The SFU Human Rights Office recently sent out an email message dedicated to the accommodation of religious “holy days”. The contents are based on British Columbia’s Human Rights Act, which, much like the Charter of Rights, embeds religious accommodation in the legislative and social framework.
The message specifies that student and staff requests for days off in order to observe holy days as prescribed by their religion must be accommodated without penalty unless it presents undue hardship. This would apply for example if a holy day conflicts with an exam, where a student will not lose grades due to it. The message goes on to say that “it is difficult to imagine, in a University of this size and scope, the point at which we would be justified in saying that undue hardship had been reached”. Verifying whether a claimant actually belongs to the religion they claim is discouraged, and a rule of thumb for acceptable religions is provided as those listed in the interfaith calendar, which the same office makes available. Even more onerous requests are accepted, such as “Orthodox Jews and Seventh Day Adventists, [who] practice their religious faith by worshipping from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday”, or “Muslims who fast during Ramadan”.