Use of the term “accommodation” refers to housing. You have the right to equal treatment when buying, selling, renting or being evicted from an apartment, house, condominium or commercial property. This right also covers renting or being evicted from a hotel room.
On municipal responsibilities in planning and licensing housing:
For other publications on housing, click “Resource Types” on the left-hand panel.
In an opinion editorial published online at National Newswatch on April 4, 2021, Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha discusses how Martin Luther King’s fight against poverty must guide our post-COVID vision.
This opinion editorial by Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha on housing as a human right appeared online at tvo.org on Monday, November 2, 2020.
The OHRC is concerned that the Township of Brock’s Interim Control By-law 2994-2020 to "prohibit the establishment of Supportive Housing and Modular Construction, including Manufactured Dwelling Houses" creates barriers to establishing and accessing supportive housing, which may be discriminatory under the Human Rights Code. The OHRC calls on Council to remove any barriers that have a discriminatory effect as soon as possible, and to allow such supportive housing projects to proceed.
I am writing today to provide the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) submission on the government’s Proposed Regulatory Amendments under the Housing Services Act, 2011 – Reg. 367/11. The OHRC is committed to bringing a human rights perspective to government strategies aimed at addressing poverty, homelessness and hunger.
I hope this correspondence finds you well in these challenging times. I am writing on behalf the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), to engage you on important human rights matters and our mutual interests related to your portfolio as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
The OHRC recognizes the work of the City of Oshawa in preparing a strategy that will increase the amount of affordable housing in the community, which will benefit not only young people, but also other people across the community who may be from groups protected by the Human Rights Code ("Code"). Based on our work in this area, we have made several recommendations for the City's consideration, which we believe will help promote a culture of human rights and will support compliance with the Code.
Toronto - Today the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a background document and consultation paper on human rights in rental housing. Public meetings begin this June in Sudbury, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto to hear people’s stories and bring much needed attention and action to this fundamental issue.
May 2007 - I am very pleased to launch the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s review of human rights and rental housing and to invite your input into this area of significant concern.
May 2007 - There are several ways you can participate in the Commission’s consultation on Human Rights and Rental Housing in Ontario.
Jennifer Brown’s article has good advice on how to deal with credit history and debt when assessing prospective tenants. But it does not mention the legal obligations landlords have under Ontario’s Human Rights Code. Of most concern is Industry representative Rob Watt’s implication that landlords could use a 30 percent maximum rent-to-income ratio to deny tenancy.
