The Ontario Human Rights Commission is doing a survey of people who are experiencing poverty, or have experienced poverty in the past, and also family members, friends or service providers who know someone who has experienced poverty.
This is part of a research project (Poverty POV) on poverty, affordable, adequate and accessible housing and mental health and addiction disabilities. The Human Rights Commission is looking at how the Human Rights Code applies in the area of poverty in order to help to address human rights issues disproportionately experienced by groups protected under the Code.
Injured workers are protected under the Human Rights Code, they are specifically included in the definition of disability. Many injured workers live in poverty on little or no compensation for lost earnings because of discrimination known as stigma. There is a widely held misconception that people on workers compensation are likely to cheat the system. Many injured workers are denied compensation by the WSIB because they are deemed to have earnings from a full time job when their realty is that they are not able to return to gainful employment. .
Even injured workers who receive compensation for their lost earnings are plunged into poverty at age 65 when their benefits end. Although Ontario ended mandatory retirement in 2008, age discrimination is still protected in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
We encourage injured workers to take part in the survey. For more information see https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/ohrc-engagement-survey-connect-poverty-and-human-rights or go to the survey.