Bill 35 explained in plain English
Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2018
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 35, the Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2018, expands the prohibited grounds of discrimination in Ontario's Human Rights Code to include immigration status, genetic characteristics, police records, and social condition.
This Bill amends the Human Rights Code to add new grounds on which discrimination is prohibited. Specifically, it adds "immigration status", "genetic characteristics", "police records", and "social condition" to the list of prohibited grounds. The Bill also clarifies that the right to equal treatment regarding genetic characteristics includes the right to refuse genetic testing or the disclosure of its results. These changes apply to various areas covered by the Code, including employment, services, goods, facilities, and accommodation. The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Adds "immigration status" as a prohibited ground of discrimination in several sections of the Human Rights Code.
- Adds "genetic characteristics" as a prohibited ground of discrimination in several sections of the Human Rights Code.
- Adds "police records" as a prohibited ground of discrimination in several sections of the Human Rights Code.
- Adds "social condition" as a prohibited ground of discrimination in several sections of the Human Rights Code.
- Amends Section 5 of the Human Rights Code to include immigration status, genetic characteristics, police records, and social condition as prohibited grounds for employment discrimination.
- Amends Section 5 of the Human Rights Code to include immigration status, genetic characteristics, police records, and social condition as prohibited grounds for workplace harassment.
- Adds definitions for "immigration status", "police records", and "social condition" to Section 10 of the Human Rights Code.
- Repeals the definition of "record of offences" in Section 10 of the Human Rights Code and replaces it with "police records" in related clauses.
- Amends Section 10 of the Human Rights Code to clarify that the right to equal treatment regarding genetic characteristics includes the right to refuse genetic testing or the disclosure of its results.
- Amends Section 16 of the Human Rights Code to include immigration status alongside citizenship in provisions related to discrimination.
- Amends Section 17 of the Human Rights Code to include police records as a ground for discrimination similar to disability.
- Amends Section 22 of the Human Rights Code to include police records alongside family status.
- Amends Section 24 of the Human Rights Code to include immigration status, genetic characteristics, police records, and social condition as prohibited grounds in certain circumstances.
- Amends Clause 24 (1) (b) of the Human Rights Code to replace references to "record of offences" with "police records".
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Individuals in Ontario who may experience discrimination.
- Employers and service providers in Ontario.
- Individuals seeking employment, services, goods, facilities, or accommodation in Ontario.
- The right to equal treatment in employment without discrimination based on immigration status, genetic characteristics, police records, or social condition.
- The right to freedom from harassment in the workplace based on these new grounds.
- The right to equal treatment regarding services, goods, facilities, and accommodation without discrimination based on these new grounds.
- The right to equal treatment without discrimination because a person refuses to undergo a genetic test or disclose its results.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The specific application and interpretation of "social condition" may depend on future case law or regulations.
- The bill text does not specify any particular penalties or enforcement mechanisms beyond the general framework of the Human Rights Code.
Adds "immigration status", "genetic characteristics", "police records", and "social condition" as prohibited grounds of discrimination throughout the Code, affecting areas such as employment, services, and accommodation. It also adds specific definitions for these terms and clarifies rights related to genetic testing.
Source: Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 16, 17, 22, 24
Repeals the existing Section 5 concerning employment and substitutes it with new text that explicitly includes "immigration status", "genetic characteristics", "police records", and "social condition" as prohibited grounds for discrimination in employment and harassment in the workplace.
Source: Section 4
Adds new definitions for "immigration status", "police records", and "social condition". It also repeals the definition of "record of offences" and adds a new subsection clarifying rights related to genetic testing.
Source: Section 6
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced