Case information

Human rights — Discriminatory practices — National origin — Applicant brought claim for discrimination arising from refusal to employ him as a psychiatrist because he lacked specialist accreditation from Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada — Discrimination complaint dismissed by Human Rights Tribunal — Judicial review of Tribunal’s decision dismissed — Scope of protected ground national origin — Whether Tribunal and lower courts erred in finding applicant’s qualifications not protected on basis of national origin — Application of test in Moore v. British Columbia (Education), 2012 SCC 61, [2012] 3 S.C.R. 360 — Whether Moore test is to be applied where an employer has made a Canadian qualification a requirement of hiring — Whether Tribunal and courts below erred in concluding there was no discrimination by employer when it ignored applicant’s non-Canadian qualifications, resulting in him not being hired — Whether Court of Appeal erred by declining to review first two stages of sequential Moore analysis — Canadian Human Rights Act, 1985, c. H 6.

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The applicant was born in the U.S.A. and received all of his medical training and specialty training in psychiatry in the U.S.A. He qualified as a specialist in psychiatry in the U.S.A and was also accredited by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), which recognized him as a specialist in Ontario. However, the CPSO designation was not recognized in all other Canadian jurisdictions.

At the time, the respondent, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) required all the psychiatrists it employed to be accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (the RCPSC). The applicant brought a claim for discrimination arising from the refusal of the CAF to employ him as a psychiatrist because he lacked specialist accreditation from the RCPSC.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found the applicant failed to make out a prima facie case of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act, 1985, c. H 6 and dismissed the complaint. The Federal Court determined that the Tribunal’s decision was reviewable for reasonableness and concluded that the Tribunal’s decision was reasonable and the application for judicial review was dismissed. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.