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Human rights in Canada are given legal protections by the dual mechanisms of constitutional entitlements and statutory human rights codes, both federal and provincial. [13] [14] Claims under the Constitution and under human rights laws are generally of a civil nature. Constitutional claims are adjudicated through the court system.
The Canadian Human Rights Act [1] (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 victims of discriminatory practices based on a set of prohibited grounds.
The law is the most recent iteration of several proposed bills introduced to previous parliaments. In 2005, New Democratic Party member of Parliament Bill Siksay introduced a bill in the House of Commons to explicitly add "gender identity or expression" as prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act. He reintroduced ...
A protected group, protected class (US), or prohibited ground (Canada) is a category by which people are qualified for special protection by a law, policy, or similar authority. In Canada and the United States, the term is frequently used in connection with employees and employment and housing. Where illegal discrimination on the basis of ...
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.
Under the heading of "Equality Rights" this section states: 15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
(Blencoe v British Columbia (Human Rights Commission), 2000) This right has generated significant case law, as abortion in Canada was legalized in R v Morgentaler (1988) after the Supreme Court found the Therapeutic Abortion Committees breached women's security of person by threatening their health. Some judges also felt control of the body was ...
Courts have since made many important decisions, including R v Morgentaler (1988), which struck down Canada's abortion law, and Vriend v Alberta (1998), in which the Supreme Court found the province's exclusion of sexual orientation as a prohibited grounds of discrimination violated the equality rights under section 15. In the latter case, the ...