From the Interim Chief Commissioner
It is with great honour as Interim Chief Commissioner that I present this Departmental Plan for the Canadian Human Rights Commission's upcoming 2024–2025 year. Our commitment to promoting and protecting human rights remains steadfast, and I am excited about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
The Commission has identified four overarching operational priorities for 2024-2025: (1) advancing human rights through anti-racism, reconciliation, accessibility, and the recognition of socio-economic rights; (2) ensuring timely and meaningful access to human rights justice; (3) ensuring effective regulatory compliance and enforcement; (4) modernizing communications, data management, and digital services to meet the needs of the new Commission.
The Commission is committed to prioritizing the advancement of human rights through anti-racism, reconciliation, accessibility, and the recognition of socio-economic rights; ensuring timely and meaningful access to human rights justice; and ensuring effective regulatory compliance and enforcement.
The coming year will be pivotal as we continue to navigate the evolving landscape of human rights in Canada. Our Departmental Plan for 2024–2025 reflects our unwavering dedication to fostering inclusivity, combating discrimination, and championing equality for all Canadians. By aligning our efforts with the evolving needs of our diverse society, we aim to create a positive impact and lasting change.
The world is constantly changing, and so are the challenges to people's human rights. We will proactively address emerging issues, such as the rise of hate in our society, the impact of technology on human rights, climate justice, and the rights of vulnerable populations, by ensuring that our work remains relevant and responsive, as our resources permit.
We are making concerted efforts to address all forms of systemic racism in this country and specifically anti-Black racism – within our own organization, across the federal public service, and the federally regulated private sector.
Within our own organization, we will prioritize initiatives that foster a diverse, barrier-free, and inclusive Commission culture that is respectful, supportive, and psychologically safe for every employee.
In all our work, we will strive to continue identifying and eliminating systemic barriers and promoting equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their background, identity, or circumstances. Through targeted initiatives, advocacy, partnerships, and our proactive mandates, we will help organizations understand and meet their human rights, employment equity, pay equity, and accessibility obligations.
We are committed to making our services and information more accessible to everyone in Canada. Through continuous improvement of our human rights complaints process, and the revamp of our website, we will ensure that people in Canada have access to an improved pathway to human rights justice.
The Commission continues to operate with limited resources and therefore is creative about how we approach our work in order to be as efficient and effective as possible given that reality. In some instances, this does mean choosing to discontinue certain work to ensure that we are able to dedicate the resources necessary for other work.
We continue to employ a results-oriented approach, regularly assessing the impact of our initiatives and adjusting our strategies accordingly. With transparency and accountability as fundamental to our work, we will keep our stakeholders and audiences informed about our progress through regular updates, reports, and engagement opportunities.
Our internal commitment to human rights extends to our own organization. By leading by example, we aim to inspire positive, and anti-racism change within and beyond our organization.
In closing, I want to express my gratitude for the dedication and hard work of the entire Canadian Human Rights Commission team, as well as our valued stakeholders. Together, we can build a more inclusive and just Canada where the human rights and dignity of all individuals are respected and protected.
Sincerely,
Charlotte-Anne Malischewski
Interim Chief Commissioner
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Plans to deliver on core responsibilities and internal services
Core responsibilities and internal services:
As part of the Commission's ongoing modernization efforts, change in leadership, and recent addition of mandates, our Departmental Results Framework will be updated during the next cycle, to better reflect our work.
The Commission continues to face significant financial pressures because of limited baseline funding, and this will be compounded in 2024–2025 by the sunsetting of funding. As of January 2024, the Commission is still awaiting confirmation of several budget requests.
More specifically, the Commission has the following budget asks:
- to support the legislative duties and functions of the Federal Housing Advocate for 2024–2025 and ongoing;
- to provide ongoing funding for the activities related to the National Monitoring Mechanism for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and
- to provide support to the Commission to realize the government's commitment to implement Justice Arbour's 2022 recommendations, to address longstanding cultural shortcomings that have allowed systemic gender discrimination, and sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces.
The figures in this Departmental Plan reflect the Commission's financial situation as of the time of publication. This Departmental Plan does detail certain Commission plans that will only be carried out subject to receipt of these budget asks.
Engagement and Advocacy
In this section
- Description
- Quality of life impacts
- Results and targets
- Plans to achieve results
- Key risks
- Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Related government priorities
- Program inventory
- Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year
Description
Provide a national credible voice for equality in Canada by raising public awareness of human rights issues; engaging civil society, governments, employers, and the public to affect human rights change; and monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Government of Canada's obligations under the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Quality of life impacts
This Core Responsibility contributes to the “Good Governance” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, “Discrimination and unfair treatment”, “Access to fair and equal justice”, and “Confidence in institutions,” through all the activities mentioned in the Core Responsibility description.
This Core Responsibility also contributes to the “Prosperity”, “Health”, and “Society” domains of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, “Functional Health Status”, “Children Vulnerable in Early Development”, “Economic Security and Deprivation”, and “Self-Rated Mental Health,” through advocating for social-economic and cultural rights.
Results and targets
The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Engagement and Advocacy, the indicators, the results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024–2025.
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of interventions in the public interest before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the Courts | Not available | Not available | Not available | At least 250 | March 2025 |
| Note: This indicator is new as of 2023–2024. Results are not available for preceding years. | |||||
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain A-Status accreditation as Canada's national human rights institution | A-Status | A-Status | A-Status | A-Status | March 2025 |
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of Canadians who have been informed about the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Pay Equity Act, and the Accessible Canada Act | Not available | Not available | Not available | 3.6 million | March 2025 |
| Note: The methodology to calculate this indicator was modified in 2023–2024 and as such results cannot be compared with ones from preceding years. | |||||
The financial, human resources and performance information for the Commission's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Plans to achieve results
In 2024–2025, the Commission will continue to play its role as a thought leader and help to shape the human rights agenda in Canada by being proactive and vocal. More specifically, we will:
- Advocate for people in Canada who are in vulnerable circumstances, with a focus on the socio-economic and cultural rights, systemic racism, discrimination, and the human right to adequate housing. This work will include advancing awareness about human rights through a coordinated communications strategy, including public statements, reports, or other publications in relation to human rights issues.
- Conduct ongoing stakeholder engagement, including with rights holders to:
- Share information about human rights and the human rights complaints process;
- Work with respondents and complainants to identify and address human rights issues, including systemic issues;
- Receive feedback from users of our system to reduce barriers to access; and
- Inform key stakeholders of their rights and obligations under the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Pay Equity Act, and the Accessible Canada Act.
- Ensure that Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Anti-Racism (IDEA-AR) are embedded across all our work, in furtherance of the Commission’s Anti-Racism Action-Plan and the Clerk of the Privy Council’s Call to Action, and with the commitment of our entire senior management team, including our Interim Chief Commissioner and Executive Director, by:
- Establishing a comprehensive measurement framework to assess progress on the intended impact driven activities outlined in both the Commission’s Accessibility and Anti-Racism Plans under the leadership our of new Director of IDEA-AR;
- Supporting the Decolonization and Anti-Racism Consultation Committee (DACC), which is an internal committee for Indigenous, Black, and other Racialized employees that provides advice and guidance on products and initiatives throughout the Commission, including internal policies and practices and external advocacy positions and resources;
- Continuing to develop our capacity to collect disaggregated data from those who use our systems and services so we can identify potential barriers to participation, improve access to our complaints process, and use an intersectional lens when developing a measurement framework, recognizing that employees and rights holders have complex identities that influence their experience of exclusion;
- Encompassing both qualitative and quantitative components to this measurement framework to bring depth, complexity and understanding of the full implications of the data collected; and
- Continuing to improve upon our capacity to analyze data and be informed of employee and rights holders' experiences whilst using a diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and anti-racism lens.
- Support the Commission's Employment Equity mandate by publishing up-to-date information on employment equity compliance audit processes and promoting sector wide audit reports.
- Support the Pay Equity Commissioner by publishing educational tools and materials to meet the needs of diverse workplaces in the federal jurisdiction.
- Support the Accessibility Commissioner by raising awareness about obligations under the Accessible Canada Act, publishing guidance for federally regulated entities and information, to foster proactive compliance.
- Support the Federal Housing Advocate and the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate by providing support and advice to raise awareness about key issues related to housing and homelessness, including publishing research and reports.
It is noteworthy that as the Commission is still awaiting confirmation of several budget requests at the time of publication of this 2024–2025 Departmental Plan, many of the activities listed under this core responsibility will be carried out subject to funding.
Key risks
There is a risk that unanticipated and pressing human rights matters may affect our plans and our ability to deliver on them. To mitigate this risk, the Commission will use environmental scanning and foresight analysis to identify emerging issues. This will allow us to be more flexible in our work plans, and to better anticipate and respond to emerging issues.
A perceived lack of progress can influence public and or employee confidence negatively, which in turn can pose a risk to the successful implementation and evolution of the Accessibility and Anti-Racism Plans. To mitigate this risk, our focus is to design a measurement framework in close participation with employees, rights holders, and stakeholders so that impact and outcomes are measured, rather than outputs.
There is a risk that a lack of public understanding of the Commission's various mandates, functions and duties could create false expectations about the Commission's role and powers. To address this challenge, the Commission will continue to engage with key stakeholders to help broaden the understanding of our mandates under the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Employment Equity Act, the Pay Equity Act, and the Accessible Canada Act, as well as the Federal Housing Advocate's mandate.
Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Planned spending: $4,928,351
- Planned full-time resources: 31
Related government priorities
Gender-based analysis plus
The Commission will use an intersectional lens, including the use of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus), in the planning and delivery of engagement and advocacy activities, to ensure that we fully consider how multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination affect the lived experiences of people in Canada. The Commission's improved collection of disaggregated data will help us understand who is engaging with our system, what barriers they face, and how we can improve access.
With our focused attention on the impact of the housing crisis on marginalized communities, we plan to take an intersectional approach, highlighting the unique challenges faced by women, gender diverse people, Indigenous peoples, Black and other Racialized people, as well as people with disabilities. In addition, through the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, we will continue to collect disaggregated data based on the legislative need to examine systemic housing issues of the progressive realization of the human right to housing for vulnerable groups in Canada.
- Our monitoring framework on the right to adequate housing for people with disabilities will continue to collect and disaggregate data to the greatest extent possible including based on geography, socio-economic status, age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, type of disability, etc. The analysis will take an intersectional approach and highlight disparities experienced by people with disabilities when compared to the general population.
- The realization of the human right to housing for women, girls, and gender diverse people, which involves improved participation in the design, implementation, and monitoring of housing policies and decisions, means preventing evictions and pathways into homelessness, and maximizing supports for women, girls and gender diverse people experiencing housing need, hidden homelessness, violence, and poverty.
We will continue to ensure that all stakeholder engagement is inclusive and accessible and that diverse voices are represented. We will continue to improve our meeting practices and stakeholder engagement to reflect best practices. We will invite stakeholders with various lived experience to meet with us and provide feedback on how we can better engage with them.
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The Commission maintains that the 2030 Agenda and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. In fact, most of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets reflect provisions of international human rights instruments. The SDGs provide a complimentary and useful addition of measurable progress when monitoring Canada's domestic implementation of its human rights obligations. As such, we will continue to explore the use of SDGs when monitoring progress and determining gaps in Canada's implementation of its international human rights obligations.
We will continue to advocate for the full realization of social-economic and cultural rights of people in Canada. These rights include the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes housing (ending poverty - Goal 1), employment (Goal 8), education (Goal 4), healthcare, and other basic rights like having access to food (Goal 2), clean water and sanitation (Goal 6).
More information on the Commission's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
Program inventory
Engagement and Advocacy is supported by the following program:
- Promotion Program
Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Commission's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.
Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year
There were no changes to the approved departmental results framework associated with this Core Responsibility.
Complaints
In this section
- Description
- Quality of life impacts
- Results and targets
- Plans to achieve results
- Key risks
- Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Related government priorities
- Program inventory
- Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year
Description
Provide people in Canada with a mechanism to file and resolve complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act, Pay Equity Act, and Accessible Canada Act, and to represent the public interest in achieving equality in Canada.
Quality of life impacts
This Core Responsibility contributes to the “Good Governance” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, “Discrimination and unfair treatment”, “Access to fair and equal justice”, and “Confidence in institutions,” through all the activities mentioned in the Core Responsibility description.
Results and targets
The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Complaints, the indicators, the results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024–2025.
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of complaints completed by the Commission | 88% | 89% | 90% | At least 90% | March 2025 |
| Note: The results of this indicator for the three most recently reported fiscal years are based on data relating to human rights complaints only. For complaints pursuant to the Pay Equity Act, the percentage represents regulated entities and not people in Canada. | |||||
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mediation settlement rate | 64% | 65% | 63% | At least 55% | March 2025 |
| Note: The results of this indicator for the three most recently reported fiscal years are based on data relating to human rights complaints only. This percentage does not include mediations under the Pay Equity Act. | |||||
The financial, human resources and performance information for the Commission's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Plans to achieve results
In 2024–2025, the Commission will continue to streamline processes and strengthen systems to improve response times and enhance the overall accessibility and effectiveness of its complaints services, informed by the needs of the people we serve.
For complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Commission will:
- Ensure all work undertaken in respect of Canadian Human Rights Act complaints is informed by our Accountability Framework, which promotes the dismantling of barriers for Indigenous, Black, and other Racialized complainants, as well as other equity deserving groups, and furthers the ongoing implementation of the Commission’s Anti-Racism Action Plan, which specifically address anti-Black racism.
- Focus on updating and improving procedures, processes, and tools, including:
- Ensuring ongoing hiring and retaining of staff with lived experiences of discrimination and racism;
- Developing training and onboarding tools to ensure all staff have the knowledge needed to process files efficiently and equitably. This includes a thorough understanding of the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as bias, trauma-informed approaches, and how to recognize subtle acts of exclusion and understand their impact;
- Working on a new Case Management System to launch in 2026 which will improve accessibility, communication, data management, reporting, and efficiency to better provide service to Canadians and enhance our ability to analyze overall trends in race-based discrimination complaints, including systemic anti-Black racism within federally regulated sectors;
- Continuing the collection and analysis of disaggregated demographic data about who uses our complaint process;
- Updating templates to ensure all external communications are accessible and inclusive; and
- Enhancing the case management function to move files through the complaints system — including, where appropriate, to mediation and conciliation, and to tribunal — in the most appropriate and efficient manner.
- Expand the use of case conferencing with parties to cultivate understanding and collaboration in the complaints process.
- Increase use of mediation and conciliation for early resolution of complaints.
- Build relationships with external partners who are positioned to offer support to rights holders, whose needs fall outside the Commission's mandate.
- Continue advancement of the federal case law regarding discrimination based on the grounds of race, colour and national or ethnic origin by participating fully in a significant proportion of relevant complaints before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and by hiring expert witnesses as appropriate.
For complaints under the Pay Equity Act, the Pay Equity Commissioner, with the assistance of the Pay Equity Unit, will continue to develop and implement an efficient pay equity dispute resolution process for employees, bargaining agents, and employers (together with workplace parties). This includes:
- Providing workplace parties with a range of online services to file requests for authorization, matters in disputes, objections, and complaints;
- Implementing a new case management system to ensure efficient data management, reporting, and processing of pay equity complaints;
- Delivering a range of pay equity dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation, to assist workplace parties in complying with the Pay Equity Act; and
- Building body of jurisprudence through timely decisions interpreting the Pay Equity Act.
For complaints under the Accessible Canada Act, the Accessibility Commissioner, with the support of the Commission's Accessibility Unit will ensure the process for filing accessibility complaints is expeditious, accessible, and easy to understand.
More specifically, the Accessibility Unit will:
- Further develop a digital solution/system infrastructure to support an efficient and user-centred service.
- Develop accessibility complaint processing tools to support the efficient management of accessibility complaints received by the Accessibility Commissioner.
Key risks
There is a risk that planned strategies to reduce the accumulated caseload of human rights complaints may not bring about the expected results if the Commission is not resourced appropriately. To mitigate this risk, the Commission plans to monitor trends in human rights complaints processing and adjust where necessary. We will also continue to pilot new approaches to human rights complaints handling, as well as continue to develop a robust staffing strategy.
Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
Planned spending: $13,248,610
- Planned full-time resources: 91
Related government priorities
Gender-based analysis plus
The Commission will continue to promote inclusion by ensuring that:
- Commission staff regularly take part in trainings on GBA Plus-related topics as well as in taking a trauma-informed approach; they are trained to acquire a foundational knowledge of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles; and are trained to inquire about accommodation or access needs when interacting with parties.
- The Commission engages user testers with a variety of people with lived experiences to assess new process documents and changes to our process and rules.
The Commission will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of its accountability framework which ensures that multidisciplinary teams with various lived experience provide input on each human rights complaint.
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Through its mandate to protect the core principle of equal opportunity and to promote a vision of an inclusive society free from discrimination by protecting human rights through a fair and effective human rights complaints process, the Commission advances the SDGs of Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, and Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.
More information on the Commission's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
Program inventory
Complaints is supported by the following programs:
- Protection Program
Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Commission's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.
Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year
There were no changes to the approved departmental results framework associated with this Core Responsibility.
Proactive Compliance
In this section
- Description
- Quality of life impacts
- Results and targets
- Plans to achieve results
- Key risks
- Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Related government priorities
- Program inventory
- Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year
Description
Ensure federally regulated organizations comply with the requirements set out in the Employment Equity Act, Pay Equity Act, and the Accessible Canada Act and hold those who do not comply accountable.
Quality of life impacts
The Core Responsibility contributes to the “Prosperity” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada, more specifically “Household Income”, “Productivity”, and “Firm growth”.
This Core Responsibility also contributes to the “Health”, “Society”, and “Good Governance” domains of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada through the activities mentioned in the Core Responsibility description.
Results and targets
The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Proactive Compliance, the indicators, the results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024–2025.
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of employment equity goal setting reports validated for conventional and horizontal audits | Not available | Not available | Not available | At least 15 | March 2025 |
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of stakeholder feedback indicating satisfaction with support and guidance provided | Not available | Not available | Not available | At least 70% | March 2025 |
| Indicator | 2020–2021 result | 2021–2022 result | 2022–2023 result | Target | Date to achieve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of regulated entities that are using my Accessibility Portal | Not available | Not available | Not available | At least 80% | March 2025 |
The financial, human resources and performance information for the Commission's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Plans to achieve results
In addition to its work as detailed under the Complaints section, in 2024–2025, the Commission will continue to conduct various types of employment equity compliance audits; support the Pay Equity Commissioner and the Accessibility Commissioner with their proactive mandates; and ensure a sustainable and effective proactive compliance regime.
More specifically:
- As part of the Commission's Employment Equity mandate, and to ensure that federally regulated employers meet their employment equity obligations, the Employment Equity Unit will:
- Conduct employment equity audits through various processes, and issue management action plans in areas of non-compliance.
- The Pay Equity Commissioner, with the support of the Pay Equity Unit will:
- Continue to produce quality guidance and tools to support employees, bargaining agents, and employers in understanding their rights and obligations under the Pay Equity Act and to ensure compliance;
- Finalize the online service for receiving, managing, and analyzing employer annual statement data; and
- Launch an evidence- and risk-based compliance audit survey.
- The Accessibility Commissioner, with the support of the Accessibility Unit will:
- Develop enforcement tools and processes to enforce the Accessible Canada Act and its regulations when compliance promotion efforts fail; and
- Enhance information management technology to communicate with regulated entities, monitor and enforce the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act and its regulations, and handle accessibility complaints.
Key risks
If the Commission does not monitor employers' compliance with the Employment Equity Act, most employers, specifically in the private sector, will not implement and monitor the measures set out in their Employment Equity plan and they will not commit to the success of their Employment Equity program which often compete with other business priorities. To mitigate this risk, the Employment Equity Unit will take advantage of the three existing compliance audit processes to monitor the employment equity program of a larger number of employers.
If the information management technology used for compliance monitoring and enforcement, and for handling accessibility complaints is not enhanced either before new Accessible Canada Act requirements are enacted or complaints are received, it could negatively affect the advancement of key activities. Additionally, the efficiency and effectiveness of this work may suffer especially given the increasing numbers of regulated organizations that must comply. To reduce this risk, enhancements will be made to the existing infrastructure and innovative approaches and processes will be adopted to support the Accessibility Commissioner's mandate to monitor and enforce compliance with the Accessible Canada Act and Regulations, and to handle accessibility complaints.
Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Planned spending: $9,017,399
- Planned full-time resources: 60
Related government priorities
Gender-based analysis plus
Each employment equity horizontal audit includes a gender-based lens to understand better the situation and experiences of women across designated groups.
Pay equity targets gender discrimination caused by the undervaluation of work traditionally performed by women. Upon completion of the pay equity exercise established by the Pay Equity Act, in a given workplace, all incumbents in female-predominant jobs found to be underpaid, including workers from marginalized groups, would benefit from adjustments.
The Accessibility Unit will undertake research on the intersectional impact of accessibility on marginalized groups including women, Indigenous peoples, Black and other Racialized peoples, people who are homeless, people who are living in prisons, and gender diverse people. The research results will be used to help promote adoption by regulated entities of the intersectionality principle in the Accessible Canada Act and to inform other initiatives to identify and remove barriers faced by these groups.
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The mandate of the Pay Equity Commissioner aims directly at advancing the following SDGs and Targets:
- Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth.
- Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
- Proactive pay equity also advances goals tied to No Poverty (Goal 1), Gender Equality (Goal 5), and Reduced inequalities (Goal 10).
The Accessibility Unit's activities to promote and enforce the Accessible Canada Act support the horizontal crosscutting objective outlined in the Federal Implementation Plan for the 2030 Agenda of leaving no one behind. By promoting and enforcing this Act, barriers to people's participation in society, especially people with disabilities, are removed and prevented from reoccurring.
More information on the Commission's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
Program inventory
Proactive Compliance is supported by the following program:
- Audit Program
Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Commission's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.
Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year
There were no changes to the approved departmental results framework associated with this Core Responsibility.
Internal services
In this section
- Description
- Plans to achieve results
- Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Related government priorities
Description
Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:
- management and oversight services
- communications services
- legal services
- human resources management services
- financial management services
- information management services
- information technology services
- real property management services
- materiel management services
- acquisition management services
Plans to achieve results
The fiscal year 2024–2025 will continue to put high demands on the Commission's internal services. The addition of responsibilities for the Commission to support the multiple mandates under the Accessibility Commissioner, the Pay Equity Commissioner, and the Federal Housing Advocate, combined with the implementation of a new hybrid work model, as well as new responsibilities for program delivery, will continue to create pressures on internal services. As a result, more structured processes are required to respond to the high volume of demands from the central agencies and increasing needs from the organization. This reality would entail much work updating and/or developing our tools and guidelines to improve our capacity to support the organization.
Particularly, this operating environment will create challenges in Communications and Information Technology. The Commission is facing challenges in meeting the needs of its program areas for modern digital tools and service delivery.
That said, we are developing a digital strategy that will focus on the following actions:
- Leverage technology to improve business performance and service experience of our clients.
- Deploy modern accessible digital tools to internal and external stakeholders.
- Standardize our case management systems.
- Provide a modern, reliable, and secure Information Technology infrastructure.
- Effectively manage and use data and information.
Snapshot of planned resources in 2024–2025
- Planned spending: $10,562,770
- Planned full-time resources: 99
Related government priorities
Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses
The following are the measures and methodology the Commission will use to achieve the mandatory minimum target 5%:
Planning
- Integrate Indigenous providers into the corporate planning function for procurement and investment planning that supports forecasting.
- Align expected outcomes of procurement with opportunities to support Indigenous peoples' participation, where appropriate.
- Consider unbundling requirements, where appropriate, to support the participation of Indigenous suppliers, who tend to be smaller and more specialized.
Market analysis
- Conduct a market analysis to better understand Indigenous industry capacity and availability.
- Consult the Indigenous Business Directory to identify potential Indigenous businesses.
- Use the Public Services and Procurement Canada's Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements application to view detailed information on existing standing offers or supply arrangements, including the ability to filter results to search for Indigenous businesses.
Selecting suppliers
- Use set-asides for professional services under the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (e.g., THS, ProServices, SPTS, TBIPS).
- Optional Set-Aside: Only qualified Indigenous firms are invited to bid on the contract.
| 5% reporting field | 2022–2023 actual result | 2023–2024 forecasted result | 2024–2025 planned result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total percentage of contracts with Indigenous businesses | 19.1% | 12% | 6.3% |
Planned spending and human resources
This section provides an overview of the Commission's planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2024–2025 with actual spending from previous years.
In this section
Spending
The charts below summarize the Commission's planned expenditure by core responsibility.
Text description of Figure 1
Table of planned spending for upcoming fiscal year
- Engagement and Advocacy: 13%
- Complaints: 35%
- Proactive Compliance: 24%
- Internal Services: 28%
Text description of Figure 2
Table of planned spending for upcoming fiscal year
- Engagement and Advocacy: $4,928,351
- Complaints: $13,248,610
- Proactive Compliance: $9,017,399
- Internal Services: $10,562,770
The following table shows information on spending for each of the Commission's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Amounts for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on spending to date.
| Core responsibilities and internal services | 2021–2022 actual expenditures | 2022–2023 actual expenditures | 2023–2024 forecast spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement & Advocacy | $5,281,355 | $6,793,072 | $7,624,297 |
| Complaints | $12,613,875 | $12,113,006 | $13,738,815 |
| Proactive Compliance | $7,143,054 | $8,127,230 | $9,358,258 |
| Subtotal | $25,038,284 | $27,033,308 | $30,721,370 |
| Internal services | $10,748,566 | $12,309,864 | $14,069,405 |
| Total | $35,786,850 | $39,343,172 | $44,790,775 |
The following table shows information on spending for each of the Commission's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the upcoming three fiscal years.
| Core responsibilities and internal services | 2024–25 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) | 2024–25 planned spending | 2025–26 planned spending | 2026–27 planned spending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement & Advocacy | $4,928,351 | $4,928,351 | $4,697,575 | $4,696,858 |
| Complaints | $13,248,610 | $13,248,610 | $12,385,138 | $12,383,213 |
| Proactive Compliance | $9,017,399 | $9,017,399 | $8,439,621 | $8,438,310 |
| Subtotal | $27,194,360 | $27,194,360 | $25,522,334 | $25,518,381 |
| Internal services | $10,562,770 | $10,562,770 | $11,544,548 | $11,580,121 |
| Total | $37,757,130 | $37,757,130 | $37,066,882 | $37,098,502 |
The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending for 2024–2025.
| Core responsibilities and internal services | 2024–25 gross planned spending (dollars) | 2024–25 planned revenues netted against spending (dollars) | 2024–25 planned net spending (dollars) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement & Advocacy | $4,928,351 | $0 | $4,928,351 |
| Complaints | $13,248,610 | $0 | $13,248,610 |
| Proactive Compliance | $9,017,399 | $0 | $9,017,399 |
| Subtotal | $27,194,360 | $0 | $27,194,360 |
| Internal services | $13,071,328 | ($2,508,558) | $10,562,770 |
| Total | $40,265,688 | ($2,508,558) | $37,757,130 |
Funding
The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.
Text description of figure 3
| 2021–2022 | 2022–2023 | 2023–2024 | 2024–2025 | 2025–2026 | 2026–2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory | $3,832,000 | $4,262,000 | $4,233,000 | $4,305,000 | $4,305,000 | $4,309,000 |
| Voted | $31,955,000 | $35,091,000 | $40,558,000 | $33,452,000 | $32,762,000 | $32,790,000 |
| Total | $35,787,000 | $39,353,000 | $44,791,000 | $37,757,000 | $37,067,000 | $37,099,000 |
Since Fiscal Year 2019–2020, expenditures and planned spending increased as a result of funding received for three new programs: the Accessible Canada Act, the Pay Equity Act and the National Housing Strategy Act, and to modernize the case management system. Due to delays in the implementation of these programs, and the case management system, funds originally received in 2019–2020 have been re profiled to supplement funding for the work planned for 2021–2022, 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 resulting in a large increase in spending between 2021–22 and 2023–24. Spending is expected to decrease in 2024–2025, in line with a decrease in funding for the Federal Housing Advocate.
Estimates by vote
Information on the Commission's organizational appropriations is available in the 2024–25 Main Estimates.
Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the Commission's operations for 2023–2024 to 2024–2025.
The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.
A more detailed Future-oriented Statement of Operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, are available at the Commission's website.
| Financial information | 2023–2024 forecast results | 2024–2025 planned results | Difference (2024–2025 planned results minus 2023–2024 forecast results) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | $52,151,582 | $45,799,592 | ($6,351,990) |
| Total revenues | ($2,120,177) | ($2,508,558) | ($388,381) |
| Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers | $50,031,405 | $43,291,034 | ($6,740,371) |
Explanation of table 13
The decrease in forecast results in 2023–2024 and planned results 2024–2025 is mainly due to the sunsetting of funds for the National Monitoring Mechanism, the sunsetting of some temporary funding for the implementation of the Pay Equity Act and support for the Federal Housing Advocate as well as the unplanned carry forward from previous Fiscal Year.
Human resources
The following table shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for the Commission's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.
| Core responsibilities and internal services | 2021–2022 actual FTEs | 2022–2023 actual FTEs | 2023–2024 forecasted FTEs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement & Advocacy | 35 | 39 | 42 |
| Complaints | 91 | 94 | 98 |
| Proactive Compliance | 53 | 57 | 58 |
| Subtotal | 179 | 190 | 198 |
| Internal services | 99 | 98 | 107 |
| Total | 278 | 288 | 304 |
Explanation of table 14
- FTE under Internal Services for 2021–2022 includes 16 FTE for internal support services that the Commission offers to other small government departments.
- FTE under Internal Services for 2022–2023 includes 19 FTE for internal support services that the Commission offers to other small government departments.
- FTE under Internal Services for 2023–2024 and future years includes 18 FTEs for internal support services that the Commission offers to other small government departments.
The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of the Commission's core responsibilities and for its internal services planned for 2024–2025 and future years.
| Core responsibilities and internal services | 2024–2025 planned full-time equivalents | 2025–2026 planned full-time equivalents | 2026–2027 planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement and Advocacy | 31 | 30 | 29 |
| Complaints | 91 | 89 | 88 |
| Proactive Compliance | 60 | 58 | 57 |
| Subtotal | 181 | 176 | 174 |
| Internal services | 99 | 97 | 96 |
| Total | 280 | 273 | 270 |
Corporate information
Organizational profile
Appropriate minister: The Honourable Arif Virani, P.C., M.P.
Institutional head: (Interim Chief Commissioner) Deputy Chief Commissioner Charlotte-Anne Malischewski
Ministerial portfolio: Justice
Enabling instruments: Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act
Ministerial portfolio: Labour and Seniors
Enabling instrument: Pay Equity Act
Ministerial portfolio: Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
Enabling instrument: Accessible Canada Act
Ministerial portfolio: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
Enabling instrument: National Housing Strategy Act
Year of incorporation / commencement: 1977
Organizational contact information
Mailing address
Canadian Human Rights Commission
344 Slater Street, 8th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1E1
Telephone: 613- 995-1151
Toll Free: 1-888-214-1090
TTY: 1-888-643-3304
Fax: 613-996-9661
Website: http://www.chrc ccdp.gc.ca
Twitter: @CdnHumanRights
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CanadianHumanRightsCommission
Supplementary information tables
The following supplementary information tables are available on the Commission's website:
Information on the Commission's Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy can be found on the Commission's website.
Federal tax expenditures
The Commission's Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.
Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.
This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background, and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.
Definitions
appropriation (crédit)
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations, or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
A document that sets out a department's priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.
departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments' immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.
departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that consists of the department's core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.
Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department's actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.
full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. Full-time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.
gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2024–25 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.
horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.
Indigenous business
As defined on the Indigenous Services Canada website in accordance with the Government of Canada's commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses annually.
non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments, and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
performance (rendement)
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
plan (plan)
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.
planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates. A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.
program (programme)
Individual or groups of services, activities, or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
An inventory of a department's programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department's core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.
result (résultat)
An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program, or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization's influence.
statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.
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