Human Rights Code
The Human Rights Code guarantees that every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or disability.
The Code specifically guarantees these rights in the context of the occupancy of accommodation and, additionally, forbids in that context discrimination on the ground of “receipt of public assistance” (subsection 2(1)). Further, every person who occupies accommodation has a right to freedom from harassment by the landlord or agent of the landlord or by an occupant of the same building because of any those grounds (subsection 2(2)). Section 21(3) clarifies that section 2 is not infringed if a landlord collects and uses income information, credit checks, credit references, rental history and other business practices in a manner that is consistent with the regulations made under the Code (see the regulation entitled “Business Practices Permissible to Landlords in Selecting Prospective Tenants for Residential Accommodation”).
In the context of employment, an additional prohibited ground of discrimination is “record of offences” (subsection 5(1)). See also the definition of “record of offences” in section 10.