http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/covid-19-and-ontario%E2%80%99s-human-rights-code-%E2%80%93-questions-and-answers
4. Can my employer or any service or housing provider require proof that I’ve received a COVID-19 vaccine?
Receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is voluntary.
At the same time, governments across Canada are examining and beginning to set conditions where proof of vaccination may be required to take part in some activities.
Requiring proof of vaccination to ensure fitness to safely perform work, or protect people receiving services or living in congregate housing, may be permissible under the Code if the requirement is made in good faith and is reasonably necessary for reasons related to health and safety.
The Code grounds of disability and/or creed may be engaged when employers, housing or other service providers impose medical testing or treatment requirements, including proof of vaccination.
Under the Code, organizations have a duty to accommodate people who may be unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, for reasons related to disability or creed, unless it would amount to undue hardship based on cost or health and safety.
The right to be free from discrimination can be limited under the Code, where, for example, broader health and safety risks are serious, like in a pandemic, and would amount to undue hardship. The OHRC and relevant human rights laws like the Code recognize the importance of balancing people’s right to non-discrimination and civil liberties with public health and safety, including the need to address evidence-based risks and treatment associated with COVID-19.
Everyone involved should be flexible in exploring whether accommodation is possible, including alternative ways a person might continue to safely work, receive a service or live in congregate housing without being vaccinated.
Organizations should make clear the reasons why proof of vaccination is needed in the circumstances.
Organizations should only request and share medical information, including proof of vaccination, in a way that intrudes as little as possible on a person’s privacy, and does not go beyond what is necessary to ensure bona fide fitness to safely perform work, or protect people receiving services or living in congregate housing, and accommodate any individual needs.
No one should experience harassment or other discriminatory treatment based on a Code ground because they are unable to receive a vaccine.
Also, workers have rights and employers have obligations for workers’ health and safety under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Visit the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development website for more information, including how to contact the Ministry.
5. I do not believe in vaccinations (or masks and lockdowns). Does the Human Rights Code exempt me based on creed from COVID-19 requirements like providing proof of vaccination set by my employer or a service provider?
Not all beliefs amount to a creed under the Code.
The Code does not define creed. The OHRC’s Policy on preventing discrimination based on creed sets out guiding factors, based on case law, to help organizations, and ultimately tribunals and courts, make these determinations. This includes considering whether the belief is:
Sincerely, freely and deeply held
Integrally linked to a person’s identity, self-definition and fulfilment
Part of a particular and comprehensive, overarching system of belief that governs one’s conduct and practices
Addressing ultimate questions of human existence, including ideas about life, purpose, death, and the existence or non-existence of a Creator and/or a higher or different order of existence
Connected in some way to an organization or community that professes a shared system of belief
The OHRC’s position is that a singular belief or personal preference against vaccinations or masks does not appear to be protected on the ground of creed under the Code.
The OHRC is not aware of any tribunal or court decision that found a singular belief against vaccinations or masks amounted to a creed within the meaning of the Code.
In Ataellahi v Lambton County (EMS), 2011 HRTO 1758 (CanLII), the HRTO held that in the absence of a sincerely held religious belief with a nexus to the divine or as a function of spiritual faith, the person could not assert that he was discriminated against based on creed, because the respondent had a requirement that employees be immunized and the person refused to be immunized. In Sharma v Toronto (City), 2020 HRTO 949 (CanLII), the HRTO found the person’s objection to wearing a mask does not fall within the meaning of “creed.”
Also, not all creed-related needs must be accommodated in the Code-protected social areas, such as employment, facilities and services or housing.
The requirement to wear a mask or prove vaccination may represent a reasonable and bona fide requirement for health and safety reasons, especially when serious risks to public health and safety are shown to exist like during a pandemic.
安省人权法案不是拒绝接种疫苗人士的保护伞