The human rights commission recently took out its own advertisement in the rentals section of Whitehorse newspapers on how to write a fair ad for rental housing. It describes how many ads placed by landlords would be considered discriminatory under the Human Rights Act.
Examples of what the commission does not want to see in a rental ad include "adults only" as that discriminates against people with children, "great for working folks or students" as that discriminates against people on pensions, social assistance or disability pensions, and "no pets" as that discriminates against people with disabilities who use service animals such as guide dogs.
The Human Rights Commission said it's not trying to dictate who landlords rent to, however it wants to create a level playing field for all people applying for housing.
"They may or may not get selected, that's the landlords right to select the person, but at least they've got their name in, or their application in, and it's being looked at" said Lillian Nakamura-Mcguire, public education specialist for the Yukon Human Rights Commission.
Some landlords say they don't like the Human Rights Commission pointing the finger at them as being the cause of the rental housing crunch.
"I think landlords are getting frustrated at feeling that they're being demonized when they are trying to be fair" said Susie Rogan of the Yukon Landlords' Association.
"They may have a duplex with a shared wall and they're considering the people on the other side and they say you have to be a quiet person and then the ad, by saying a quiet person, you're making people with children feel uncomfortable. Come on. Where does it stop? Where does it end?"