Human rights issues and employee benefit plans

Canadians have human rights protections at both provincial and federal levels of government. At the federal level, the most important legislative enactments are the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the "Charter") and the Canadian Human Rights Act. Provincially and territorially, human rights are legislatively safeguarded primarily by provincial human rights codes. Both federally and provincially, human rights may also be impacted by a variety of other statutes and regulations such as employment standards acts, workers' compensation acts, occupational health and safety acts, and pay equity legislation.