense of dignity, safety, inclusion and ability to contribute to the fabric of our neighbourhoods and societies.[3] As the Commission heard in this consultation, without appropriate housing it is often not possible to get and keep employment, to recover from mental illness or other disabilities, to integrate into the community, to escape physical or emotional violence or to keep custody of children.

Rental Housing and the Ontario Human Rights Code

From: Human Rights and rental housing in Ontario: Background paper

Status and Purpose of the Code

The Code is quasi-constitutional legislation which has primacy over all other legislation in Ontario, unless the other legislation specifically states that it applies despite the Code.[77] This means that if another piece of legislation contains a provision which conflicts with or contravenes the Code, the Code will prevail.

Human rights law and policy

From: Public consultation paper: Human rights and mental health strategy

International, federal and provincial human rights legislation prohibit discrimination against persons with mental health disabilities.[3] In Ontario, human rights protections for people with mental health disabilities and addictions are grounded in the Ontario Human Rights Code. People with mental health issues are covered under the ground of “disability” in the Code.

Section III: The balancing tools

From: Balancing conflicting rights: Towards an analytical framework

This section of the paper surveys the balancing tools found in the Code and relevant case law. Documents such as Commission briefing notes and Policy Papers provide invaluable commentary on these tools and their insights are woven into the following discussion. The goal of this section is to identify the resources for balancing conflicting rights that will be utilized in the scenarios discussed in Section IV.

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