| Canadian Human Rights Act | |
|---|---|
| An Act to extend the laws in Canada that proscribe discrimination | |
| Citation | Canadian Human Rights Act |
| Enacted by | Parliament of Canada |
| Date assented to | 1985 |
The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute originally passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set prohibited grounds such as gender, disability, or religion. It applies throughout Canada, but only to federally regulated activities; each province and territory has its own anti-discrimination law that applies to activities that are not federally regulated.
The Canadian Human Rights Act outlines the creation of a Canadian Human Rights Commission that investigates claims of discrimination as well as the creation of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to judge the cases.
Before a case can be brought to the Tribunal it must go through several stages of investigation and remediation. After this process has been completed, if the parties are not satisfied, the case will go to the tribunal.
If a complainant can show a valid case of discrimination the defendant can rebuke it by showing that their practice was for a justified reason. The process is generally known as the "Meiorin test" which is similar to the Oakes test justification in a Charter challenge.