The ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' () is a

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

passed by the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equal ...

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 Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics,

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

, and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered. Before the act was enacted, at least two provinces had enacted their own anti-discrimination laws. Ontario passed its ''Racial Discrimination Act'' in 1944, and Saskatchewan passed its '' Bill of Rights'' in 1947.

Application

The act applies throughout Canada, but only to federally regulated activities; each province and territory has its own anti-discrimination law that applies to activities that are not federally regulated. The ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' created the Canadian Human Rights Commission that investigates claims of

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

as well as the Canadian 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 the Oakes test justification in a Charter challenge. In 2018, the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

found that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's determination that the ''

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

'' did not violate the ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' was reasonable due to judicial deference.

Specific provisions

Gender identity and expression

In 2016, the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Justin Trudeau introduced '' An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code'' (C-16) in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

, 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 received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on June 19, 2017. The law went into effect immediately.

Hate messages

The ''Canadian 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.NP: "Hate speech no longer part of Canada’s Human Rights Act" 27 Jun 2013
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References

{{Reflist

External links

Canadian Human Rights Act
(full text)
Canadian Human Rights Commission

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

Maple Leaf Web: The Canadian Human Rights Act: Introduction to Canada’s Federal Human Rights Legislation
Canadian federal legislation Labour relations in Canada Labour legislation of Canada National human rights instruments 1977 in Canadian law Human rights legislation in Canada Anti-discrimination law in Canada