Now that the school year is in full swing, family and childcare
responsibilities have increased. This is a good time for employers
to prepare for family status accommodation requests.
Under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the
Code), employers, unions, landlords and service providers
have a duty to accommodate based on a person's family status.
According to the Code, "family status" is
defined as "being in a parent and child relationship."
The definition also includes parent and child "type"
relationships that are based on care, responsibility and
commitment.
In 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld findings of
discrimination on the basis of family status in
two cases: Canadian National Railway Company v Seeley and
Canada (Attorney General) v Johnstone. Both cases involved
mothers who requested accommodation from a work schedule or an
assignment that would have left their children without sufficient
childcare. The Federal Court of Appeal affirmed the Canadian
