Unit 2 Module 3 Flashcards
Examples of Duty to Accommodate
- Providing a special screen and software for people with visual impairment
- Allowing an employee to take time off to attend a medical appointment
- Managing an employee’s schedule in a way that balances their work and caregiving obligations
- Making wheelchair access available to people with disabilities
- Employers and service providers have an obligation to adjust rules, policies or practices to enable you to participate fully. It applies to needs that are related to the grounds of discrimination. This is called the duty to accommodate.
Example of Undue Hardship
A pilot for a small airline develops a medical condition that limits his peripheral vision. Because of his condition, he is no longer allowed to fly planes. The airline has very few employees, and there are no other jobs to offer him. The employer could argue that keeping the pilot on their payroll would cause undue hardship, and that letting him go is their only option.
- Sometimes accommodation is not possible because it would cost too much, or create health or safety risks. This is known as undue hardship.
Provincial & Territorial Human Rights Agencies
Provincial and territorial human rights laws share many similarities with the Canadian Human Rights Act and apply many of the same principles. They protect people from discrimination in areas such as restaurants, stores, schools, housing and most workplaces.
Alberta Human Rights Commission
British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
B.C. Human Rights Coalition
Manitoba Human Rights Commission
New Brunswick Human Rights Commission
Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission
Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission
Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission
Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal
Ontario Human Rights Commission
(Ontario) Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
(Ontario) Human Rights Legal Support Centre
Prince Edward Island Human Rights Commission
(Québec) Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse
Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
Yukon Human Rights Commission
Summary of privacy laws in Canada
There are several laws in Canada that relate to privacy rights. Enforcement of these laws is handled by various government organizations and agencies.
Several factors determine which laws apply and who oversees them. Among them:
The nature of the organization handling the personal information
Is it a federal government institution?
Is it a provincial or territorial government institution?
Is it private sector?
Is it engaged in commercial activities?
Is it a federally regulated business?
Where is the organization based?
What type of information is involved?
Does the information cross provincial or national borders?
What is personal information?
Personal information is data about an “identifiable individual”. It is information that on its own or combined with other pieces of data, can identify you as an individual.
The definition of personal information differs somewhat under PIPEDA or the Privacy Act but generally, it can mean information about your:
race, national or ethnic origin,
religion,
age, marital status,
medical, education or employment history,
financial information,
DNA,
identifying numbers such as your social insurance number, or driver’s licence,
views or opinions about you as an employee.
What is generally not considered personal information can include:
Information that is not about an individual, because the connection with a person is too weak or far-removed (for example, a postal code on its own which covers a wide area with many homes)
Information about an organization such as a business.
Information that has been rendered anonymous, as long as it is not possible to link that data back to an identifiable person
Certain information about public servants such as their name, position and title
A person’s business contact information that an organization collects, uses or discloses for the sole purpose of communicating with that person in relation to their employment, business or profession.
Government information. Occasionally people contact us for access to government information. This is different from personal information. For access to government information, contact the Information Commissioner of Canada.
Federal privacy laws and what they cover
Canada has two federal privacy laws that are enforced by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:
the Privacy Act, which covers how the federal government handles personal information;
the Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act (PIPEDA), which covers how businesses handle personal information.
The Privacy Act
The Privacy Act relates to a person’s right to access and correct personal information that the Government of Canada holds about them. The Act also applies to the Government’s collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of providing services such as:
old age security pensions employment insurance border security federal policing and public safety tax collection and refunds.
The Privacy Act only applies to federal government institutions listed in the Privacy Act Schedule of Institutions. It applies to all of the personal information that the federal government collects, uses, and discloses. This includes personal information about federal employees.
The Privacy Act does not apply to political parties and political representatives.
What is personal information under Privacy Act?
The Privacy Act offers protections for personal information, which it defines as any recorded information “about an identifiable individual.”
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
PIPEDA sets the ground rules for how private-sector organizations collect, use, and disclose personal information in the course of for-profit, commercial activities across Canada. It also applies to the personal information of employees of federally-regulated businesses such as:
banks
airlines
telecommunications companies.
What does PIPEDA apply to?
PIPEDA generally applies to personal information held by private sector organizations that are not federally-regulated, and conduct business in:
Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Saskatchewan Yukon.
Federally-regulated organizations that conduct business in Canada are always subject to PIPEDA and must also apply the act to their employees’ personal information.
What does PIPEDA not apply to?
PIPEDA does not apply to organizations that do not engage in commercial, for-profit activities.
Unless they are engaging in commercial activities that are not central to their mandate and involve personal information, PIPEDA does not generally apply to:
not-for-profit and charity groups
political parties and associations.
Municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals are generally covered by provincial laws. PIPEDA may only apply in certain situations.
For example, if the organization is engaged in a commercial activity which is outside of its core activity such as, a university selling an alumni list.
Unless the personal information crosses provincial or national borders, PIPEDA does not apply to organizations that operate entirely within:
Alberta
British Columbia
Quebec.
These three provinces have general private-sector laws that have been deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA.
All businesses that operate in Canada and handle personal information that crosses provincial or national borders are subject to PIPEDA regardless of which province or territory they are based in.
Federally-regulated businesses operating in Canada are subject to PIPEDA.
Organizations in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut are considered federally-regulated and therefore are covered by PIPEDA.
What is personal information under PIPEDA?
Under PIPEDA, personal information means information about an identifiable individual.
Provincial privacy laws
Every province and territory has its own laws that apply to provincial government agencies and their handling of personal information. Some provinces have private-sector privacy laws that have been deemed “substantially similar” to PIPEDA. This means that those laws apply instead of PIPEDA in some cases. These provinces are:
Alberta
British Columbia
Québec.
The following provinces have health-related privacy laws that have been declared substantially similar to PIPEDA with respect to health information:
Ontario New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nova Scotia While other provinces and territories have also passed their own health privacy laws, these have not been declared substantially similar to PIPEDA. In some of those cases, PIPEDA may still apply.
Employment related
Some provinces have passed privacy laws that apply to employee information. Examples include:
Alberta
British Columbia
Each province and territory in Canada has a commissioner or ombudsman responsible for overseeing provincial and territorial privacy legislation.
Sector-specific privacy laws
Several federal and provincial sector-specific laws include provisions dealing with the protection of personal information.
The federal Bank Act, for example, contains provisions regulating the use and disclosure of personal financial information by federally regulated financial institutions.
Provincial laws governing credit unions typically have provisions dealing with the confidentiality of information relating to members’ transactions.
Most provinces have laws dealing with consumer credit reporting. These acts typically impose an obligation on credit reporting agencies to:
ensure the accuracy of the information
place limits on the disclosure of the information
give consumers the right to have access to, and challenge the accuracy of, the information.
There are many provincial laws that contain confidentiality provisions concerning personal information collected by professionals.
The presence of other privacy-related legislation does not always mean that PIPEDA does not apply.
What Are Quasi-Constitutional Laws?
In the hierarchy of laws, quasi-constitutional laws rank somewhere above ordinary administrative law but below the Constitution.
- developed to ensure fair treatment of the public, and are called “quasi-constitutional” because, like the Constitution, they embody important—even fundamental—rights and freedoms, but, unlike the Constitution, they do not always override other laws that conflict with them
- often embody values recognized throughout the world, not just in Canada.
- similar to both the Constitution and administrative law. Like these laws,
- intended to prevent abusive behaviour,
- uphold human dignity and autonomy, and ensure fair treatment of individuals.
However, unlike these laws, quasi-constitutional laws often regulate the conduct of individuals and businesses as well as that of government.
quasi-constitutional laws
Some common law principles, such as solicitor-client privilege (the right of a lawyer’s client to have all communications between the client and the lawyer kept confidential), are considered quasi-constitutional.
Other quasi-constitutional laws are statutes. The most important laws in the second category are probably the human rights codes passed by the federal government and each of the provinces and territories.
Other quasi-constitutional laws include the Canadian Bill of Rights (not to be confused with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ), freedom-of-information laws, privacy laws, and laws guaranteeing language rights.
T he recognition of a law as “quasi-constitutional” has three effects on its interpretation:
- The protected rights receive a broad interpretation, while exceptions and defences are narrowly construed.
- Although quasi-constitutional statutes do not automatically prevail over other statutes, some quasi-constitutional statutes explicitly state that they prevail over other statutes in the event that there is a conflict between them.
There is also a rule of statutory interpretation such that, if there are two ways of interpreting a statute, one of which is consistent with upholding the rights granted by a quasi-constitutional statute and one of which is not, the consistent interpretation will prevail.
In cases of conflict or inconsistency of a quasi-constitutional statute with other types of legislation, the fact that the other legislation was enacted first will not necessarily mean that it will prevail over the quasi-constitutional statute. - When quasi-constitutional laws are interpreted, the key provisions are to be adapted not only to changing social conditions but also to evolving conceptions of the quasi-constitutional right.