Language selector

Age

Age is a protected ground under the Code, This means that you cannot be discriminated against because of your age where you work or live, or go to get a service. In the Code, age is defined as being 18 years or older, or age 16 or older in housing if you have withdrawn from parental control.

Some special programs and benefits, such as seniors’ discounts or youth employment programs, exist to address genuine age-related needs. However, when you are unjustifiably treated differently because of your age, that's age discrimination

Relevant policy:

  1. What We Heard Report: Anti-Black Racism in Education Roundtables

    Black leadership and community engagement have been at the forefront of action to address systemic discrimination and advance racial equity in Ontario. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) recognizes that Black individuals, organizations, and grassroots movements have been working on issues of anti-Black racism in education for decades. The OHRC acknowledges and embraces the work of generations of grassroots and community-led organizing and academics and the significant strides toward protecting the safety and well-being of Black children in Ontario’s publicly funded education system. The OHRC has tried to capture and preserve those works in its initiative to address anti-Black racism in Ontario’s education system. We are grateful for those works and honour the people who have contributed to them.

  2. Letter to Minister Christine Elliott re: COVID-19 Action Plan for Vulnerable People

    June 4, 2020

    The OHRC welcomes the April 23 release of the government’s COVID-19 Action Plan for Vulnerable People (the Plan) as a first step toward addressing the disproportionate impact that the pandemic is having on Ontario’s most vulnerable people. However, to ensure that the human rights of vulnerable people are protected in a way that is consistent with Ontario’s Human Rights Code, the Plan requires expanded scope and detail, which must be done in consultation with vulnerable groups and human rights experts.

  3. Letter to President/CEO of Ontario Health re: COVID-19 triage protocol, data collection, essential support persons

    June 4, 2020

    Over the last two months, the OHRC has met with a range of stakeholders representing racialized communities, people experiencing poverty, people with disabilities, older people and other Code-protected groups. These groups are concerned that certain aspects in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic are having a negative impact on their human rights, and have raised four immediate concerns

  4. Letter to the Hon. Associate Chief Justice Frank N. Marrocco on taking a human rights approach at the Independent Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission

    August 20, 2020

    I am writing today to stress the important role that human rights principles should play in any reviews of Ontario government and long-term care service provider responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  5. Letter to Facebook on enforcing safeguards to prevent discriminatory housing, employment and credit ad targeting in Canada

    December 7, 2020

    The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) welcome the news that Facebook has now implemented and is enforcing several safeguards to prevent discriminatory targeting of advertisements for housing, employment and credit opportunities in Canada.

Pages