Robin Elliot

The respondents were retired at age 65 pursuant to the university's mandatory retirement policy.

They sought declarations that the policy violated s. 15(1) of the Charter and that the definition of 'age' in the provincial Human Rights Act, which restricted protection to those under 65, also violated s. 15(1).

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the Charter does not apply to the university as it is not 'government' under s. 32.

The Court further held that while the age restriction in the Human Rights Act violates s. 15(1), it is saved under s. 1 as a reasonable limit.

The appellants appealed judgments declaring unconstitutional a hospital regulation requiring medical staff retirement at age 65 unless an exception was granted.

The principal issue was whether the hospital, in adopting and administering the regulation, was subject to the Charter under s. 32.

The majority held the hospital was not part of government and its internal management regulation therefore fell outside the Charter's ambit.

Assuming the Charter applied, the majority further held the regulation and its application were discriminatory under s. 15(1) but justified under s. 1 because they were rationally connected to maintaining excellence in a major acute care teaching hospital and minimally impairing in a resource-allocation context.