Overview

Resolving Disputes

Discrimination and Harassment

The Canadian Human Rights Act protects people that are lawfully present in Canada or legally entitled to return to Canada against discrimination by the following federally regulated employers or service providers :

• federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations;
• chartered banks;
• airlines;
• television and radio stations;
• interprovincial communications and telephone companies;
• buses and railways that travel between provinces;
• First Nations;
• other federally regulated industries, such as certain mining operations.

For examples of private sector employers under federal jurisdiction, please see the list compiled by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

If none of the above apply, your dispute is likely not with a federally regulated employer or service provider, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission cannot assist you. Instead, the matter comes under provincial or territorial jurisdiction, and you should contact the appropriate provincial or territorial human rights commission.

Your concerns come under provincial or territorial jurisdiction if they are related to one of the following types of organizations:

• retail and hospitality businesses, such as a store, a restaurant, a hotel, etc.;
• hospitals or health care providers;
• schools, colleges or universities;
• most manufacturers.

The provinces and territories have similar laws forbidding discrimination in their own jurisdictions.