Sexual Orientation

Both the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

One of the most contentious areas in which discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has arisen in recent years involves employer benefit plans. Many of these plans provide for various insurance benefit policies, pension plans and other related benefit plans which provide "family coverage" to "dependents". However, a homosexual partner of an employer were often times denied coverage under the benefit plans. A number of human rights decisions have ruled in favour of the employee in such discrimination complaints. This has resulted in a number of employers voluntarily changing their benefit coverage to ensure that it is extended to homosexual couples that live in a conjugal relationship.

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