Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CanLII)
The Charter regulates interactions between the federal, provincial and territorial governments and individuals. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982 along with the rest of the Act.
Canadian Bill of Rights (CanLII)
Enacted by Parliament in 1960, the Canadian Bill of Rights was the earliest expression of human rights law at the federal level. It applies to legislation and policies of the federal government and guarantees rights and freedoms similar to those found in the Charter (e.g. equality rights, legal rights, and freedom of religion, of speech and of association). Unlike the Charter, the Bill is not part of the Constitution of Canada.
Canadian Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Enacted by Parliament in 1977 to ensure equal opportunity for all, it sets out prohibited grounds of discrimination such as sex, disability, or religion.
The Act created the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and applies only to federally regulated activities.
For more information see the Human Rights tab on the Canadian Human Rights Commission website.
Alberta Human Rights Act (CanLII)
British Columbia Human Rights Code (CanLII)
Québéc Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (CanLII)
Manitoba Human Rights Code (CanLII)
New Brunswick Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Northwest Territories Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Nova Scotia Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Nunavut Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Ontario Human Rights Code (CanLII)
Prince Edward Island Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Saskatchewan Human Rights Code (CanLII)
Yukon Human Rights Act (CanLII)
Lexis+ Canada has a Table of Concordance comparing federal, provincial and territorial Human rights legislation according to subject matter.
Accessing this table is challenging. Here’s how to do it:
Search for "human rights" and "how to use this concordance".
On the next screen you’ll see:
Cases
No results were found for your search query.
However, you’ll see that there is something beside Secondary Materials. Click on Secondary Materials and you’ll get one result, Human Rights Legislation. Click on it and you’ll be taken to the concordance.
Canadian Legislation and Parliamentary Materials research guide
Canadian Legislative Research Workshop Recording and Presentation slides (March 2, 2022)