Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977
The Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977 is a key piece of legislation aimed at promoting equality and protecting individuals from discrimination in Canada. It prohibits nine specific grounds of discrimination, including race, sex, religion, and physical handicap, allowing individuals to live freely and equally within society. The Act mandates non-discriminatory practices in various sectors, including employment, housing, and the provision of goods and services, ensuring fair treatment across all areas of public life.
In addition to prohibiting discriminatory policies, the Act established a human rights commission to address complaints and promote understanding of human rights principles. Its reach extends to all federal government departments and areas under federal jurisdiction. Over the years, court interpretations have expanded the Act's application to encompass systemic discrimination, significantly enhancing its impact. As a result, the legislation has played a crucial role in increasing the representation of marginalized groups within the federal workforce and has contributed to efforts aimed at achieving greater economic and social equality in Canadian society.
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Subject Terms
Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977
Identification Federal legislation that extended protection of human rights in Canada
Date Passed on July 14, 1977
This act established the principle of equality for all individuals and worked with other laws at the provincial level both to protect human rights and to provide a framework for ending discriminatory practices in the workplace and in the provision of services.
The stated intention of the Canadian Human Rights Act was to allow every individual the right to live as he or she wished without being prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices, as long as the individual fulfilled his or her obligations as a member of society. The act defined and prohibited nine kinds of discrimination: race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, marital status, physical handicap, and conviction for an offense that was later pardoned.
The purpose of the legislation was to allow all individuals to live equally and freely as full members of Canadian society by removing barriers to the provision of goods and services and to owning or renting accommodations. In the workplace, it mandated nondiscriminatory employment policies and practices concerning hiring, advertising of jobs, standardizing of job applications, membership in employee organizations, workplace policies, opportunities for promotion, and equal pay for work of equal value. The act also prohibited any public notice, sign, or phone message that expressed or encouraged discrimination, and it extended privacy protection by establishing limits on the use of any personal information stored in government files. Finally, the act set up a human rights commission to deal with complaints concerning discriminatory practices covered by the new law, to coordinate federal and provincial legislation and policies, and to promote public understanding of human rights principles.
The Canadian Human Rights Act applied to all federal government departments, agencies, and Crown Corporations, as well as to any area that was under federal jurisdiction, such as banking and transportation. Areas not under federal jurisdiction were protected by antidiscrimination laws and human rights legislation that existed in all ten Canadian provinces.
Impact
The effects of the Canadian Human Rights Act were far-reaching and became even more extensive as the law was interpreted and clarified through a number of court cases in the 1980’s. Over time, the legislation was interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada to apply not only to intentional, direct acts of discrimination or harassment against an individual or group of individuals but also to situations of systemic discrimination, in which an employment or customer service policy or practice created unnecessary barriers. With this broadened application, the act proved highly successful in increasing the numbers of previously underrepresented groups employed by the federal government (and in Canadian society in general) and in removing discriminatory barriers and promoting individual equality and economic parity throughout the country.
Bibliography
Canadian Human Rights Act Review Panel. Promoting Equality: A New Vision. Ottawa, Ont.: Department of Justice, 2000.
Canadian Human Rights Commission. Canadian Human Rights Act: A Guide. Ottawa, Ont.: Minister of Supply and Services, 1993.
Canadian Human Rights Commission. Canadian Human Rights Act: A Summary. Ottawa, Ont.: Minister of Supply and Services, 1978.