Research program of the Canadian Human Rights Commission

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Research program of the Canadian Human Rights
Commission
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Research mandate of the Canadian Human Rights
Commission

• The Commission's Knowledge Centre
• "Creating and sharing knowledge to advance human
  rights"
• In 2005, the Commission established its Knowledge
  Centre to provide a central focus for all its
  resources dedicated to developing new knowledge
  about human rights.

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• The Knowledge Centre has two main divisions
• a Research and Statistical Analysis Division, and
  
• a Policy and Regulatory Affairs Division,

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• The purpose of the Canadian Human Rights Act is
• "to give effect () to the principle that all
  individuals should have an opportunity equal with
  other individuals to make for themselves the
  lives that they are able and wish to have and to
  have their needs accommodated, consistent with
  their duties and obligations as members of
  society" (Section 2).

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• The Act requires the Commission to
• "undertake or sponsor research programs relating
  to its duties and functions under this Act and
  respecting the principle described in Section 2"
• and
• "carry out or cause to be carried out such
  studies concerning human rights and freedoms as
  may be referred to it by the Minister of Justice"
  (Section 27).

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• The research program's purpose is to
• create new knowledge in an ever changing world
• disseminate existing knowledge
• serve as a starting point for debating current
  societal issues, such as mandatory retirement or
  environmental sensitivities

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• provide tools for information and education
• help prevent discrimination before it occurs,
  rather than try to remedy it afterwards and
• respond to requests for research from the
  Minister of Justice.
• The Commission's research program is
  action-oriented it serves to advance human
  rights in Canadian society.

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Objectives of the human rights research program

• The research program supports the Commission's
  work, in its development of
• guidelines, regulations and policies
• strategic initiatives
• discrimination prevention tools
• presentations to parliamentarians, etc.

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• It also supports the work of other stakeholders,
  such as
• employers
• unions
• parliamentarians
• research centres on human rights
• non-governmental organizations
• officials responsible for developing public
  policy
• provincial and territorial commissions, etc.

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Scope of the human rights research program

• Research conducted by the Commission focuses on
  the 11 prohibited grounds of discrimination under
  the Canadian Human Rights Act, which are
• race,
• national or ethnic origin,
• colour,
• religion,
• age,

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• sex,
• sexual orientation,
• marital status,
• family status,
• disability and
• conviction for an offence for which a pardon has
  been granted.

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• It also focusses on the four designated groups
  under the Employment Equity Act
• women,
• persons with disabilities,
• visible minorities and
• Aboriginal peoples.

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• From this starting point, it may also venture
  into the broader definition of human rights,
  which is not limited to these two Acts.
• It may look at other possible prohibited grounds
  of discrimination, such as social condition, or
  issues related to Canada's commitments in
  international treaties related to human rights.

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Human Rights Mapping'

• One of the Knowledge Centre's major initiatives
  will be to progressively develop an "overview
  map" of the barriers to equality related to the
  prohibited grounds of discrimination.

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• For each segment, an inventory of barriers may be
  made. For example
• Subject Disability
• Barriers
• Physical accessibility of the workplace
• Use of the Internet
• Accommodation
• Ergonomics
• Tax deductions
• Etc.

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• These barriers will then be grouped into logical
  "clusters," for example
• Subject Disability - Barriers
• Cluster or Group Accessibility
• Physical accessibility of the workplace
• Use of the Internet
• Accommodation
• Etc.

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• The Commission may then conduct consultations to
  verify that the map is complete and to validate
  it.
• Once the map is drawn, the Commission may
  determine which barriers have already been
  researched and which still have to be defined.

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• For barriers that have already been researched,
  it may launch initiatives to
• conduct a review of existing publications and
  research, and
• consolidate this information
• For barriers that have not been explored,
  research projects may be introduced to define
  these barriers.

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Current research projects

• In 2006, the Commission launched two research
  projects
• National Security and Human Rights
• The Commission wishes to explore how national
  security measures have impacted human rights.

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• Managing the return to work the human rights
  perspective
• Several complaints filed with the Commission deal
  with employees returning to work after an
  extended leave (e.g. sick leave, work injury,
  maternity leave).
• The Commission launched this project in order to
  review the status of this issue, with a view of
  later developing specific guidelines to help
  employers manage such situations.

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Human rights research process
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• Who will be conducting research?
• Most research projects will be conducted by
  researchers from academia, human rights research
  centres and the private sector.

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• Database of external researchers
• The Commission intends to establish a database of
  researchers in the field of human rights and
  related disciplines (law, political science,
  governance, management, economics, industrial
  relations, demographics, women's studies, etc.).
• It will create a section of its internet site
  where researchers may register and identify their
  areas of interest.

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• Proposals will then be assessed based on criteria
  such as
• whether they meet the mandatory requirements set
  out by the Commission
• how closely the researcher's proposal fits the
  Commission's statement of work
• the proposed methodology
• the proposed budget and
• the researcher's qualifications.

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• Financing
• The 2006-2007 research budget has not yet been
  set.
• In 2005-2006, it neared 300,000.

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• Two approaches are being considered
• Full financing, where the Commission provides all
  the funding required and owns the research
  product.
• Shared financing, where the Commission provides
  researchers with part of the funds to laucnch a
  project that will also be financed from other
  sources.

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• How will the results of research projects be
  used?
• On its website (www.chrc-ccdp.ca), the Commission
  hopes to set up a portal focussing on human
  rights knowledge. Research reports will generally
  be available on that site.

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• In some cases, reports may be printed. The
  general intent will be to make results as widely
  available as possible.
• Results may also be presented as part of
  conferences, workshops, celebrations, special
  reports, annual reports, etc.

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Contributing to the design of the program

• You may contact
• Dr. Charles Théroux
• Director
• Research and Statistical Analysis Division
• Phone [phone]
• Toll-free 1-888-214-1090
• TTY 1-888-643-3304
• e-mail charles.theroux_at_chrc-ccdp.ca