On July 5, 2017, in HS v The Private Academy, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “HRTO”) dismissed three applications by a same-sex married couple (the “Parents”) alleging discrimination by an Evangelical Christian school (the “School”) that refused to admit their child into its preschool program. The Parents argued the School discriminated with respect to services against their child because of sex, creed, family status and marital status. However, the School responded that it was entitled to rely on the exemption in section 18 of the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) because it, as a “special interest organization”, is primarily engaged in serving the interest of persons identified by a particular creed and it is entitled to restrict participation to parents who subscribe to its creed. This decision provides an important precedent concerning the application of the protection contained in section 18 of the Code for organizations primarily dedicated to providing services, goods and facilities to individuals identified by any of the prohibited grounds of discrimination, such as creed, sex, age, marital status, family status or disability, in their specific communities without the obligation to extend equal treatment to the broader public.
For the balance of this Bulletin, please see Church Law Bulletin No. 50.