Infographic: Five things you may not know about the Charter

Charter top 5 facts

Fact 1: The Charter has served as a model for human rights protections around the world. Among others, South Africa and New Zealand looked to the Charter when drafting their Bill of Rights.

Fact 2: Section 15 of the Charter (equality rights) came into force 3 years after the Charter, so that governments had time to ensure their laws and policies respected everyone’s equality rights. – 1982 (Charter signed into law) to 1985 (Equality rights came into force)

Fact 3: According to Statistics Canada, Canadians rank the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as our most important national symbol, beating out other symbols like hockey or the beaver.

Fact 4: The Charter has been to outer space. Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau took a copy of the Charter with him on one of his missions.

Fact 5: The Charter has been translated into 23 languages including Hindi, Japanese and Ukrainian. It’s also been published in English and French Braille.