Discrimination can happen at any place at any given time. Moreover, it can happen to anyone regardless of their social status. You can be discriminated when it comes to the employment sector, housing sector, and even the education sector. What’s more common is the discrimination that exists when you try to access public services. Such discrimination might be difficult if it was directed to a disabled person. Whenever a disabled person is denied access to any of the mentioned service because of their condition, they should seek the assistance of a disability lawyer. The lawyer will then represents the disabled person in pursuit of justice. Disability laws in Canada vary from one province to the other. Disability laws in Ontario describe disability as either mental or physical and one that prevents an individual from executing the activities of life substantially.
Who Enforces Disability law in Canada
The disability law in Canada is enforced by many bodies, but the main ones are the Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Individual provinces are allowed to pass their disability statutes with the only requirement being that they should comply with the one administered by the federal government. Some of the statutes that have been passed in Canada include the Air Carrier Access Act, Rehabilitation Act, Fair Housing Act as well as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. One act that is commonly in use in Canada is the Fair Housing Act where players of the housing industry are not allowed to discriminate when buying, selling or renting their facilities to disabled Canadians. In fact, the act requires the homeowners to make exceptions to their premises. This can be accomplished through housing policies. For instance, designated parking space for the disabled as well as designated stairs and paths.
Disabilities recognized by the law
The law does not recognize all disabilities in Canada. The most prominent social disability is alcoholism. However, the disability law in Canada does not recognize socially undesirable behaviors such as pyromania, compulsive gambling as well as sexual behavior disorders. Despite the failure to list all the disabilities under the disability law, it’s mandatory to make reasonable accommodation when dealing with a person with any form of disorder. For instance, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act makes it mandatory for public schools to offer free education to children with disability and offer them the least restrictive environment that will allow them to learn. There are more resources available at Disabled Law.
Reasonable Accommodation
Like earlier mentioned, the law stipulates that people with disability should be afforded reasonable accommodation. While this may look like a new term, reasonable accommodation consists of things like provision of interpreters, job restructuring, training material adjustment as well as modified and flexible work schedules for people with disability.