The Right to Equality:

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says that everyone in Canada has the right to be treated fairly and equally by the law. You cannot be treated differently—discriminated against— by the law based on characteristics like race, religion, sex, and disability. Over time, Canadian courts have recognized other characteristics as being similarly protected, such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. However, these court decisions may only apply to the province in which they are made.

In addition to the Charter, every province and territory has its own human rights laws that protect you from discrimination on the basis of your sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity, along with many other characteristics. This is often called a Human Rights Code or Act.  While the Charter protects against discrimination from government actions and actors, human rights legislation protects rights in both public and private sectors including education, health care, and housing.

Sometimes, treating everyone “the same” still results in unfairness. For example, if a school requires every student to wear either a “male” or “female” uniform, that might look “equal” on paper but is unfair to trans or non-binary students. In Canada, our courts have recognized that treating everyone exactly the same will likely produce different results for different people, depending on their social advantages and disadvantages. That’s why Canadian law is clear that when we talk about equality, we’re not talking about treating everyone exactly the same (this is called “formal equality”), instead, we’re talking about substantive equality, or equity. This means that everyone should get the support they need, even if it is different from what others need.

Schools must take active steps to ensure your right to equality is being respected while at school. See Fostering Inclusive Schools to learn more.