Equality Rights in Canada – From 1944 to today

Ontario was the first, in 1944, to pass a law protecting equality by banning publication or display of discrimination based on race or belief.
Section 1 of the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960 recognized and declared that certain human rights existed and shall continue to exist in Canada without discrimination by reason of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex.
Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which came into effect on April 17,1985, provides that, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.”
The Charter today also protects against discrimination based on sexual identity or orientation.