Ontario Human Rights Decision – Service Dog In Condo

In the case of Pollock v. Wilson, a resident of a condominium in Ontario went to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal to complain that another resident had discriminated against her because of her disability and her receipt of social assistance payments. The applicant had a specially trained service dog to assist her with Type 1 diabetes and received Ontario Disability Support payments for the service dog. After the respondent complained about the sign that the applicant had posted on her unit door to alert emergency responders that there was a service dog in the unit, the applicant posted numerous other documents on her door to educate the respondent about service dogs. The Tribunal concluded that the respondent had violated the Ontario Human Rights Code as she had discriminated against the applicant on the basis of her disability in relation to the notes posted on the door and that her negative comments and complaints about the service dog created a “poisoned environment” for the applicant.