People living with HIV are allowed to travel to Canada. However, HIV status is one factor considered by the Government of Canada when deciding if a person can stay in Canada for an extended period of time. This Q&A provides information on how Canadian immigration law and policy affect people living with HIV who wish … Read more
Why the Caribbean? And why LGBTI human rights? As a region, the Caribbean has the second-highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS and regional and national agencies have identified homophobia as a factor contributing to this troubling statistic. In numerous countries, particularly the Commonwealth Caribbean, the criminalization of consensual same-sex relationships … Read more
By Maurice Tomlinson, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network Maurice Tomlinson presenting the IACHR Rapporteur on LGBTI people, Flavia Piovesan, with a copy of our work in the Caribbean On June 5, the 48th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted another annual resolution on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression. … Read more
Three Barbadians — a trans woman, a lesbian and a gay man — have filed a petition against Barbados before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) challenging laws criminalizing “buggery” and other intimacy between consenting partners, including partners of the same-sex, as violating numerous rights guaranteed in the American Convention on Human Rights. This … Read more
May 14, 2018 — Today, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Correctional Services Canada (CSC) Interim Commissioner Anne Kelly quietly announced a prison needle exchange program (PNSP) to be implemented in two federal prisons. Many prisoners, public health experts and advocates, including the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, have fought for more than 20 years for … Read more
Last month, representatives from holistic practitioner, sex worker and human rights organizations gathered in Committee Room 1 at Toronto City Hall to make deputations to the Municipal and Licensing Standards Committee about the bylaws governing holistic practitioners and body-rub providers. The meeting was prompted by a study of licensing for holistic centres and body-rub parlours, … Read more
Bill C-66, An Act to establish a procedure for expunging certain historically unjust convictions and to make related amendments to other Acts, is a long-overdue effort by the Government of Canada to correct the historical, systemic oppression of gender and sexual minorities. In its current form, Bill C-66 is fundamentally flawed. This bill was drafted … Read more
For 25 years, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has been defending and advancing human rights in response to HIV, in Canada and globally. This milestone will be commemorated in Vancouver on Friday, April 27, with a reception attended by former Legal Network board president and current B.C. Attorney General, the Hon. David Eby.
As community organizations are closing, the federal government presides over the continued steady erosion of federal HIV funding, with $104 million in funds lost from the response.
Note: this brief was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with recent developments in 2020. In recent years, the Government of Canada has renewed a commitment to ongoing dialogue and constructive engagement with civil society in the response to HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). In … Read more