The BC Human Rights Code and the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms

Canada’s human rights laws protect people from being treated poorly because of their disabilities.

That means that businesses have a duty to accommodate the needs of disabled customers within reasonable limits (unreasonable limits are called “undue hardship”).

That means that wheelchair users should be able to come into the store, but the owner of the business does not have to give those people piggyback rides. A person can come in with a cane, but they can’t bash people over the head with it.

Service dogs, under these laws, are basically wheelchairs. The store doesn’t get to decide whether you need the wheelchair or not. You don’t need to provide a medical note to prove that you need that chair.

BUT – if you keep slamming into other customers with your chair, or knock over merchandise, the business has every right to tell you to shove it.

So if your dog barks, goes up to other customers, knocks over merchandise, sniffs people’s food etc, the business has every right to ask you to take your dog out of the store even (and this is important) if your dog is fully certified.

Certification just means “yes, this person really does need their wheelchair and this wheelchair is safe for use in stores.” It doesn’t exempt you from respecting the rights of everyone else around you, including the store managers.

The penalty for disregarding a disabled person’s rights:

The penalty is usually decided by a Human Rights judge at the Human Rights Tribunal based on any costs of being denied, lost income, and legal fees. Decisions usually also include legal orders to make certain changes or perform certain actions, and failure to do so could result in further problems with the law.

The BC Guide Dog And Service Dog Act

This law provides service dog specific legislation, but it only covers dogs which the province knows to be “real” service dogs – ie the owner is really disabled AND the dog is genuinely trained to help with that disability AND is safe to be around the general public.

The Strata Property Act also has special provisions for teams who meet these standards.

Lack of certification is NOT a sign that the dog is a “fake” service dog – only that the province hasn’t inspected this dog or it’s training facility to be certain about it.

So if you are a business owner or landlord, lack of certification only means the dog is not covered under THIS particular law. The Human Rights code still applies.

The first thing the law says is: 

“nothing in this Act, nor anything done under this Act, abrogates or derogates from the Human Rights Code.” That means that the Human Rights code is more powerful than this law and would win in a game of Rock, Paper, Service Dog Laws. 

So, which dogs are covered by this law?

Technically, no dogs! Teams are covered – the disabled person and their trained dog together, or a trainer from an ADI accredited school and the dog they are training.

Any team that has graduated from an institution accredited by Assistance Dogs International or the International Guide Dog Federation is covered by this law.

The standards of these institutions for team certification and re-certification are high enough that the law is satisfied that anyone with a dog from, say, PADS, CNIB, Guide Dogs for the Blind etc. genuinely needs the animal and that it is a trained service animal.

Dogs trained by non-accredited trainers (such as the owner, for-profit trainers, or organizations who are still going through the multi year accreditation process) can be individually certified through a governmental certification process.

Once the government is satisfied that the person really needs the dog and that the dog is a trained service animal and safe for public access, the dog becomes covered by this law.

The penalty: A fine of up to $3,000 and a legal order to not be such a jerk. 

How this Works in Reality

The truth is that there is almost nothing you can do in the moment if you and your service dog are turned away. Other than identifying yourself as a person with a disability and the dog as a trained service animal, there’s not much you can do.

That’s all the classic service dog vest is for, by the way. Unless your dog’s harness is part of your disability equipment, like a guide handle for a blind person, the vest is just a way to identify you as a person with a disability and the two of you as a service dog team. It’s not legally required, but it will save you a lot of headaches.

If you have a provincial ID card identifying you as a legitimate service dog team, you can show that to any nearby police and often they will back you up, but getting the police involved can just escalate a situation unnecessarily, too.

If you do have a fully trained service dog, there is no down-side to getting certified.

Not only can you claim the dog on your disability tax credit, but businesses are far more likely to let you in when they see that provincial card.

Certification is the best thing you can do to prevent having access issues. Your rights don’t help you get on that plane. They just help you get compensation for the ticket – a couple of years from now.

The provincial public access test is quite basic, really, and most of the items on it are easy for even a half-trained service dog. It doesn’t require some of the things we require from our dogs, like permitting a stranger to handle their mouth and collar, or walking past a plate of food off leash.

If you don’t have any kind of certification, a claim at the Human Rights Tribunal is extremely difficult to win.

Before they will examine the behaviour of the business that turned you out, they will ask you to prove that your dog is a real service dog. If you can’t do that, the person you are complaining about will win automatically.

Basically, if they say you tried to bring a motorcycle into their store, then you have to prove it was actually a motorized wheelchair.

If you are a certified team, on the other hand, the judge will turn to the business/strata and make them prove that they had a good reason to turn you away.

Why Your Dog’s Behaviour Matters Most

Remember the analogy I made about bashing people with your cane or asking for piggy back rides? They only have to make reasonable effort to accommodate you. No one else’s rights should be impeded.

This is why even a certified team can still lose at the human rights tribunal. If your dog is badly behaved or – worse – aggressive, the business has every right to turn your dog away.

Now, if your dog is a certified team, it’s very unlikely that your dog would be badly behaved or aggressive, which is why the business will have to prove it to the judge.

It has happened, though!

In 2014, a judge dismissed the complaints of a man who was turned out along with his certified dog. That’s because the dog was a) off leash in a grocery store and b) nearly tripped a customer carrying a cup of coffee when the dog ran in front of her.

That’s a fair reason. They didn’t turn the man out because he was disabled with a service dog. They turned him out because his dog was causing them problems. The store had video evidence that the customer and his dog had been admitted when the dog was leashed.

Since certifications can be faked in any case, and since some service dogs come from places without legal certification schemes, an ID card doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. It just makes your life easier because most people accept that as proof of legitimacy.

If you are certified and are asked for your card, perhaps try to take that opportunity to explain to them why asking for a card is not best practice.

What businesses should look for is signs that this dog is well trained and causing no problems.

The dog’s behaviour is the best proof that they are trained well and will not cause problems. A team that would pass certification if they had an opportunity to do so can function smoothly and without causing problems for the people around them, and should be admitted.

Any half-decent service dog can:

So, you’re here because you got in an argument with someone over the rights of service dog users in British Columbia, and you want to resolve the argument.

…Or because you follow our blog. Whichever.

Only service dogs certified by the province or an ADI accredited institution are covered by the Guide Dog and Service Dog Act, BUT – before you rush off – ALL disabled people can turn to the BC Human Rights Act for protection as well.

That’s right, there are two laws that protect service dog users in BC. Anyone in a province that allows provincial certification, like Alberta or Nova Scotia, will find this article useful as well.

I’m going to talk about the laws, what they mean, and then I will talk about how this actually plays out in a real-world situation.

The short version: Certification makes everything much easier for the service dog user, but businesses should focus on the dog’s behaviour, rather than asking for proof of legitimacy. A real service dog acts like one – the proof is right in front of you.

We have clients with five month old pups who can check every item on that list. They still aren’t service dogs, mind you. Adolescence hits and it all goes out the window for a while, plus they need to actually learn how to help with their person’s disability.

Frankly, though, if a dog cannot do those basic things, they would not meet the standards of provincial certification or of an ADI/IGDF accredited school.

A dog who cannot perform that basic checklist could cause undue hardship for a business and could justifiably be turned out, and you’ll have no hope of winning any kind of human rights complaint over it. You could even be fined for the trouble you and your dog caused.

To repeat my summary from the opening of this article:

Certification makes everything much easier for the service dog user, but businesses should focus on the dog’s behaviour, rather than asking for proof of legitimacy. A real service dog acts like one – the proof is right in front of you.