Bill C-279

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62 Elizabeth II, 2013

house of commons of canada

BILL C-279

An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACT

1. Section 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is replaced by the following:

2. (1) The purpose of this Act is to extend the laws in Canada to give effect, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, family status, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.

(2) In this section, “gender identity” means, in respect of an individual, the individual’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex that the individual was assigned at birth.

2. (1) Subsection 3(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

3. (1) For all purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.

(2) Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(3) In this section, “gender identity” has the same meaning as in subsection 2(2).

CRIMINAL CODE

3. Subsection 318(4) of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:

(4) The following definitions apply in this section.

“gender identity” means, in respect of a person, the person's deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex that the person was assigned at birth.

“identifiable group” means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender identity or sexual orientation.

4. (1) Subparagraph 718.2(a)(i) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(i) evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor,

(2) Section 718.2 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 718.2(1) and is amended by adding the following:

(2) In this section, “gender identity” has the same meaning as in subsection 318(4).

COMING INTO FORCE

5. This Act comes into force 30 days after the day on which it receives royal assent.