Glossary

In Employment and Work, Health and Disability, Housing Law, Human Rights

A personal characteristic is a quality that a person has. There are 17 personal characteristics protected by Ontario’s Human Rights Code. These are sometimes called “protected grounds”. They relate to your:

• race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, and ethnic origin
• citizenship
• religion
• sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
• sexual orientation
• family and marital status
• disability
• age

Two personal characteristics are protected only in certain situations. You’re protected from being treated unfairly:

• in housing if you get income support from the government
• at work if you have a record suspension, which used to be called a pardon

In Criminal Law, Employment and Work, Human Rights, Refugee Law

A record suspension used to be called a pardon. If you have a criminal record, you may be able to apply to the Parole Board of Canada for a record suspension. If you get a record suspension, your criminal record is not erased. But it is set aside and you can say you do not have one.

There are rules about how long you have to wait to apply and what you need to show for your application to be successful.

In Housing Law, Human Rights

A remedy is an order made by a court or tribunal to give someone their legal rights or to compensate them for their rights not being respected.

For example, if a landlord is not doing repairs that are needed, the Landlord and Tenant Board could order the landlord to do the repairs, lower the tenant’s rent until the repairs are done, or let the tenant move out with short notice.

Or, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal might order an employer to change their policy manual to deal with discrimination in the workplace.

In Family Law, Housing Law, Human Rights, Tribunals and Courts

Give or deliver a document to someone. Usually the law says how you can give or deliver the document, who has to get it, and the deadline by which they have to get it.

In Human Rights

A service is something that is offered to help meet a need. Some examples are:

• Stores, restaurants and bars
• Hospitals and health services
• Schools, universities and colleges
• Public places, amenities and utilities such as recreation centres, public washrooms, malls and parks
• Services and programs provided by municipal and provincial governments including social assistance and other benefits, and public transit
• Services provided by insurance companies

Services can be offered by individuals, companies, or the government.

In Human Rights

Transgender describes someone whose gender is not, or not just, the one they were assigned at birth.  

In Housing Law, Human Rights

An agency that makes decisions about applying a set of laws to disputes between people. It is like a court but less formal. The Landlord and Tenant Board is an example of a tribunal. Another example is the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

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

There are times when Ontario’s Human Rights Code does not require accommodation. But there must be proof that it will cause undue hardship. For example, it would be undue hardship if the only option would:

• cost too much
• cause a serious risk to the health or safety of others

In Employment and Work, Human Rights, Tribunals and Courts

A union is an organized group of workers that bargains with an employer to set conditions of employment, such as wages, hours of work, and overtime pay. Sometimes unions are called labour unions or trade unions.