Human Rights Advising

At UBC, we are committed to maintaining and respecting human rights at every level of the institution. This means providing students, staff and faculty with an environment dedicated to excellence, equity and mutual respect, and free from discrimination.

How We Can Help

If you have concerns related to discrimination on the basis of one or more of the 14 grounds protected by the BC Human Rights Code and as defined by UBC’s policy SC7: Discrimination, our team is here to help.

Protected grounds include real or perceived: age, ancestry, colour, family status, marital status, physical or mental disability, place of origin, political belief, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and criminal conviction unrelated to employment.

Our human rights advising team:

  • consults on human-rights related discrimination and provides information and advice;
  • works with relevant parties to resolve concerns informally, where possible;
  • assists with filing a formal complaint, as appropriate.

Discrimination is intentional or unintentional conduct, which can be individual or systemic, that imposes burdens, obligations, or disadvantages on or limits access to opportunities, benefits and advantages to specific individuals or groups as defined by the BC Human Rights Code and for which there is no real and reasonable justification.

Harassment that is related to one or more of the prohibited grounds of discrimination set out in the Human Rights Code is considered discrimination under this policy.

Get Support

If you feel that you may have been subjected to discrimination, contact us. We’ll get back to you as soon as we are able to acknowledge your inquiry and advise on next steps: humanrights@equity.ubc.ca

Request advising at UBC Okanagan


Trans and Gender Diversity Support

If you are a Two-Spirit, trans and/or non-binary student, staff or faculty, and have questions and concerns specific to trans inclusion and gender diversity, our team has expertise and lived experience to support you.

Contact us


Access

Our services are fully operational. Appointments are now provided virtually using Zoom.

Our Commitments to You

We consider all personal information, as well as reasons for reaching out to our office, confidential. If disclosure of information is necessary in order to respond to a request, we work closely with the discloser(s) to determine the most productive way of sharing information. In exceptional circumstances, where required by law or where there is risk of significant harm to anyone’s health or safety, we may refer the matter to appropriate parties within UBC and/or notify third parties, such as the police or child protection authorities.

Our office maintains an impartial approach. Simply put, this means that we avoid taking sides or advocating for one opinion or perspective in a given conflict scenario. Rather, we strive to explore the differing perspectives at play, and their intersections, in service of greater understanding on all sides. We do, at the same time, maintain throughout all our work a strong commitment to the values of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, as well as the policies and procedures that exemplify those and other core ethical values of the university.

We do everything we can to make our services accessible. Those with accessibility needs are encouraged to let us know in advance of a meeting to arrange to accommodate their needs. If English is not your preferred language, please request a translator or bring someone who can translate for you to any meetings with us.