Press releases Special Procedures

UN Special Rapporteur on racism to visit Canada

25 September 2026

GENEVA – The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Ashwini K.P., will conduct an official visit to Canada between 28 September and 9 October 2026.

During the visit, the expert will assess progress and challenges in achieving racial equality and eliminating racial discrimination, including systemic and structural forms of racism. She will assess key trends and issues seen in racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the legislative, policy and institutional frameworks that are in place.

The Special Rapporteur will visit Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, where she will meet with federal and state authorities, individuals from racialised groups, civil society organisations, service providers, academics, and other stakeholders.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press briefing at 11:00 (EDT) on Friday at the Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre (101 Lyon Street North Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1R 5T9). Access will be strictly limited to accredited journalists. Journalists need to register by 5pm on Wednesday 7 October in writing to hrc-sr-racism@un.org.

She will present a report on the visit, including her findings and recommendations, to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2027.

Ashwini K.P. is the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/

UN Human Rights, country page – Canada

For inquiries and media requests, please contact hrc-sr-racism@un.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts.

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