The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, commonly called the Charter, is part of the Canadian Constitution. The Charter guarantees many of the rights and freedoms that Canadians are familiar with, including:
- Fundamental freedoms of association, religion, peaceful assembly, thought, belief, opinion, expression, and freedom of the press and other media (s. 2);
- Democratic rights, such as the right to vote (sections 3, 4, and 5);
- Mobility rights, which include the right to live and work anywhere in Canada (section 6);
- Legal rights (sections 7 to 14) , including the rights to:
- Life, liberty and security of the person
- be free from unreasonable search and seizure
- not be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned o be told promptly of the reasons for any arrest or detention
- retain and instruct a lawyer on arrest or detention
- be presumed innocent and have a trial within a reasonable time when charged with an offence
- not be subject to cruel and unusual punishment
- a court-appointed interpreter
- Equality rights, including equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination based on personal characteristics such as race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability (section 15)
- Language rights, protecting official language and minority language education rights (section 16 and 23)
- Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada (section 25, 35)
The Charter applies to relations between government and individuals. It controls government actions, such as laws, policies, decisions or conduct of public officials, including police. Actions of a non-governmental agency may also be subject to the Charter, if for example, the agency is carrying out what the court decides is a governmental function, or is under government control. Claims of Charter violations must go through the courts.
The federal government has more information about the Charter at www.justice.gc.ca
The Charter does not apply to relations between, or actions of, private parties, such as between you and a business, a co-worker, or a non-governmental employer or organization. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Act and the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibit discrimination in a wide variety of private activities. In some cases these laws may also apply to your relations with government. For example, if you are employed by a federal government department, your employee-employer relationship is subject to the Canadian Human Rights Act.
You may be able to complain to either the Canadian Human Rights Commission or the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission if you feel that your human rights have been violated by a private individual, business or organization.
Go here to learn more about human rights.