Ontario HR Compliance · Canadian Human Rights Act
Canadian Human Rights Commission: Complaint Process and How It Connects to Equity Obligations
Discrimination complaints against federally regulated employers go to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which can investigate, help settle, dismiss, or refer a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal — the same Commission also administers the Pay Equity and Accessible Canada Acts.
A complaint that a federally regulated employer engaged in a discriminatory practice is filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), not a court. From there, the Commission can investigate the complaint, attempt to help the parties settle it, dismiss it, or refer it to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a hearing. The Tribunal has the power to order remedies under section 53 of the Act if it finds the complaint substantiated.
The exact procedural stages and timelines — how long an investigation typically runs, what leads to a referral versus a dismissal — aren’t fully settled in the source material behind this note. Confirm the current process directly at the CHRC rather than treating any specific timeline as fixed.
The Commission’s role extends well past individual complaints. It houses the Pay Equity Commissioner, who administers the federal Pay Equity Act, and the Accessibility Commissioner, who administers the Accessible Canada Act, and it conducts the compliance audits for the Employment Equity Act. The duty to accommodate under the CHRA reinforces both the designated-group obligations under the Employment Equity Act and the barrier-removal duties under the Accessible Canada Act — the same Commission sits behind all four regimes.
This is general information, not legal advice; confirm the current complaint process and timelines directly with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Source: Department of Justice Canada — Canadian Human Rights Act ·
Last reviewed .
Confidence: Single source
Related notes
- Canadian Human Rights Act: Prohibited Grounds and the Duty to Accommodate — Federally regulated employers follow the Canadian Human Rights Act instead of the Ontario Human Rights Code — it lists its own prohibited grounds of discrimination and carries the same duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship.
- Federal Pay Equity Act: Applicability and the 10-Employee Threshold — The federal Pay Equity Act applies to all federally regulated employers, public and private, with 10 or more employees, and requires them to proactively identify and close gender-based pay gaps rather than wait for a complaint — a different statute from Ontario's Pay Equity Act, with different mechanics.
- Accessible Canada Act: Applicability and the Planning/Reporting Cycle — The Accessible Canada Act governs accessibility for federally regulated organizations in place of Ontario's AODA, and runs on a repeating 3-year cycle of an accessibility plan, two progress reports, and an updated plan.
- Employment Equity Act: The 100-Employee Threshold and Annual Report — Federally regulated private-sector employers and Crown corporations with 100 or more employees must analyze their workforce against four designated groups, maintain an employment equity plan, and file an annual report by June 1 — an obligation that doesn't apply at all below 100 employees.