1. Introduction
Many Indigenous people* experience discrimination when they shop, sometimes due to racial profiling. Examples include when business owners or employees engage in targeted surveillance, make derogatory comments toward Indigenous customers related to their ancestry, race, or culture(s), or unjustly refuse to serve Indigenous customers. Discrimination may also occur when a First Nations person seeks to use their Status card to request a tax exemption or as identification, or when other Indigenous documentation is used for identification (e.g., Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) client identification number).
With this reality in mind, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)1 and the Indigenous Human Rights Program (a partnership between Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC)2 and the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC))3 co-developed this guide to provide human rights information about anti-Indigenous discrimination in retail settings.
This guide provides information about the protections afforded by the Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code)4 and about the various ways in which Indigenous people experience discrimination and harassment in retail settings. It is intended for Indigenous people themselves, to help them exercise their right to non-discrimination, but also for duty-holders in retail settings (e.g., business owners, employees, third-party vendors, etc.), to help them understand their responsibilities and the actions they can take to prevent discrimination against Indigenous customers.
As a practical supplement to this guide, two fact sheets summarizing the information contained herein were also created, one tailored for rights-holders (Fact sheet: Recognizing anti-Indigenous discrimination and harassment in retail settings) and the other for duty-holders (Fact sheet: Preventing anti-Indigenous discrimination and harassment in retail settings).
* The term Indigenous is used to collectively describe First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and urban Indigenous communities. This is consistent with the approach used in inquiries and reports such as the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA People and with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous people make up 2.9% of the Ontario population (or 406,585 individuals),5 most of whom live off-reserve, in or near urban centers.6 PBSC, the OFIFC, and the OHRC support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 92 (iii), which recommends that Canadian businesses provide “education for staff and managers on the history of Aboriginal Peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaty and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law and Aboriginal–Crown relations.”7 |
This guide is not legal advice. It contains a general discussion of topics, terminology, and law relating to discrimination and harassment experienced by Indigenous people in retail settings. If you need legal advice, please contact a lawyer or find more information in Appendix I, titled “What can you do if you think you’ve experienced discrimination?”
Endnotes
1 The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established as an arm’s length agency of government in 1961 to prevent discrimination and to promote and advance human rights in Ontario. The OHRC is one pillar of Ontario’s human rights system, alongside the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC). Learn more on the OHRC’s website: https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/about-us/who-we-are
2 Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) is a national law student program whose mission is to provide free legal support to people and communities facing barriers to justice. Learn more on PBSC’s website: https://www.probonostudents.ca/who-we-are
3 The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) represents the collective interests of 31 Friendship Centres in cities and towns across Ontario. Friendship Centres are places for community members and Indigenous people living in urban spaces to gather, connect with one another and receive culturally based services. Learn more on the OFIFC’s website: https://ofifc.org/about/
4 Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O.1990, c. H.19 [Code]; available online: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90h19#BK33.
5 Statistics Canada, “Indigenous population continues to grow and is much younger than the non-Indigenous population, although the pace of growth has slowed,” (2022), The Daily; available online: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220921/dq220921a-eng.htm
6 Statistics Canada, “Ontario [Province] (table). Indigenous Population Profile,” 2021 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-510-X2021001, released June 21, 2023; available online: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/ipp-ppa/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&DGUID=2021A000235&SearchText=Ontario&HP=0&HH=0&GENDER=1&AGE=1&RESIDENCE=3
7 Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC], Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, (2015) at 336; available online: https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf.