Canadian coverage, with verified short holdings, original analysis and links to the underlying sources. A publication date isn't the same as a decision date. The dates below identify which is shown.
68 verified publications. Showing the 36 most recent.
The BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed allegations about municipal emergency services and custody conditions because the complainant had not provided enough particulars and evidence connecting the challenged conduct to a protected ground. The decision applied a preliminary evidentiary threshold, not a ruling that municipal services or temporary detention are exempt from human rights obligations.
The BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed a challenge to provincial funding decisions for multiple sclerosis treatment and fertility preservation because the evidence did not establish a plausible connection between the exclusions and the complainant's sex or disability. Government need not fund every treatment, and the Ministry was reasonably certain to establish a bona fide policy justification, but services it does fund must be delivered without discrimination.
The BC Human Rights Tribunal found that corrections staff discriminated against a prisoner with pre-existing PTSD and anxiety when their conduct during suicide watch exacerbated those disabilities, and staff failed to respond reasonably after being told he was in crisis. The short duration of the mistreatment was no defence, and Corrections was ordered to pay $15,000 for injury to dignity and $328 in hearing expenses.
The BC Supreme Court dismissed an incarcerated author's damages claims arising from prison officials' seizure and use of his manuscript in correctional assessments. The court found no enforceable publishing agreement underpinning the alleged financial loss and held that challenges to Correctional Service Canada's case management decisions belonged in the grievance and Federal Court judicial review process, rather than a civil action framed as copyright and tort claims.
A Yukon hospital couldn't put a physician's damages lawsuit on hold merely because a hospital privileges appeal was underway. The Supreme Court found the legal claims and remedies were distinct.
Ottawa's forthcoming proposals on advance consent for medical assistance in dying raise an old question in a new setting. Respecting a person's earlier wishes also requires deciding how to listen to the person who remains.
Federal ministers have scheduled an October 27 briefing on planned medical assistance in dying legislation involving advance consent after an incurable diagnosis. The proposal has not been enacted, and the government says it isn't proceeding with eligibility solely on the basis of mental illness.
Alberta announced new emergency triage and hospital to home coordination measures. Their effect on individual patients' safe discharge remains to be assessed.
A majority of Yukon's Human Rights Board found pregnancy discrimination after new midwifery rules restricted private practice before a public program was ready, followed by a lengthy suspension of birthing services. The majority awarded $35,750 for injury to dignity and $837.28 in expenses, while a dissent disputed that the service disruption amounted to prohibited discrimination.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal kept discrimination complaints involving immigration and national security screening on hold until the Human Rights Commission could decide what to do with a new intelligence review report. The ruling did not decide the alleged ethnic origin discrimination.
A federal correctional officer returning from a workplace injury worked fixed evening shifts at the Nova Institution for Women. The labour board held she was entitled to shift and weekend premiums despite a regular weekly schedule, but not duplicate holiday lieu hours.
The Yukon adjudicator dismissed a deceased prisoner's individual human rights claim but preserved evidence about her treatment for the Commission's pursuit of systemic relief in consolidated correctional centre complaints. No discrimination finding or systemic order was made.
Correctional Service Canada says it will review an October 22 death at Collins Bay Institution and notify police and the coroner.
Correctional Service Canada says staff seized drugs, tobacco and phones at the Federal Training Centre on October 11, with an estimated institutional value of $56,018.
A Yukon Charter challenge to a five day eviction power led the Supreme Court to admit one homelessness expert report while excluding another and a late academic article. The ruling addresses what evidence the court would hear, not whether the eviction provision was constitutional.
A federal prisoner challenged the handling of his harassment grievance about late night security checks. The Federal Court upheld the final decision because the evidence didn't establish harassment or procedural unfairness, even though a first reviewer had wrongly screened out the allegation.
A Yukon human rights adjudicator allowed a correctional centre complaint about access to First Nations spiritual practices to add religion or creed alongside ancestry as an alleged ground of discrimination. The amendment caused no unmanageable prejudice, but the tribunal made no finding that discrimination occurred.
A BC judge rejected a son's habeas corpus challenge to his father's placement in long term care. A lawful substitute consent from the Public Guardian and Trustee and compliance with discharge procedures defeated the detention challenge, while a separate statutory review route remained available.
After a mother successfully challenged Yukon's five day tenancy termination power under section 7 of the Charter, the Court awarded $35,000 plus $10,950 in disbursements. The 2026 ruling refused special costs but recognized the unusual difficulty and public importance of the case when setting a reasonable lump sum. GST was left undecided.
A Yukon hospital couldn't put a physician's damages lawsuit on hold merely because a hospital privileges appeal was underway. The Supreme Court found the legal claims and remedies were distinct.
The BC Human Rights Tribunal found that Vancouver police discriminated against a Black woman during a traffic stop when they escalated an identification dispute into an arrest. It awarded $25,000 for injury to dignity and $1,398.90 for her damaged phone, while dismissing a separate place of origin allegation.
Correctional Service Canada carried 15,100 privacy requests into the next fiscal year, with 94% already past statutory timelines. Its annual report also records seven material privacy breaches.
The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from an eight year manslaughter sentence. The sentencing judge had considered Indigenous background, intimate partner abuse, coercion and reduced moral blameworthiness while still accounting for the gravity of the offence.
The Alberta Court of Appeal refused release pending an aggravated assault conviction appeal. The applicant did not establish sufficient merit in his proposed appeal or meaningfully address the public safety risk identified in his record of violent offences.
Canadian law recognizes addiction as an illness that can impair control over drug use. Families struggling to prevent another overdose are left confronting a difficult distinction between dangerous behaviour, decision-making capacity and the power to compel treatment.
Immigration detention hearings follow a statutory timetable, but their substance depends on access to documents, interpreters and realistic alternatives to keeping a person in custody.
Ontario law requires restraint and confinement to fit defined legal conditions. An institution needs evidence of the immediate concern, less restrictive options, ongoing monitoring and a decision that can be revisited.
Ontario's Residents' Bill of Rights protects everyday choices, personal communication and involvement in care. Safety concerns must be examined without making institutional convenience the measure of a person's freedom.
The Supreme Court held that young people benefit from a constitutional presumption of diminished moral blameworthiness. The former Youth Criminal Justice Act provisions placing the onus on a young person to avoid an adult sentence and loss of publication protection violated section 7 of the Charter.
The Supreme Court held that release on the least onerous appropriate terms is required by the Criminal Code's bail ladder. The bail review judge erred by requiring a cash deposit and surety arrangement without properly applying that principle.
Pretrial custody places people under substantial institutional control before guilt has been established. The law requires a disciplined examination of grounds for detention and the least onerous workable form of release.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act requires more than safe confinement. A designated youth worker must help prepare a reintegration plan that can connect education, family, services and supervised release.
In residential care, a concern about mistreatment raises separate questions about immediate protection, mandatory reporting and a fair investigation. The label group home doesn't decide which law applies.
Supervised withdrawal addresses an immediate medical problem. A successful transition also needs follow-up care, an agreed treatment option and a real receiving service.
The Supreme Court held that Correctional Service Canada breached its statutory duty to take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of actuarial tools used for Indigenous offenders without checking their validity for that population.
The Supreme Court held that Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board acted unreasonably in finding a psychiatric patient incapable of refusing proposed treatment. Rejecting medical advice doesn't itself prove incapacity.
See how a weekly briefing brings relevant developments together. Choose your divisions and jurisdictions before deciding whether membership is useful for you.
A preview doesn't enroll you in email. Optional delivery requires a separate choice.