Mask Requirements, Ontario Schools And The Human Rights Code

Introduction

The 2020/21 school year brought Ontario schools many COVID-19-related challenges. Among them was the requirement that schools develop and enforce policies requiring students, faculty and staff to wear facemasks.

In Ontario, the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued guidance in July 2020 requiring students in grades 4 to 12 to wear masks while indoors. The guidance encouraged but did not require kindergarten to grade 3 students to wear masks. The MOE later updated its guidance to require that all students in grades 1 to 12 wear masks in school and outdoors during recess where physical distancing is not possible.

Masking requirements in Ontario schools are subject to the duty to accommodate under the Human Rights Code. This duty to accommodate comes into play when an individual requires an accommodation based on a protected ground – for example, disability or creed. allegations that schools, as well as other business and employers, have failed to