Constitution Acts and Government Research Publications
The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set of prohibited grounds.
The Canadian Multiculturalism Act affirms the policy of the Government of Canada to ensure that every Canadian receives equal treatment by the government which respects and celebrates diversity. The Act also: recognizes Canada’s multicultural heritage and that this heritage must be protected.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982 is part of Canada’s Constitution. The Charter protects every Canadian’s right to be treated equally under the law. The Charter guarantees broad equality rights and other fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.
The Report makes 30 recommendations including that the Government take a strong leadership role to actively condemn systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia. Other recommendations called for updating the Canadian Action Plan Against Racism and broadening it to include religious discrimination; and establishing a uniform pan-Canadian guidelines and standards for the collection and handling of hate crime data and hate incident data.
Building a Foundation for Change: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019–2022 is guided by a vision of Canada where all Canadians benefit from equitable access to and participation in the economic, cultural, social and political spheres. It builds a foundation for long-term action by supporting three guiding principles: Demonstrating Federal Leadership, Empowering Communities, and Building Awareness and Changing Attitudes.
This study focuses on an analysis of Canadian multiculturalism both as a sociological fact and as a federal public policy. It goes on to look at attitudes to multiculturalism, as well as provincial and territorial multiculturalism policies. It also provides a chronology of federal policy on multiculturalism, and selected references.
The province of Ontario is taking proactive steps to fight and prevent systemic racism in government decision-making, programs and services.