A physical disability is any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation, or disfigurement caused by injury, birth defect, or illness. It also includes relying on a guide dog or service dog.
A mental disability is any mental, developmental, or learning condition. The cause or duration of the condition does not matter.
In Alberta, employers, landlords, and service providers cannot discriminate against a person because of their disability. The Alberta Human Rights Act also requires employers, landlords, and service providers to reasonably accommodate a person with disabilities unless it would cause undue hardship . This might mean accommodating an employee needing time off work, a change to their work environment, or a change in their work duties. For example, an employer may provide an office with natural rather than fluorescent light for an employee with epilepsy.
Gender is being a woman, a man, cisgender, transgender, two-spirit, non-binary, or intersex. The protected ground of gender also includes pregnancy and sexual harassment.
Gender identity is a person’s internal, individual experience of gender, which may or may not align with the sex assigned to them at birth. A person may identify as being a woman, a man, transgender, two-spirit, non-binary, gender non-conforming, intersex, or other. Gender identity is different from sexual orientation, which the Act also protects.
Gender expression is the varied ways a person expresses their gender. This can include a combination of dress, demeanour, social behaviour, and other factors.
In Alberta, employers, landlords, and service providers cannot discriminate against a person because of their gender, gender identity, or gender expression. For example, an employer cannot terminate someone’s employment because they are pregnant. A landlord cannot evict a transgender or non-binary person because they are transitioning or because of how they look.
Sexual orientation is a person’s physical, emotional, or romantic attraction to others. A person may be heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, queer, or any other sexual orientation.
In Alberta, employers, landlords, and service providers cannot discriminate against a person because of the person’s actual or presumed sexual orientation. For example, an employer cannot refuse to hire someone because they are bisexual or pansexual. A business cannot refuse service to a lesbian or queer couple.
