Supreme Court Affirms Substantive and Intersectional Equality in Kanyinda Decision

Toronto – The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) welcomes the decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in Kanyinda v. Quebec (Attorney General), which found that the Quebec government’s exclusion of refugee claimants from subsidized daycare had a disproportionate adverse impact on women refugee claimants.

This decision affirms a substantive and intersectional approach to equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Today’s decision affirms that equality rights must be meaningful in practice, not just in theory,” said Harini Sivalingam. “It recognizes that barriers to essential services like childcare can have profound consequences for families, particularly for migrant women navigating multiple forms of disadvantage.”

The case concerns migrants’ access to social benefit programs. At issue was whether an individual who has applied for refugee protection under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is eligible for subsidized childcare in Quebec when they hold a valid work permit.

Bijou Cibuabua Kanyinda, a refugee claimant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who arrived in Canada in 2018, obtained a work permit while awaiting a decision on her claim and applied for subsidized childcare for her three children.

She was deprived of access to subsidized childcare because Quebec’s Reduced Contribution Regulation was amended to exclude refugee claimants. She challenged the exclusion as discriminatory, arguing it disproportionately affects women and discriminates based on immigration status and citizenship.

The CCLA intervened in the case to argue that there was no constitutional basis to discriminate against refugee claimants in their access to social services like childcare and that migration status, as with sex, should be recognized as a protected ground under section 15(1) of the Charter.

“While we would have welcomed deeper engagement from the majority on whether refugee status should be recognized as an analogous ground under the Charter’s equality guarantee – as the Chief Justice did – this ruling is still a meaningful step forward,” said Aaden Pearson.

“At a time when some governments are considering restricting newcomers’ access to basic social services, the Court’s affirmation that equality rights must apply to everyone living in Canada is very timely.”

This ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada is an important step towards ensuring equality protections under the Charter remain responsive to the real-world experiences of marginalized communities.

The CCLA is grateful to be represented on this intervention by Lex Gill and Bruce Johnston of Trudel Johnston & Lespérance.