AGE DISCRIMINATION: Your Rights and Responsibilities

Nobody has a shelf life. Let's stop ageism and age discrimination now.

Understanding Ageism and Age Discrimination

Have you ever encountered questions, such as…

"Do you really think you could handle this job? You know it takes a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Besides, we are looking for someone with career potential."

"You don't need this training program. At your age, what would the benefit be?"

"Well, you are getting on. What do you expect at your age?"

Such comments reflect ageism -- an attitude that makes assumptions about older persons and their abilities and puts labels on them. Ageism is also a tendency to view and design society on the basis that everyone is young. Age discrimination is a consequence of ageist attitudes.

Do you know that you are protected from age discrimination?

When you are unjustifiably treated differently because of your age, that's age discrimination. Age is a protected ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the "Code"). This means that you cannot be discriminated against because of your age either where you work, live, or go to get a service.

In principle,

As an older person:

you have the right to be offered the same opportunities in employment, promotion and training as everyone else. And, your age should not be used to deny you hiring, or promotion opportunities. Nor should it be used to force you to retire.
you have the right to the same level of services as everyone else, for example, medical treatment and other health care services; and to expect landlords or housing providers to make practical modifications to living spaces that respond to your needs as an older person.

As an employer:

you cannot refuse to hire, train or promote a person simply because they are older.
you should not be seeking out older workers when it comes to workplace downsizing or reorganization activities.
you are responsible for making sure that your workplace is free from discrimination, is inclusive, and respects and supports the needs of all its workers, including older employees.

As a provider of services to the public:

you cannot refuse either directly or indirectly to serve older persons.
you are responsible for meeting the particular needs of older persons. They may, for example, require more of your time be it in a doctor's office, a store, or even in using public transit services to get where they are going.

As a landlord or housing provider:

you cannot refuse to rent to an older person because you would like younger tenants, or evict older tenants who may be paying low rent.
you are responsible for making practical modifications, such as installing ramps, visual fire alarms and doorbells for the hearing impaired, different sized door handles or lower counters that make housing accommodations more responsive to the needs of older persons.

Respect the rights of older persons.

If you think you have encountered age discrimination, call:

Ontario Human Rights Commission
Telephone: 1-800-387-9080 (in Ontario only)
TTY: (416) 314-6526

Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus
Telephone: (416) 363-8748

Or to learn more about age discrimination, visit:
www.ohrc.on.ca OR www.50plus.com