Legal
The OHRC uses targeted legal action, including Public Interest Inquiries, to advance an expansive interpretation of the Code, establish important precedents that adopt OHRC policies, promote broader public change, and pursue public interest remedies. Some of our most recent case work can be found below. Each Annual Report also reviews the past year’s legal work.
The OHRC's Litigation and inquiry strategy sets out when and how the OHRC decides to conduct an inquiry or take an application to the Human Rights Tribunal or when to intervene in a legal proceeding.
To request a Commission initiated-application, inquiry or intervention, contact info@ohrc.on.ca.
See our Litigation and Inquiry Strategy for more information about OHRC legal action.
-
On May 14, 2010, Ontario’s Divisional Court issued a decision on a case called Ontario Human Rights Commission v. Christian Horizons. The Divisional Court’s ruling was on the appeal of a 2008 decision made by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. In that decision, the Tribunal found that Christian Horizons infringed the rights of an employee who was in a same sex relationship.
-
Pay equity for midwives upheld by Ontario’s highest court
TORONTO – Today, in a landmark decision – Ontario (Health) v Association of Ontario Midwives – the Court of Appeal for Ontario confirmed the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s decision that Ontario midwives experienced gender-based discrimination and should be compensated equitably to eliminate the gender wage gap.
-
Paying the price: The human cost of racial profiling
October 2003 - The Report begins with a brief explanation and definition of racial profiling. In addition, the Report explains the human cost of racial profiling on the individuals, families and communities that experience it. It details the detrimental impact that profiling is having on societal institutions such as the education system, law enforcement agencies, service providers and so forth. It also outlines the business case against profiling – in essence the economic loss sustained as a result of racial profiling. -
Phipps v. Toronto Police Services Board
The OHRC intervened at the Tribunal in a complaint by Ron Phipps – a case which raised some tough issues. The Tribunal ruled Phipps had been subjected to racial profiling in 2005 by a Toronto police officer. The officer stopped Phipps when he was delivering mail in an affluent Toronto neighbourhood, checked with a homeowner Phipps spoke to, trailed him and checked his identity with a White letter carrier. -
Preliminary findings: Inquiry into assaults on Asian Canadian Anglers
December 2007 - During the summer and fall of 2007, there were reports of a series of incidents across southern and central Ontario in which Asian Canadian anglers were physically or verbally assaulted. Racial slurs were associated with a number of these incidents. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”) was gravely concerned by these reports. -
Protection of personal information and privacy safeguards policy: Reading Disabilities Inquiry
-
Public interest inquiry into racial profiling and discrimination by the Toronto Police Service
November 30, 2017 - the Ontario Human Rights Commission announced that it has launched a public interest inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination by the Toronto Police Service (TPS). Using its legislated inquiry powers under section 31 of Ontario’s Human Rights Code, the OHRC has called for the TPS, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Special Investigations Unit to provide a wide range of data to determine exactly how and where racial profiling operates in law enforcement.
-
Racial profiling inquiry: Background and process
December 2003 - The Report wraps up the Commission’s inquiry initiative by relating what the Commission heard and providing an analysis of the effects of profiling on more than just the individuals and communities most likely to experience it. The Report also analyzes the detrimental impact that profiling is having on societal institutions such as the education system, law enforcement agencies, service providers, etc., and providers, etc., and provides recommendations for bringing an end to this practice.
-
Racial profiling inquiry: Main report recommendations (fact sheet)
December 2003 - The Commission’s report on racial profiling puts forward a number of recommendations to address the issue of racial profiling.
-
Racial profiling inquiry: Major themes (fact sheet)
December 2003 - In reviewing the material received during its inquiry, the following eight themes emerged.
-
Racial profiling inquiry: Objectives (fact sheet)
December 2003 - The Commission’s racial profiling inquiry initiative was undertaken in response to community concerns about the impact of profiling on members of their respective communities. The inquiry’s main objectives were to give individuals who had been subjected to profiling an opportunity to share those experiences and to show its effects on their families and communities. In doing so, the Commission hoped to raise public awareness of the harmful effects and the social costs of racial profiling.
-
Racial profiling inquiry: Whats next (fact sheet)
December 2003 - In order to bridge the divide between those who deny the existence of racial profiling on the one hand, and the communities who have long held that they are targets of racial profiling on the other, the Commission plans to
-
Re: Sexualized and gender-specific dress codes in restaurants
July 8, 2016 - In pursuit of our public interest mandate, section 31 of the Code authorizes the OHRC to request production of documents and gather other information as part of an inquiry. Pursuant to section 31, we are writing to request that you review employee dress codes in your Ontario operations, remove any discriminatory requirements, and provide documentation showing that you have done this.
-
Rental housing licensing Inquiries
Two public interest inquiries by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) will explore if new rental housing licensing bylaws in North Bay and Waterloo create discriminatory barriers to rental housing. The inquiries are being conducted under the OHRC’s Human Rights Code mandate to promote, advance and protect human rights in Ontario.
-
Right to Read audiobook, pdfs now available!
The Right to Read executive summary is now available on audiobook. Listen to all the key findings and recommendations in 11 chapters. The full Right to Read report is also available online in an accessible pdf format for easy downloading.
-
Right to Read backgrounder: About the inquiry
Why an inquiry? On October 3, 2019, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) began a public inquiry into whether students with reading disabilities have meaningful access to education as required under the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code).
-
Right to Read backgrounder: What the community said
Engaging with the public: the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) received significant input from the public, and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data.
-
Right to Read by the numbers
The Right to Read report has garnered sustained and significant public interest and support from provincial, national and international audiences. The response has been overwhelmingly positive with leading reading experts and equality rights advocates from Canada and around the world acknowledging the report’s accuracy and significance.
-
Right to Read inquiry report
The Right to Read: Public inquiry into human rights issues affecting students with reading disabilities report calls for critical changes to Ontario’s approach to early reading, in areas such as curriculum and instruction, screening, reading interventions, accommodations and professional assessments.
-
Right to Read inquiry – community support
The community adds its voice to the Right to Read inquiry report.