Canada's International Human Rights Policy

What's New

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 60th Anniversary (2008-12-10)
• Universal Periodic Review
• Government Response to the Interim Report of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights - “Canada and the United Nations Human Rights Council: At the Crossroads” PDF^* (139 KB)

---

Canada has been a consistently strong voice for the protection of human rights and the advancement of democratic values, from our central role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1947 to 1948 to our work at the United Nations today. Canada is a party to all six major international human rights conventions, as well as many others, and encourages all countries which have not made these commitments to do so.

In formulating its international human rights policy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade seeks the views of the public, consults with other government departments and non-governmental organisations, engages in dialogue with counterparts abroad, and closely follows the work of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Human Rights and International Development and the Senate Committee on Human Rights

Human rights is a central theme of Canadian foreign policy for a number of reasons:

• Canadians expect their government to be a leader in the human rights field by reflecting and promoting Canadian values, including respect for diversity, on the international stage.
• Canadians recognise that their interests are best served by a stable, rules-based international system. Countries which respect the rule of law tend to respect the rights of their citizens, are more likely to benefit from development, and are much less likely to experience crises requiring peacekeeping, emergency assistance or refugee resettlement missions.
• The UN Charter and customary international law impose on all countries the responsibility to promote and protect human rights. This is not merely a question of values, but a mutual obligation of all members of the international community, as well as an obligation of a state towards its citizens.

For more information:

• What are human rights?
• International Women's Equality
• Canada's Commitment to Human Rights
• The Canadian Approach
• Discrimination
• Children's Rights
• Social Dimensions of Trade
• How Canada works with the United Nations
• Universal Periodic Review

Six principal human rights treaties:

1. Status of ratifications PDF^* (106 KB)
2. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
   • Optional Protocol (allowing individual complaints)
   • Second Optional Protocol (aiming at abolishing the death penalty)
4. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
   • Optional Protocol (permitting individual complaints)
5. Convention Against Torture
6. Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
7. Convention on the Rights of the Child
   • Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
   • Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

* If you require a plug-in or a third-party software to view this file, please visit the alternative formats section of our help page.