Each year, thousands of people contact the Commission looking for help. Whether by phone or by mail, or by email, we provide members of the public with help and relevant information on a variety of human rights related issues, quickly and informally. We can help most of the people who contact us without them having to file a formal discrimination complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
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As a federal human rights screening body, the Commission helps people figure out if they have the basis for a human rights complaint, and if so, where to go — whether through our federal system, or through another mechanism like a union grievance or a provincial or territorial human rights commission or tribunal.
The Commission can only accept discrimination complaints that meet the requirements outlined in the Canadian Human Rights Act.
A discrimination complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act requires:
For many of the people who file complaints with the Commission, this is their first time interacting with the legal system. Most of them are doing this without legal representation. Our screening process helps complainants articulate their experiences in a way that shows the necessary criteria under the CHRA.
Mediation is a service offered by the Commission at no cost to the participants. Mediation serves as an alternative to a court proceeding. It is not a court hearing. In fact, most complaints the Commission screens are handled without a hearing, through early resolution either in mediation (participation is voluntary) or conciliation (participation is required).
Mediation gives people the opportunity to tell their story in a less adversarial environment. It is a facilitated negotiation between two parties. Our priority is always to create an environment of empathy during our mediations. We want everyone to feel heard. We want everyone to have as much time as they need to tell their side of the story.
Learn more about the benefits of our mediation services in our video "Mediation: A smart path to human rights justice".
In 2025, we helped bring 172 discrimination complaints to successful resolution through mediation or conciliation.
The complaints we helped resolved have led to tangible outcomes across various federal organizations, including:
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) is entirely separate and independent from the Commission. It works like a court — with full hearings where testimony and evidence are presented. Only the Tribunal can decide whether or not discrimination has taken place.
The Commissioners can decide to send a complaint to the Tribunal for a more in-depth inquiry and a hearing.
This decision, like all decisions on all human rights complaints, is made by the executive committee that includes the Chief Commissioner, and the Commission’s full-time and part-time Commissioners. They are each appointed by The Governor in Council to make informed, impartial and independent decisions on human rights complaints.
Recent highlights:
In 2025, the Commission referred 112 cases to Tribunal.
Note: these figures are not meant to add up to 100%, but to show the various issues involved in the cases, often with overlapping, intersecting issues at play
Latest data on discrimination complaints — filed under the Canadian Human Rights Act
In 2025, the Commission accepted over 960 new complaints. This represents a five-year high.
At the start of 2025, the Commission had:
Over the course of 2025, the Commission:
At the end of 2025, the Commission had:
Proportion of accepted complaints by grounds of discrimination cited:
Disability
Race-Colour-National or Ethnic Origin*
*Includes complaints citing any of the three grounds of race, colour, or national/ethnic origin as these grounds of discrimination are typically cited together.
Sex
Family Status
Religion
Age
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
Marital Status
Pardoned Conviction
Genetic Characteristics
Changes we have made to our complaints process are continuing to make a meaningful difference. These changes have been based on expert recommendations about understanding the way in which systemic racism manifests in society and how to use evidence to assess referrals.
The number of race-based discrimination complaints Commissioners refer to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal continues to be higher than our rate of referrals in other complaints. This has been true since 2020. And the number of race-based complaints Commissioners dismiss continues to be equal or lower than our rate of dismissals of other complaints. This has been true since 2021.
In 2025, the Commissioners made 272 decisions in race-based complaints (complaints citing any of the grounds of race, colour, and/or national or ethnic origin):
The Commission uses strategic litigation to advance anti-racism jurisprudence and legal precedents in race-based discrimination cases.
Strategic litigation, also known as impact litigation, is the practice of pursuing specific cases to create social change. In recent years, the Commission has prioritized our role in race-based discrimination cases. We do so to push for systemic anti-racism change, and to strengthen jurisprudence for anti-racism cases in Canadian law, which will make it easier for people to access justice in cases of racial discrimination.
In 2025 race-based complaints represented an average of 51% of our Tribunal caseload. Of the complaints we referred to the Tribunal in 2025, we participated in 50% of the race-based cases.
This includes making legal arguments and presenting evidence in many of the cases, as well as participating in mediation and case management. This part of our work aligns with the Second International Decade for People of African Descent. In support of the Decade’s justice pillar, we continue to take steps to strengthen protections and advance access to justice through our complaints process as well as strategic litigation, including for people of African descent.
A complaint is considered accepted for processing if it meets the requirements of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Commission can only accept a complaint that is linked to one or more grounds of discrimination listed in the Act, is within the federal jurisdiction, and is submitted in an acceptable format.
When a complaint is dismissed, it is a decision made by one of the independent Commissioners to close a complaint. First, a human rights officer assesses the complaint and prepares a recommendation in the form of a "Report for Decision." The parties have the opportunity to comment on that Report. Then a Commissioner — in their role as an independent decision-maker — decides that the file does not warrant referral to conciliation, nor further assessment, nor referral to the Tribunal. The complaint file is therefore closed.
The reality of our role as a screening body is that our dismissal rate will never be zero. Dismissing cases is a necessary part of our role as a screening body and part of our role in supporting access to justice. We have a legislated obligation to assess each complaint and close those cases that will not succeed at the Tribunal because they do not meet the requirements of the law.
The Commission makes decisions on preliminary issues after accepting a complaint. Preliminary issues are questions that the Commission may need to resolve under section 40 and/or section 41 of the Canadian Human Rights Act before moving an accepted complaint forward. Some examples include: whether the person filing the complaint is unionized and has access to a grievance process that can deal with the human rights issues; whether the complaint is timely and if not, whether the Commission should nonetheless exercise its limited discretion to deal with it.