The Ontario Human Rights Commission has issued a new racism policy stressing the evils of subtle and systemic forms of discrimination.

It says discrimination may be detected "in organizational and government policies, practices, and procedures and 'normal ways of doing things'" as well as in overt acts of bigotry.

It says such practices "may directly or indirectly, consciously or unwittingly, promote, sustain, or entrench" advantages for some people over others.

It also says racist behaviour cannot be hidden from trained observers.

"Individual acts themselves may be ambiguous or explained away, but when viewed as part of the larger picture and with an appropriate understanding of how racial discrimination takes place, may lead to an inference that racial discrimination was a factor in the treatment an individual received."

The new document, titled Policy and Guidelines on Racism and Racial Discrimination, is not binding on judges or human rights tribunal members but represents the commission's current interpretation of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

"It is time organizations and institutions acknowledge the reality of racism," Chief Commissioner Keith Norton said in a statement announcing it on Tuesday. They should "be prepared to act against subtle and sometimes subconscious prejudices and stereotypes that too often result in discrimination," he said.

The new policy says the following types of treatment may indicate racial discrimination in work situations:

• Exclusion from formal or informal networks.
• Denial of mentoring or developmental opportunities such as secondments and training that was made available to others.
• Differential management practices such as excessive monitoring and documentation or deviation from written policies or standard practices.
• Disproportionate blame for an incident.
• Assignment to less desirable positions or job duties.
• Treating normal differences of opinion as confrontational or insubordinate.
• Characterizing normal communication as rude or aggressive.
• Penalizing a person for failing to get along with someone else, e.g. a co-worker or manager, when one of the reasons for the tension is racially discriminatory attitudes or behaviour of the co-worker or manager.

It retires the term "minority group" in favour of "racialized persons," a category that goes beyond skin colour and ethnic background.

"Racialization extends to people in general but also to specific traits and attributes, which are connected in some way to racialized people and are deemed to be 'abnormal' and of less worth,'" it says. "Individuals may have prejudices related to various racialized characteristics."

Those characteristics may include name, accent or manner of speech, clothing and grooming, diet, beliefs and practices, leisure preferences, places of origin and citizenship, it says.