Quebec has long been considered the California of the East and a pioneer in adopting some of the most far-reaching obligations with respect to harassment in the workplace in its widest form, as well recourses and remediation provisions “with teeth”.

Legal Provisions that Apply -

In adopting its Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms [“Charter”] in 1975, seven years before the adoption of its federal equivalent, the Quebec legislature established (i) the fundamental right of every person to the safeguard of “his dignity, honour and reputation” (s 4) and (ii) that “[e]very person has a right to full and equal recognition and exercise of his human rights and freedoms, without distinction, exclusion or preference based on […] sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation […]” (s 10). The Charter also provides that “[d]iscrimination exists where such a distinction, exclusion or preference has the effect of nullifying or impairing such right.” (s 10). By 1982, with the adoption of s 10.1, the legislature provided that “[n]o one may harass a person on the basis of any ground mentioned in section 10”. In so doing, it created a separate and distinct quasi-constitutional right to be free of sexual harassment or harassment because of sexual orientation, expanded in 2016 to cover, as well, harassment because of gender identity.