Goods and services

How does the Alberta Human Rights Act protect against discrimination in goods and services?

The Alberta Human Rights Act protects against discrimination in the area of goods, services, accommodation, or facilities customarily available to the public. Providers of goods and services to the public cannot discriminate against someone based on a protected ground.

Goods include the buying and selling of items such as cars, groceries, clothing, or building supplies.
Services include public transportation, education, entertainment and hospitality, government services, community services, medical and professional services, and insurance.
Accommodation includes all temporary accommodation such as hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, campsites, and vacation property rentals.
Facilities include commercial buildings, arenas, hospitals, community centers, and condominiums.

“Customarily available to the public” does not always mean the general public. It can be a select group with eligibility criteria. Each service has its own “public.” For example, a university provides educational courses, which are a service. Through an admissions process, the university selects students to be part of this “public.”

On this page, we use the term “goods and services” to refer to goods, services, accommodation, and facilities customarily available to the public.

What you need to know

Everyone has the right to access goods and services customarily available to the public, free from discrimination.
Goods and services providers cannot deny or discriminate against someone based on a protected ground.
Goods and services providers must accommodate a person’s needs to the point of undue hardship.
A person requiring accommodation based on a protected ground must let the goods and services provider know their needs.
A person can make a human rights complaint if they believe they have experienced discrimination with goods and services.

Rights and responsibilities

Goods and services providers must not directly or indirectly discriminate against someone based on a protected ground. For example, a hotel not offering rooms to people on income assistance discriminates directly based on a person’s source of income. A movie theatre without seating space for people in wheelchairs discriminates indirectly against people with physical disabilities. While the theatre doesn’t turn away people with physical disabilities at the door, the effect is the same because they cannot use its services.

Providers of goods and services to the public are responsible for the actions of their employees, contract staff, and volunteers. For example, a community organization would be responsible for the actions of an employee who sexually harasses one of its clients.

Examples of discrimination in goods and services

There are a wide range of situations where discrimination in goods and services can occur. For example:

a taxi service does not have any wheelchair-accessible taxis
a hotel does not have any smoke-free rooms for guests with asthma
an educational institution does not offer supports during classes or exams for students with physical or mental disabilities
a government service requires all users to attend weekly meetings, even though persons with physical disabilities cannot easily travel to the meetings
a cultural organization charges higher fees for services to non-members who are not of the same ancestry
a retailer does not allow breastfeeding/chestfeeding in its stores
a retailer pays unusual attention to or focuses their security measures on customers because of their race or colour. Refer to the Racial profiling page to learn more.
an insurance provider denies spousal insurance coverage to same-sex couples

Duty to accommodate in goods and services

Goods and services providers must take steps to accommodate a person’s need for accommodation to the point of undue hardship. A goods or services provider may have to experience some hardship in providing accommodation. To be undue, the hardship must be “substantial in nature.” For example, this could be an intolerable financial cost or serious disruption to business.

In some situations, it may be reasonable and justifiable for a provider to deny goods and services to a person. For example, where there is undue hardship. There may also be some situations where a provider’s standard or policy is reasonable and justifiable in the circumstances.

For more information, refer to the Duty to accommodate in goods and services page.

FAQs

What is an ameliorative program?

The Alberta Human Rights Act says a policy, program, or activity does not contravene (go against) the Act if its goal is to improve the conditions of disadvantaged persons. Ameliorative programs are not a form of discrimination.

Ameliorative programs might include programs for groups such as:

Indigenous persons
women
transgender persons
persons with disabilities
persons of colour

The courts have established a test to show that a program is ameliorative under the Act. For more information on this test, review the Defences to Human Rights Complaints guide.

For example, an organization advertises that they offer programming for youth who identify as transgender or non-binary. At first glance, the ad discriminates based on gender identity because it excludes those who do not identify as transgender or non-binary. However, the program is an ameliorative program, as it is designed to improve the conditions of those groups, which have been found to be disadvantaged in some circumstances.

If you believe the complaint relates to an ameliorative program, provide detailed information about this in the Response Form.

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Do housing providers (including landlords and condominiums) and goods and services providers have to accommodate people with assistance and support animals?

Some people with disabilities may rely on an assistance or support animal, such as a service dog or guide dog. There are also other types of assistance and support animals, such as therapy, companion, or emotional support animals.

The Act and other laws in Alberta protect the rights of individuals to use a qualified service dog or guide dog. Guide dogs are trained as a guide for blind people while service dogs are trained as a guide for disabled persons. Both types of dogs must meet qualifications under the law.

Housing providers (including landlords and condominiums) and goods and services providers cannot discriminate against individuals with a disability who have a qualified service dog or guide dog. They must accommodate these individuals to the point of undue hardship. Providers may also have a duty to accommodate individuals with other types of assistance and support animals. Whether there is a duty to accommodate depends on the situation and reliable medical information confirming the person’s disability and need for the animal.

When is discrimination reasonable and justifiable?

The Act recognizes that sometimes discrimination is reasonable and justifiable in the circumstances. This allows a person or organization responding to a human rights complaint to justify a discriminatory practice, requirement, standard, or policy as being reasonable and justifiable.

A discriminatory practice at work that is reasonable and justifiable is called a bona fide occupational requirement (BFOR). A service provider may have discriminatory standards or policies that are reasonable and justifiable.

Employers, service providers, landlords, and others must meet legal requirements to prove a practice, requirement, standard, or policy is reasonable and justifiable. They must show it:

was adopted for a purpose that is rationally connected to the function being performed
was made in an honest and good‑faith belief that it was necessary to fulfill a legitimate purpose or goal
was reasonably necessary to accomplish that purpose or goal, including that the respondent could not accommodate the complainant without incurring undue hardship

For example, a car insurance company provides different premium rates to people based on a risk assessment of certain age groups. While the company’s rate-setting methods are prima facie (at first glance) discriminatory based on age, the practice of charging more for certain groups is reasonable and justifiable. The insurance company’s methods may be a sound and accepted practice in the industry, and there may be no practical alternatives that are fair to other insured drivers.

Another example is a seniors’ residence only hiring male nursing attendants for male residents who request an attendant of the same gender. A female job applicant applies for a nursing attendant position in the seniors’ residence but is not hired. The employer may have a bona fide occupational requirement, as it is reasonable for residents to have their requests met to preserve their sense of personal dignity and privacy. While the requirement is at first glance discriminatory, it is reasonable and justifiable in the circumstance.

If you are the respondent to a complaint and believe the discrimination described in the complaint is reasonable and justifiable, you should provide detailed information about this in the Response Form.

For more on reasonable and justifiable practices, requirements, standards, or policies, refer to the Defences to Human Rights Complaints human rights guide.

How do I deal with microaggressions in my workplace or when I’m accessing services?

Microaggressions are indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination by words or actions that occur in everyday life. They can occur in the workplace or when a person is accessing services. They are often directed at women or members of racial or ethnic minorities. Microaggressions can be discriminatory.

Individuals, businesses, and organizations have rights and responsibilities in preventing discrimination by creating respectful, inclusive workplaces and responding to discrimination. How you respond depends on whether you experienced or witnessed discrimination, or are responding to a complaint.

For more information, refer to the following resources:

Who can make a human rights complaint in the area of goods and services?

Anyone who has reasonable grounds for believing they have experienced discrimination when trying to access or use goods and services may make a complaint to the Commission. They must make the complaint within one year of the discriminatory act or treatment.

For more information, refer to the Making a complaint page and The complaint process page.

Do goods and services providers based outside Alberta need to follow the Alberta Human Rights Act?

Goods and services providers based outside Alberta but providing services in Alberta must follow Alberta laws, including the Alberta Human Rights Act. This includes chain stores with headquarters outside of Canada or Alberta but who provide services in Alberta.

Is it ever acceptable for a provider to deny or restrict access to goods and services?

In some circumstances, denying or restricting access to goods and services may be reasonable and justifiable. A provider may also refuse to offer goods or services to some people based on one or more protected grounds if there is undue hardship.

There may also be some situations where a provider’s discriminatory standard or policy is reasonable and justifiable in the circumstances. For example:

a retail store denies goods and services to a person if they are abusive towards staff or do not pay for goods
emergency shelters offer services to people who cannot afford to pay for housing, so they restrict access based on income

The Act also allows for ameliorative programs. For example, organizations can provide services only to a specific gender if they are unable to participate fully in society based on their gender and would not otherwise have access to the services. A recreation organization may set up an exercise program only for women to provide a safe space for these activities in the community.

To learn more, refer to the Duty to accommodate in goods and services page.

Can a retailer or service provider offer specials or promotions to individuals based on a protected ground?

No, goods and services providers cannot discriminate against someone based on a protected ground. However, there is an exception that allows for benefits for minors or seniors. For example, a retailer can offer age-related promotions such as seniors’ discounts. For more information, refer to the Age discrimination page.

Can organizations operating as a “private” club restrict access based on a protected ground?

Organizations operating as a private club may restrict their membership or services to individuals based on a protected ground. An organization must show that it restricts membership and services to only those with the protected characteristic, and that it is ameliorative under the Act.

For example, a religious organization operates as a private club. It can restrict its membership or services to individuals based on their religious beliefs. The organization must show it only restricts its membership and services to people with specific religious beliefs and that it is ameliorative under the Act.

Can an organization restrict membership on its board of directors based on a protected ground?

If the organization's mission is to serve a specific group, then it may restrict membership or election to the board on that basis. For example, a women's transition home may want to allow only women to sit on its board of directors. The Act allows this restriction only if it is reasonable and justifiable. This means the community organization must show the restriction is necessary for it to carry out its primary mission and it would be unable to accommodate others.