On April 2, 2020, the Ontario Human Rights Commission issued a policy directive for government bodies to enact a “human‑rights based approach” to managing the COVID‑19 pandemic.

What is the Ontario Human Rights Commission?

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (the OHRC) is a government agency that was created by the Human Rights Code to promote and advance human rights in Ontario. They provide information and direction for service providers, government agencies, lawyers, and the like. At Iler Campbell, we frequently refer our clients to their public education materials and often use their website as a starting point when researching issues for our clients.

Part of OHRC’s role is to make recommendations during situations of tension or conflict, an apt description for daily life since the start of the global COVID‑19 pandemic. All levels of government have been scrambling to make the necessary policy shifts to keep residents as safe as possible. The provincial government has enacted a series of urgent emergency measures, many of which we have discussed previously on this blog. As decisions are being made at a break‑neck pace, the OHRC has issued its policy directive to ensure that already vulnerable groups are not forgotten, further marginalized, or exploited by government decisions. Continue reading “Human rights in the time of COVID‑19”