Bill 165 1997

An Act to amend the Human Rights Code to enhance Equal Opportunity in Employment in the Municipal and Non-Profit Sectors Preamble

Section 5 of the Human Rights Code sets out the right of every person to equal treatment with respect to employment without discrimination because of certain prohibited grounds of discrimination such as race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship or creed.

Consistent with that principle, the people of Ontario believe that true equity in employment practices consists of ensuring the equality of opportunity, as opposed to the equality of outcome, for all persons affected. Attempts to ensure the equality of outcome constitute a form of discrimination, as recognized by the enactment of the Job Quotas Repeal Act, 1995.

To strengthen the right set out in section 5 of the Human Rights Code and to avoid the discrimination inherent in attempts to ensure the equality of outcome in employment practices, it is desirable to prohibit employers from collecting and using information that classifies their employees and applicants for employment on the basis of any prohibited ground of discrimination.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Section 23 of the Human Rights Code is amended by adding the following subsections: Employer's use of information

(5) The right under section 5 to equal treatment with respect to employment is infringed where an employer collects or in any way uses information that classifies its employees or applicants for employment on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination, except if discrimination on that ground is permitted under this Act. Possession of information by others

(6) Every person in possession of information collected in contravention of subsection (5) shall destroy the information as soon as reasonably possible after the later of the time of receiving it and the day that subsection comes into force.

2. Subsections 26 (1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted: Discrimination in employment under contracts

(1) It shall be deemed to be a condition of every contract described in subsection (1.1) and of every subcontract entered into in the performance of the contract that no right under section 5 will be infringed in the course of performing the contract or the subcontract, as the case may be. Government and other contracts

(1.1) Subsection (1) applies to every contract entered into by or on behalf of the Crown, any agency of the Crown, any municipality, any local board of a municipality or any corporation without share capital to which Part III of the Corporations Act applies. Definition

(1.2) In this section,

"municipality" includes a regional municipality, The District Municipality of Muskoka and the County of Oxford. Same, government and municipal grants and loans

(2) It shall be deemed to be a condition of every grant, contribution, loan or guarantee made by or on behalf of the Crown, any agency of the Crown, any municipality or any of its local boards that no right under section 5 will be infringed in the course of carrying out the purposes for which the grant, contribution, loan or guarantee, as the case may be, was made.

3. Subsection 44 (1) of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 65, is further amended by adding "23 (6) or" after "subsection" in the second line. Commencement

4. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent. Short title

5. The short title of this Act is the Human Rights Code Amendment Act (Equal Opportunity in the Municipal and Non-Profit Sectors), 1997.