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Toronto police background checks no longer include mental health incidents
June 01, 2015 posted by Steve Brownstein
In a step forward for mental health rights, the Toronto Police Service will no longer release records of non-criminal mental health encounters with police — including suicide attempts or other psychological crises — to employers and community groups requesting background checks on potential employees or volunteers.
Effective this week, the Toronto police force joins law enforcement agencies across Ontario and Canada halting a practice that civil rights and mental health groups have long been decrying as discrimination affecting a growing number of Canadians.