Disability Rights Frameworks in Canada

This article provides an overview of legislation and precedent-setting disability rights cases in Canada in the context of employment. It reviews the prevalence and impact of disabilities and identifies various types of accommodations that are ameliorative in the workplace. Key terms and concepts such as the Meiorin test, undue hardship, and bona fide occupational requirements (BFORs) are presented, and the article also includes a brief overview of provincial human rights legislation. Finally, several comparisons are drawn between Canadian and American approaches, and suggestions are made to integrate Canadian strategies into American disability rights frameworks. Human rights legislation broadly encompasses laws that have been created and ratified to prevent discrimination against individuals on protected grounds. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the first of these laws, and it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December of 1948 [1]. The members’ intent was to develop a “universal” document that included “principles of nondiscrimination, civil and political rights, and social and economic rights.” It was generated: from the strong desire for peace in the aftermath of the Second World War . . . this was the first time in history that a document considered to have universal value was adopted by an international organization. It was also the first time that human rights and fundamental freedoms were set forth in such detail . . . although the 58 Member States which formed the United Nations at that time varied in their ideologies, political systems and religious and cultural backgrounds and had different patterns of socio-economic development, the