Glossary

In Employment and Work, Housing Law, Human Rights

In Ontario’s human rights laws, the term disability includes many conditions. For example, a disability can be a physical condition, a mental condition, a learning disability, a developmental disability, or a mental illness. Disability also includes being addicted to or dependent on drugs or alcohol.

You could be born with a disability. Or, you could have a disability because you were sick or injured.

In Employment and Work, Housing Law, Human Rights, Income Assistance, Tribunals and Courts

The law says that you cannot be discriminated against:

• in employment and housing
• when you buy or receive items and services
• when you make a contract
• by your union or professional association

Discrimination happens when you’re treated unfairly because of protected grounds, also called personal characteristics. Ontario’s Human Rights Code lists 17 protected grounds that include ethnic origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, family status, and disability.