The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Canadian Constitution and can overwrite provincial legislation. Its basic purpose is to set out the principle of equality rights. This piece of constitutional law has a pervasive impact on employment law across the country. You can view the Charter in its entirety at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/home.

The Charter specifically dictates that “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability.” Despite its focus on equality, the Charter allows for employment equity programs that improve the conditions of individuals or groups, such as women, visible minorities, disabled people or aboriginal people, who are disadvantaged. Not every Canadian province has a legislated employment equity program, although each legislates human rights protection.

Each province, as well as the federal government, has a human rights act or code that prohibits discrimination in employment and in access to goods and services. The Canadian Human Rights Code applies to federal government employees and businesses related to the federal government. The federal government sets out the grounds upon which discrimination is prohibited as the following:

Race, ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, marital status, family status, mental/physical disability, pardoned conviction and sexual orientation.

You can read the Canadian Human Rights Act at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/h-6/30599.html.

Each province legislates such employment issues separately. You can visit the website of the province in which you are interesting in living to view its employment standards laws. For example, to visit British Columbia’s website, enter www.gov.bc.ca; for Prince Edward Island, try www.gov.pei.ca, and so on.

In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act deals with employment issues, including discrimination in the workplace. This legislation allows employers to discriminate against certain groups of people, or favor other groups, if they can prove that there is a “Bonafide Occupational Requirement”. This means there is real necessity for the discriminatory practice due to the need of the employer to “engage and retain efficient employees.” For example, Roman-Catholic Separate School Boards may discriminate against hiring non-Catholic teachers in the defense that they must maintain the religious integrity of the education received in their schools. Employers who cannot prove that there is a “Bonafide Occupational Requirement” must make “Reasonable Accommodation:” they must accommodate the complainant short of any undue hardship.

Constitutional law, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, does not, on its own, apply directly to employment issues, and only becomes an issue when challenged in a human rights tribunal.

Human rights commissions enforce all human rights legislation. You can submit a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission should you find yourself the victim of discrimination in the workplace. The Canadian Human Rights Commission employs a full-time staff to investigate complaints, implement public service campaigns and liaise with other human rights commissions.

In Canada, you should not be excluded from employment based on your race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability. Therefore, if you have the skills and qualifications to do the job and are suited to the position, the hiring decision made by the employer must be legally defensible. You have access to legal recourse should you be discriminated against. In such case, you could put a legal case together by retaining the services of a lawyer specializing in employment law.

About Author

As the youngest child of immigrant parents, Michelle speaks from personal, as well as professional experience. Michelle Straka is a professional Recruiting and Human Resources Consultant. She began her career with RWH International in 1998, providing job search and immigration consultation services to residents of Canada, U.S., South Africa, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and more. She has broad experience assisting clients from all over the world on the many issues regarding relocation to Canada and the U.S., including employment searches. She joined DGA Careers, which recruits entry- to executive-level professionals across Canada, in September 2000 as a Senior Recruiting Consultant. She also administers the insurance-specific recruiting websites Insuranceworks.ca and Insuranceworks.com, servicing Canada and the U.S. respectively. She can be reached at Michelle@dgacareers.com