Special Education in Canada
In Canada, education is the responsibility of each province and
territory.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Human Rights Code
Duty to Accommodate Disability
For Additional Information
Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms
Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
which was proclaimed in 1981, affects the delivery of educational
services and set the foundation for other Canadian policies:
“Every individual is equal before and under the law and
has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law
without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based
on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or
mental or physical disability.”
The Human Rights Code
Each province and territories maintains its own human rights code and
they are all very similar. For example, in 1987 Manitoba's
Human Rights Code authorized the Manitoba Human Rights
Commission to mediate/investigate discrimination complaints based
on:
-
ancestry
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age
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ethnic background/origin
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creed, religious belief, religious association/activity
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nationality or national origin
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sex
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gender-determined characteristics
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sexual orientation
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marital/family status
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source of income
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political belief, political association/activity
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physical or mental disability
Duty to Accommodate
Disability
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Human
Rights Code (Manitoba), and the resulting court cases have
established a duty to accommodate disability. Thus, in education there
is a duty to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities to
allow them to access educational services equally, unless to do so would
cause undue hardship.
In Manitoba, “undue hardship” is defined as follows:
“The measures to accommodate special needs will be reasonable and
required unless they cause undue hardship due to cost, risk to safety,
impact on others, or other factors.”
For Additional Information
Founded in 1967, the Council of Ministers of
Education (CMEC) is an intergovernmental
body consisting of the 13 individual ministers of
education. Its Web site provides a list of educational services and
contacts by province and territory.
The Canadian Education
Association (CEA), founded in 1891, is a bilingual,
federally incorporated nonprofit organization that seeks to influence
Canadian public policy pertaining to education.
The United Nations’ Convention of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities was passed by the 76th Plenary Session of
the UN General Assembly on Dec. 13, 2006.
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