The Canadian Human Rights Act has officially added “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the list of protected grounds. This means that employees and other individuals will be protected from discrimination on these grounds when dealing with federally regulated organizations.
The change reflects a trend that have been ongoing across various provinces in Canada. While there is no specific definition of the terms “Gender Identity” and “Gender Expression”, this will likely be a benefit since human rights legislation is intended to be interpreted as broadly as possible. We therefore expect that the terms will be understood in a way that provides as much protection as possible to the largest number of people.
For more information on this new expanded protection, please go to the newly modified Canadian Human Rights Act.