Human Rights
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
If you believe that you have been discriminated against or harassed within Ontario jurisdiction or with regards to a federal agency please contact us.
- race
- national or ethnic origin
- colour
- religion
- age
- sex
- sexual orientation
- gender identity or expression
- marital status
- family status
- genetic characteristics
- disability
- conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
Discriminatory practices
- Denial of good, service, facility or accommodation
- Denial of commercial premises or residential accommodation
- Employment
- Employment applications, advertisements
- Employee organizations
- Discriminatory policy or practice
- Equal wages
- Publication of discriminatory notices, etc.
- Harassment
Process of Canada Human Rights Tribunal
Timeline
The timeline to begin a complaint at the Canada Human Rights Tribunal is one year from the date of the incident. If it is a recurring series of incidents then it is the date of the last occurrence.
Process of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
1. Before you begin. You must send your Human Rights complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The Commission investigates and screens complaints. It decides whether the complaint needs a hearing at the Tribunal. The Tribunal can only review complaints that the Commission refers to it. You must file your complaint within 12 months of the incident or series of incidents. To begin the process of making a complaint you must do so here.
2. Mediation. If all parties agree to mediation then mediation can occur. Mediation is a faster and cheaper way to resolve the issue(s). All parties to an issue attend mediation as well as their representatives. The commission may participate. Do note only the Commission can approve any settlement reached without a hearing. An impartial mediator will be assigned by the Tribunal as a neutral party to discuss strengths and weaknesses of the case, however; they would not be the Tribunal member hearing your case if you case goes on to a hearing. Mediation is a confidential process and all parties must sign a mediation agreement.
If you reach a mediation agreement there will be a "minutes of settlement" drawn up and all parties must sign this document. This document goes to the Commission for approval. If agreed the case is closed. If a party breaches the settlement agreement the only recourse is to go to Federal Court to enforce the settlement order
If you do not reach an agreement the case then goes on to a hearing set by the Tribunal.
3. Getting your case ready. Gather all evidence available to you. Understand that you will have "case management" in an effort to speed the cases along. The commission will start by sending all the relevant documents from the submission to all parties. The commission will set up calls for all parties to:
- find facts all parties agree to; and
- resolve issues and disagreements.
Any party can request one at any time. After a call, a summary of the call will be given to all parties.
You must prepare a Statement of Particulars which is an outline of how you wish to present your case at the Tribunal. This disclosure occurs in four stages; the Complainants statement, a statement from the Commission, the Respondent's address to the Complainant, the Complainant's reply to the Respondent.
The Statement of Particulars must have these five sections:
- Facts – your version of what happened
- Legal issues – the type of discrimination you believe happened
- Remedies – what you want to happen when the Tribunal makes its decision
- Lists of documents – a list of all documents that might be relevant to your case and a separate list of documents you will keep private
- List of witnesses – names of those you will call to testify and what you think they will say
4. Hearings. A case management call will tell you; the hearing date, the format of the hearing, and the duration of the hearing. You must finalize your documents in your "proposed exhibits" you or one of your witnesses must introduce each exhibit to get it admitted into evidence. Ensure that you have summoned your witnesses. Use this checklist to prepare for your hearing.
Usually, the hearing will proceed in the following order:
- Introductions
- Housekeeping and preliminary matters
- Opening statements
- Complainant’s evidence including; direct examination, cross-examination, and re-examination.
- Commission’s evidence (if any)
- Respondent’s evidence
- Closing statements (Final arguments)
5. Decision. The tribunal will send a written decision within six months of the hearing or the date of submissions. The decision will explain why or why not discrimination has occurred and if any remedies are ordered.
6. Post-decision. If you disagree with a decision you have 30 days to apply to the Federal Court for a judicial review.
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Ontario Human Rights
- Age
- Ancestry, colour, race
- Citizenship
- Ethnic origin
- Place of origin
- Creed
- Disability
- Family status
- Marital status (including single status)
- Gender identity, gender expression
- Receipt of public assistance (in housing only)
- Record of offences (in employment only)
- Sex (including pregnancy and breastfeeding)
- Sexual orientation.
Protected social areas are:
- Accommodation (housing)
- Contracts
- Employment
- Goods, services and facilities
- Membership in unions, trade or professional associations.
Process of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
Timeline
The timeline to begin a complaint at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal is one year from the date of the incident. If it is a recurring series of incidents then it is the date of the last occurrence.
Process
1. Before filing an application you should ensure that your complaint is within the grounds listed above. Once you have verifed that, you need to ensure that the incident(s) or the last occurrence was within one year of the date that you wish to file. It is also advisable to receive some legal advice at this stage if you are not sure if you are within the grounds or the timeline.
2. Filing an Application. You must file your application within the one year timeframe. If you are within this year, you can proceed to filing. You need to carefully analyze who the respondent will be in your case. You should be prepared to answer the following questions:
- What area(s) and ground(s) of the Human Rights Code (the Code) do you believe were violated?
- What do you want to have happen as a result of your application?
- Do you want to see any changes in policies or practices?
- Have you filed complaints with any other legal bodies about the discrimination?
Once your file is complete you will receive an HRTO filing number.
3. Filing a response to an HRTO application (respondent only) Form 2. As a respondent you may want to consider the following questions when filing in your Form 2:
- Did the applicant tell you about their human rights concern?
- Did you investigate?
- Do you have a human rights policy?
- What is your response to what the applicant says happened and the applicant’s proposed remedy?
If the respondent fails to file a response, they may no longer be considered a part of the process. It is imperative to submit a response within the 35 day timeline.
4. Filing a reply to the Respondent's response Form 3. If you disagree with some of the facts provided in Form 2, you can respond to those facts using this form. You may only address new issues that were brought up in Form 2, and must not duplicate your initial application in Form 1.
5. Mediation. On the application Form 1 and the respondent Form 2 you will be asked if you agree to mediation. Mediation is an active listening approach to assisting the parties to reach an agreement. If you chose to do mediation do note that you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to the mediation.
6. The Hearing. The following are types of hearings that you may receive:
- Summary hearing: the purpose of this hearing is to decide if there is sufficient evidence in order to proceed. Usually this involves unclear discrimination or not meeting one of the code grounds and places as listed above.
- Preliminary hearing: the purpose of this hearing is to decide if the Human Rights Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the case or to address if another court has already heard this case.
- Merits hearing: this is the hearing that determines if the respondent has infringed a right under the Human Rights Code. This hearing will present all evidence and witnesses and the adjudicator will make a decision on the balance of probabilities whether the human right has been infringed.
Once you receive notice of the hearing you have 21 days to submit Form 23 which provides a list of the documents you will be relying on.
No later than 45 days before the hearing you must:
- Send the other party a list of all witnesses, a statement of each witness’ intended evidence, case summaries, and a list of the documents you will present at the hearing. You do not need to send the other party copies of the documents themselves if you have already provided them with a copy.
- Send the HRTO your witness list, witness statements, case summaries, and copies of the documents you will use at the hearing.
7. Decisions. An adjudicator can issue two decisions, and interim decision to:
- decide questions about how the hearing will proceed (for example, a request to remove a party or a request for an interim remedy;
- may decide part of the application (for example, whether some of the allegations are untimely).
or a final decision:
- after a preliminary hearing, on issues like whether the application was filed in time, or the issues were dealt with in another proceeding;
- after hearing the evidence and submissions of the parties.
Reconsideration: You can submit a reconsideration if you feel:
- a party has new facts that were not available at the time of the hearing which could change the result of the HRTO’s decision;
- a party did not receive notice of the hearing and was unable to participate, through no fault of the party; or
- the decision conflicts with the HRTO’s procedure or case law and involves a matter of general or public importance.
To complete a reconsideration you must file Form 20 within 30 days of the decision.
Judicial review: There is no right to appeal the HRTO’s decisions. However, in limited circumstances, a party who is dissatisfied with a decision may apply to the Divisional Court for a “judicial review”. Applications must be made within 30 days of the decision, with limited exceptions.
8. Contravention of Settlement application: If the parties through mediation have reached a settlement fulfilled by Form 25 and one of the parties does not fulfill their end of the settlement agreement then you may submit a Form 18, or Contravention of Settlement application.