Project Overview
The Law Commission of Ontario’s (LCO) multiyear project on AI Regulation and Human Rights brings together policymakers, legal professionals, technologists, NGOs, academics, and community members to examine the development, regulation, and impact of artificial intelligence (AI), automated decision-making (ADM), and algorithms on access to justice, human rights, and procedural fairness.
The project responds to the rapid adoption of these technologies by governments and industry worldwide, where AI and ADM increasingly shape decisions on liberty, benefits, compliance, and access to services. Their use has raised concerns about harmful bias, data discrimination, “black box” systems, and lack of public input, transparency, disclosure and accountability—issues that pose complex law reform challenges in Canada.
Advisory Committee
The LCO benefited from an expert Advisory Committee to provide input during earlier phases of the project.
- Christiaan van Veen – Director, Digital Welfare State and Human Rights Project, NYU School of Law
- Abdi Aidid – Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law
- Raj Anand – Chair of the LCO Board, Partner at WeirFoulds LLP
- Amy Bihari – Senior Data Advisor, Government of Ontario
- Insiya Essajee – Counsel, Ontario Human Rights Commission
- Michelle Mann – General Counsel, Department of Justice
- Jonathon Penney – Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall
- Carole Piovesan – Partner and Co-Founder, INQ Data law
- Marcus Pratt – Policy and Strategic Research, Legal Aid Ontario
- Jennifer Raso – Professor of Law, University of Alberta
- Teresa Scassa – Professor of Law, Ottawa University
- Julia Stoyanovich – Professor of Computer Science, New York University
What Issues Are Being Looked At?
The LCO has completed many reports, submissions, presentations, and events as part of the AI Regulation and Human Rights project. These address topics such as how to develop trustworthy AI, how to regulate AI, and how to ensure human rights and procedural fairness are respected in AI systems. Major reports include the LCO’s 2022 Accountable AI and 2021 Regulating AI reports. The LCO has also been proactive and responsive in making research-based recommendations to governments, including our Bill 194 submission to the Ontario government, our submissions to the Ontario Civil Rules Committee Subcommittee on AI, and our contribution to the National Sprint on Canada’s AI Strategy at the federal level.
In November 2024, the LCO and Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released the first AI human rights impact assessment (HRIA) based on Canadian human rights law. The LCO/OHRC HRIA is a practical step-by-step guide that will help Canadian public and private sector organizations embed “human rights by design” in their AI systems. The LCO also released a Backgrounder to explain the development of the HRIA.
The LCO and OHRC are currently revising the HRIA following consultations and updates in the legal landscape governing AI. An updated version is forthcoming.
We continue to monitor developments in the field and to engage with governments, industry, and the public on emerging AI regulation and human rights issues.
Current Project Phase
AI governance is an active field and the LCO is committed to being responsive to developments in research, policy and legislation in Ontario, Canada and internationally.
Currently, the HRIA is being revised based on stakeholder feedback and an update is forthcoming.
Project Lead and Contacts
The Project Lead is Susie Lindsay. She can be contacted at SLindsay@lco-cdo.org.
The LCO can be reached at LawCommission@lco-cdo.org.