First, this paper reviews the approaches to discrimination under both human rights legislation and the Charter, considering the Supreme Court’s historical approaches through to its most recent decision in Moore v. B.C. (Education) and Québec v A. Next this paper presents a case study from the Alberta Court of Appeal – Wright v College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (Appeals Committee) – to illustrate the impact that the different approaches to discrimination may have on case outcomes. Finally, the paper considers the arguments for and against keeping the approaches under human rights legislation and the Charter distinct.

This paper was presented at the Constitutional Symposium held in October 2013.