Re-Opening the Door: Litigating Positive Rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Litigating Positive Rights Symposium
📅 Friday, January 16, 2026 · 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (ET)
📍 Henry N. R. Jackman Faculty of Law, University of Toronto (Room P120)
Overview
Join leading scholars, practitioners, and emerging voices for a one-day symposium exploring how positive rights — rights that require governments to act — can be meaningfully advanced under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. From housing and healthcare to climate and digital regulation, the symposium examines whether Canadian constitutionalism is ready to “re-open the door” first left ajar by the Supreme Court of Canada in Gosselin v. Québec.
About the Symposium
Co-chaired by Cheryl Milne, Executive Director of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, and Professor David Schneiderman of the University of Toronto Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, this event brings together experts from across Canada and abroad to address both the theory and practice of litigating positive rights claims.
Panel discussions will explore:
- The conceptual divide between positive and negative rights
- Litigation strategies for social, environmental, and economic rights
- Evidence, remedies, and practical challenges in Charter claims
- Comparative and international perspectives on positive obligations
A detailed agenda, including panel titles and speakers, will be released soon.
Why This Matters
Climate justice, housing insecurity, healthcare access, and rapidly evolving digital systems are testing the limits of a Charter framed primarily around negative rights. Rethinking positive obligations is fundamentally about imagining what kind of constitutional community Canada aspires to be — one that simply prevents state intrusion, or one that supports human dignity through collective responsibility.
This symposium will inform the third volume in the Asper Centre’s publication series with Lexis Nexis Canada, following:
📘 Public Interest Litigation in Canada (2018)
📘 Litigating Equality in Canada (2023)
A modest registration fee will apply, with reduced rates for full-time students.
CPD accreditation will be sought for this program.