Tenant human rights

Tenant human rights at TCHC

Toronto is made up of many people and cultures. TCHC embraces this diversity. We are committed to providing a housing environment where everyone feels included, respected, and treated fairly.

We work to protect the human rights of all tenants. This means making sure tenants are free from discrimination or harassment. It also includes removing barriers that cause unfair treatment.  

The Tenant Human Rights Policy explains how we protect your rights. It also outlines what steps you can take if you believe your rights have not been respected under the Ontario Human Rights Code. 

The Ontario Human Rights Code

The Ontario Human Rights Code applies to all housing providers in Ontario, including TCHC. It protects tenants from discrimination and harassment in variety of areas called protected grounds.

The protected grounds are:  

• age
• ancestry
• citizenship
• colour
• creed
• disability  
• ethnic origin
• family status
• gender identity  
• gender expression
• marital status
• place of origin
• race
• receipt of public assistance (in housing only)
• sex (including pregnancy and breastfeeding)
• sexual orientation

TCHC’s obligations under the Human Rights Code

As a housing provider, TCHC has several obligations under the Human Rights Code:

• We must treat all tenants who are members of a protected ground fairly, without discrimination and/or harassment.
• We must protect tenants from discrimination and/or harassment in their housing by third parties such as neighbours or contractors.  
• If a tenant has needs related to a protected grounds, we must make reasonable accommodations unless doing so would cause undue hardship.
• We cannot punish or treat a tenant differently for asserting their human rights.

For more information about the ways in which the Human Rights Code applies to their tenancy, tenants can visit the Ontario Human Rights Commission website, the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, or speak to your local legal clinic.

Read the Tenant Human Rights Policy.

How TCHC will meet its obligations

To meet our obligations under the Human Rights Code, TCHC will:

• Provide TCHC staff with information about human rights.
• Make educational materials available to tenants and staff to help them understand human rights policies and procedures.
• Give ongoing human rights training to staff.
• Write and revise policies to comply with the Human Rights Code.
• Accept, analyze, and resolve all requests for accommodation according to the Tenant Accommodation Request Procedure (PDF).
• Receive, investigate, and resolve tenant human rights complaints according to the Tenant Human Rights Complaint Procedure (PDF).
• Track human rights complaints and their outcomes to assess how well TCHC’s policies and procedures are working.

Tenant human rights complaints

Tenants can make a complaint to TCHC when they believe TCHC has not met its obligations under the Tenant Human Rights Policy, or they have been harassed or discriminated against based on one of the protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code. 

Learn more or submit a tenant human rights complaint.

Accommodation requests

TCHC has a duty to accommodate tenants under the Ontario Human Rights Code. This means TCHC must remove barriers which prevent tenants from having equal access to housing.

Accommodation requests can include extra support, changes to a unit or residential complex, or a request to apply one of our policies or procedures differently.

Learn more or submit an accommodation request.

Important links

• Tenant Human Rights Policy
• Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)
• Tenant Human Rights Complaints
• Accommodation requests
• Confronting Anti-Black Racism Strategy (PDF)
• Human Rights Tribunals of Ontario
• Human Rights Legal Support Centre
• Local legal clinics