Over the last three years, the Commission has made important changes to its dispute resolution processes, making them more effective, efficient and fair. Thanks to these improvements, the Commission has succeeded in significantly reducing the time it takes to handle most complaints.

The Commission continues to build on these successes and look for ways to further improve its procedures. Our next step is to put greater focus on the earliest stages of the complaint process, devoting more resources to helping parties address incidents of discrimination as early as possible. This means ensuring that, from the time an individual or organization makes first contact with the Commission, we use our expertise to identify the best way to resolve their particular concerns. This could be through dispute resolution mechanisms available in workplaces or places of service, where conflicts can often be resolved quickly and appropriately. In other cases, the Commission offers the parties the opportunity to participate in preventive mediation - an informal process that can lead to resolving a conflict before a formal complaint is filed. Where there is a basis for filing a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Commission provides tools and guidance to complainants to help them articulate their allegations as fully and clearly as possible.

The Commission’s expertise is also important at the next step of the process. When a complaint is filed, an experienced human rights specialist can now carry out a preliminary assessment of the issues involved. In discussing the complaint with the parties, the preliminary assessor can often clarify and narrow the questions at issue and help both parties establish realistic expectations about the case. For example, based on his or her experience with human rights complaints, the preliminary assessor may be able to provide information about the type of remedy that could reasonably be expected as the result of a complaint. Preliminary assessments, which should in most circumstances be completed within 30 days, may lead to settlements between the parties or to an agreement to enter mediation. The preliminary assessment may focus the issues in a complaint to speed up investigation; using the facts that he or she has already established through conversations with the parties, the Assessor will write a report to the Commission on the findings of the assessments, recommending an appropriate disposition of the case, or referring the matter to a more appropriate grievance or review procedure.

We know from experience that it is better to resolve disputes sooner rather than later. By directing more resources to the early stages of the complaint process, the Commission ensures that complaints are handled appropriately and effectively from the outset, and that the parties are given every opportunity possible to arrive at a resolution of their dispute. This is also the case for complaints that go on to subsequent stages of the dispute resolution continuum - whether that be mediation, investigation or referral to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.