Citizenship & Immigration Status: Don't Ask

In a recent case, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario held that employers cannot discriminate against job applicants who do not have Canadian permanent resident status or citizenship but have work permits.

As a recent graduate of McGill University, Muhammad Haseeb applied to and was offered a position as an engineer by Imperial Oil in Sarnia in 2014. Haseeb was eligible for a three-year postgraduate work permit to stay and work in Canada. However, Imperial Oil later rescinded the offer after learning that Haseeb was not a permanent resident of Canada.  Haseeb subsequently filed a complaint in 2015 alleging that Imperial Oil discriminated against him on the basis of his citizenship status, contrary to the Human Rights Code.