Despite the fact that equality and equal access to health care are core Canadian values, the reality is that Canadians' health is overwhelmingly dictated by the unequal living conditions they experience – the social determinants of health. This chapter examines law as a tool for translating...

This article argues that section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the right to life, liberty and security of the person) guarantees protection for social welfare rights in Canada. The article suggests that the context in which the Charter was adopted and the background against...

The mobility rights provisions under section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, require the courts to adjudicate between the interests of the community at large and those of smaller provinces or regions. This article explores the constitutional background and political context in...

International human rights law has evolved from a system that considered social and economic rights as non-justiciable, to a more unified approach that recognizes the need for adjudication and remedy when socio-economic rights are violated. This paper is the first part of a two-part research...

This paper is the second part of a two-part research project that considers what the new paradigm of social rights and the re-unified system of human rights mean for the design and implementation of programs and strategies to address poverty and homelessness in Canada. The paper explores the...

While poverty is not a ground of discrimination expressly enumerated under Section 15 of the Charter, it is a condition shared by several of the groups specified in that section. The author argues that the Charter's promise of substantive equality will remain meaningless for large numbers of the...

The repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) under the 1995 federal Budget, and the establishment of a new “Canada Health and Social Transfer” (CHST) in its place, have been widely described as the most important social policy changes in Canada in almost thirty years. The paper assesses...

In the following article the author examines prevailing critiques of judicial recognition of social and economic rights in Canada. She argues that such critiques are flawed in a number of regards. In particular, they draw inaccurate distinctions between social and economic and more...

This report by the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) sets out a list of recommendation to the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development on the reform of the federal social security system. NAWL takes the view that Canadian women must be full and equal participants in...

At the 20th anniversary of the coming into force of section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (right to equality), constitutional scholar Martha Jackman discusses the value of section 15 as a mechanism for challenging systemic inequities in Canadian society. She concludes that...