By: Evan Drygas

Human Rights codes across Canada prohibit discrimination in employment advertisements. Section 11 of the BC Human Rights Code states:

“A person must not publish or cause to be published an advertisement in connection with employment or prospective employment that expresses a limitation, specification or preference as to race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, political belief, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age unless the limitation, specification or preference is based on a bona fide occupational requirement.”

Yet, Facebook allows employers to select some of these groups as target audiences when advertising these jobs. Facebook will prevent U.S. employers from this kind of ad targeting by the end of next year, but this change won’t apply to Canada.

Who’s advising Facebook on this? Who’s advising the employers posting these ads. Why is Facebook waiting until the end of the year to make this change? I’m sure they have the ability to implement this change right away. Why won’t Facebook ban discriminatory ad targeting by Canadian employers?

By continuing to allow Canadian employers to target certain groups it seems to me that Facebook is exposing themselves and their advertising customers to risk.

Original article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/facebook-employment-job-ads-discrimination-1.5086491