1. Presentation to Ontario Shores
October 4, 2012
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Human Rights
and Mental Health

2. Presentation overview
o Report on the consultation on human rights
and mental health
o Mental health and employment
o The human rights system

3. Minds That Matter
Report on the consultation on human rights,
mental health and addictions

4. The role of the OHRC
The over-arching functions of the OHRC are:
1.To promote and advance respect for
human rights
2.To protect human rights
3.To protect the public interest and
identify and promote the elimination
of discriminatory practices

5. The Ontario Human Rights Code
o Protects people from discrimination based
on 17 Code grounds
o People with mental health disabilities and/or
addictions protected from discrimination
and harassment under the ground of
“disability” in five social areas, including:
o Housing
o Employment
o Services

6. Purpose of the consultation
o To listen to the human rights concerns
affecting people with mental health
disabilities or addictions across Ontario
o To prepare for the policy on human rights,
mental health and addictions
o To identify areas for change and make
recommendations

7. Human rights protections
o Ontario Human Rights Code
o Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
o UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities

8. What we heard

9. Stereotyping
o People reported stereotyping based on
assumptions of risk, incapacity and other
assumptions
o Intersects with other Code grounds
o Media portrayals
o Impact of stereotyping

10. Socio-economic status
o High rates of poverty reported
o Adverse effect on people with mental
health or addiction disabilities
o Social assistance rates and affordable
housing

11. Intersecting Code grounds
o Other disabilities
o Sexual orientation
o Sex
o Gender identity
o Race and related grounds
o Aboriginal Peoples
o Age
o Receipt of public
assistance (in housing)
o Unique experiences of discrimination
o Impact: discrimination on mental health
o Mental health, addictions and:

12. Forms of discrimination
o Direct discrimination
o Profiling based on mental health or
addictions
o Failure to accommodate
o Harassment and poisoned environment
o Adverse effect policies and practices
o Systemic discrimination

13. The duty to accommodate
o Understanding the duty to accommodate
o Inclusive design of employment, rental
housing, services: AODA
o Principles: dignity (privacy and
confidentiality, autonomy), responding to
individual needs, full inclusion

14. Additional concerns
o Mental health services & the mental
health sector
o Making complaints and enforcing rights
o Need for advocacy

15. Recommendations
o Provide education
o Develop or enhance human rights policies
and procedures, including complaint
procedures
o Remove barriers that cause human rights
concerns
o Meet international obligations under the
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities

16. OHRC commitments
o Policy development and public education
o Further research
o Seek partnerships, do public interest
inquiries, seek legal remedies in the public
interest
o Raise human rights concerns with
responsible bodies
o Assist where possible in implementing
recommendations

17. Mental Health and
Employment

18. Employment
o People protected from discrimination and
harassment in employment based on 17 Code
grounds
o Broadly defined
o Some areas may not be covered under
“employment”: rehabilitative programs
o Includes the duty to accommodate people’s
disabilities in employment

19. Special employment programs
o Special programs (s.14 of the Code)
o Employment equity
o Consumer/survivor initiatives
o Supported employment
o Special employment (s.24 of the Code)
o Peer support roles
o Addiction counselors, etc.

20. Positives
o Addresses historical disadvantage and
systemic issues that bar employment
o Gets people working
o Employment supports often offered
o Focuses on mainstream work
o Uses people’s unique skills and experiences
based on disability

21. Concerns raised
o Underfunded positions
o Different terms and conditions than other
workers
o Lack of accommodation
o Inappropriate disclosure of
disability/demands for information
o Work that is not meaningful

22. Example
o An employer sets up a program where they
hire people with mental health disabilities
coming out of general hospitals. The
employer trains people for a period of up to
6 weeks, which is unpaid, to see if they are a
good “fit”, and puts them on probation for 4
months. Other employees have probation
periods of 3 months and are paid for
training.

23. Example
o A supported employment agency assists in
locating and placing people with
psychosocial disabilities in work. One
employer decides that the person cannot do
the essential duties of the job due to their
disability, ends the contract and sends them
back to the employment agency. The
agency tries to find the person another
position.

24. Example
o A supported employment agency assists
with accommodation of an employee with a
mental health issue at work. To trigger
accommodation, the employer says that it
needs to know the person’s diagnosis, and
wants to speak to the person’s psychiatrist.

25. Example
o Someone receives a criminal record for a
minor offence because of behaviour related
to a mental health crisis that occurred five
years previously. The person has had no
arrests or convictions. Private and social
housing providers ask for a criminal record
check, and deny the person housing.

26. Using the human rights system
o Complaints (applications) can be filed at the
HRTO
o Individual applications
o Group applications
o Agencies can file applications
o Human Rights Legal Support Centre
o Inquiry line
o Assistance with applications, mediation,
hearings

27. Resources
o Your rights and responsibilities under the
Human Rights Code
o Minds that Matter
o Policy and guidelines on disability and the
duty to accommodate
o Human rights at work
o Policy on human rights and rental housing
o Mental health theme page
www.ohrc.on.ca