File or transfer your Canadian Armed Forces complaint

Are you a current or former member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)? Have you experienced workplace discrimination, sexual misconduct or any form of sexual harassment related to one or more of the grounds listed in the Canadian Human Rights Act?

If you answered yes to both of these questions then you are in the right place. The Commission is here to make sure that your complaint is handled in a fair, independent, trauma-informed, unbiased and confidential manner.

Complaints about sexual harassment

Harassment is a form of discrimination. You can file a discrimination complaint (that is harassment or sexual misconduct) with the Commission if the alleged harassment is linked to a prohibited ground of discrimination listed in section 3 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Bringing your complaint to the Commission is a free, safe and confidential way for you to seek recourse for what has happened to you, and bring about meaningful lasting change for yourself and for others.

With the implementation of Louise Arbour’s recommendations, you no longer have to go through the internal redress process within your organization first.

You can choose to come straight to us.

Remember, sexual harassment is frequently based on more than one ground of discrimination. It can be based on a person’s sex/gender, their sexual orientation, and/or their gender identity or expression. It can also be based on a person's perceived sex/gender, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity or expression. That is why our team at the Commission considers these kinds of complaints in a way that includes all the various forms of sexual harassment.

What you need to know

  • You should file a complaint at the Commission within 12 months of the incident or treatment that you wish to complain about. This rule still applies even if you are also using a separate process at another organization to raise your complaint. The Commission can make exceptions to this timeline in certain circumstances.
  • You can file a complaint on behalf of others if you have their consent.
  • You don’t need to pay a fee to file a complaint.
  • You don't need to hire a lawyer or get other legal assistance. However, if you decide to hire legal help, you are responsible for paying the associated costs.
  • If you have any questions or require assistance to fill out the Complaint Form, you can contact the Commission to ask for help.
  • The Commission is impartial, and it does not take your side or the respondent's.

Your options

You have two main options when you come to the Commission:

Option 1: You can start a new complaint with us

When you file a new complaint with us, we will need to know three main things:

  1. what happened to you
  2. how the treatment you received was linked to one or more ground(s) of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act (e.g. your sex/gender, your gender identity or expression, your sexual orientation, your perceived sexual orientation, etc.)
  3. how this has negatively impacted your work and/or life

Once you have those three ideas in mind, you are ready to file a complaint with the Commission.

There are several ways you can file a complaint with the Commission. Read about: File a discrimination complaint.

Option 2: You can transfer the complaint you started with your organization’s redress process to us

For complaints and grievances involving any form of sexual harassment, you can transfer your existing file by calling or emailing us. A trauma-informed staff member in charge of processing workplace harassment complaints from CAF members will contact you to discuss our process.

Here is how to contact us to transfer your file:

By e-mail

complaint.plainte@chrc-ccdp.gc.ca

By phone

Toll Free: 1-888-214-1090
Phone: 613-995-1151
TTY: 1-888-643-3304
Fax: 613-996-9661
VRS: For Canadians who are Deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing or speech-impaired, access can be achieved via their own interpreter or via Canada VRS, which provides an interpreter.

What happens next

We will carefully review your file to assess whether it meets the criteria under the Canadian Human Rights Act. You will be notified either way. We will communicate with you by email, or the method you prefer. Only once we accept your complaint do we notify your employer (or former employer), confidentially, that the complaint is now with us.

From that point, each complaint takes its own unique path through our six-step process. A complaint may go through one or several steps, in the order that makes most sense for your specific situation. We are here to help you through this process.

Read more about our six-step process so you can know what to expect.

Remember: It is against the law for anyone to retaliate or take action against you because of your complaint. If someone does that, you can file a new complaint with us about it. Contact us immediately to find out what you can do. If the person’s action is criminal, call the police as well. Document your case and keep a written record of the action, including times, places and witnesses, and explain why you think the incident is retaliation.

Support available

The Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre (SMSRC) offers support services to current and former CAF members affected by sexual misconduct as well as their families aged 16 and older.

You can contact them to speak confidentially with a trained support counsellor, in either official language, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also request a dedicated coordinator who can walk you through your process, accompany you on appointments, help you with proceedings, or help you with any workplace arrangements you may need.

Here is how to contact them:

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