If you want to make a complaint of discrimination, you may find it useful to complete a self-assessment. Answer a series of questions to see if your complaint would likely fall within the Alberta Human Rights Act.
After the Alberta Human Rights Commission receives a complaint, a specialized intake team reviews and assesses it. Most accepted complaints go to conciliation. If a complaint cannot be resolved through conciliation, it is then referred to the Director of the Commission. The Director decides whether to dismiss the complaint or refer it to the Tribunal for resolution.
A human rights officer from a specialized intake team reviews and assesses potential complaints under the requirements in the Alberta Human Rights Act and the Commission's Bylaws. During intake and assessment, the officer may ask for more information.
If the Commission accepts a complaint, we send the complaint to the respondent and ask for a written response. The respondent has 30 days to respond. The Commission sends the complainant a copy of the respondent's response. We review the response to determine the next steps for the complaint and may ask the complainant and respondent for additional information and documents. The Commission directs most complaints to the conciliation process, but it may direct some complaints for a Director's decision.
If the officer does not accept a complaint, they send a letter to the potential complainant explaining their decision. If the complainant does not agree with the officer's decision not to accept a complaint, they can write to the Director of the Commission within 30 days to request a reconsideration.
After intake and assessment, most complaints go to conciliation. Conciliation is a non-adversarial way to resolve complaints with the help of a human rights officer, also known as a conciliator. The Commission schedules a half-day conciliation meeting and gives the complainant and respondent six weeks' notice of their scheduled date.
Before the conciliation meeting, the conciliator contacts the complainant and respondent to discuss the complaint and may request additional information and documents. The conciliation meeting happens in a private videoconference, led by the conciliator. The conciliator explains human rights law and the issues in the complaint to help the parties reach a resolution.
If the parties resolve the complaint through conciliation, the complaint is closed. If the parties do not resolve the complaint through conciliation, the complaint goes for a Director's decision. The conciliator may ask the complainant and respondent to provide additional information and documents before the Director's decision.
When a complaint is sent for Director's decision, an officer may request further information and documents from the complainant and respondent. Based on the Alberta Human Rights Act, the Director decides whether to dismiss the complaint or refer it to the Tribunal. If the Director dismisses the complaint, the complainant can request a review of the decision by the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals.
The Tribunal is the independent, adjudicative area of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The Tribunal conducts dispute resolutions and hearings. Not all human rights complaints reach the Tribunal. The Director of the Commission can decide to refer a complaint to the Tribunal for resolution. Complaints dismissed by the Director of the Commission only go to the Tribunal if the complainant requests a review of the Director's decision by the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals, and the Chief overturns the decision.
The Commission can guide you on complaint requirements and how to complete forms. We do not give legal advice. You may need or want someone to represent you during the complaint process.
For example:
If you have someone other than a lawyer representing you, you must fill out an additional representative form.
You may also choose a lawyer to help you with your complaint. If you do get legal help, you pay the costs of the lawyer yourself. For more information on where to get legal help, refer to the Other helpful agencies page.
If the Commission does not accept your complaint, we will send you a letter with the reason why. You can ask the Commission to reconsider this decision within 30 days. The Office of the Director of the Commission will assign a different human rights officer to review your complaint again. If the Director’s office does not accept your complaint again, then the decision is final. You cannot appeal this decision to the Tribunal or the Chief. However, you can ask the Court of King’s Bench for a judicial review of the decision.
The Commission not accepting a complaint is different from the Director dismissing the complaint. A dismissal can happen at any time in the complaint process. When the Director dismisses a complaint, the complainant may ask the Chief to review the Director’s dismissal. Refer to the Review of the Director’s dismissal page to learn more.
The Alberta Human Rights Commission follows the requirements in the Alberta Human Rights Act and the Commission’s Bylaws.
The Commission also follows guiding principles that govern how we deal with complaints. For example, the Commission strives to:
When the Commission receives a complaint form, the intake team takes about three weeks to assess it. If the complaint form does not meet specified requirements, then the intake and assessment process may take longer. For example, the intake team will return complaint forms that are over the 20-page limit and ask the complainant to resubmit within the page limit.
A respondent may request more time to respond to a complaint than the 30-day response time. The Commission may agree to a respondent’s request.
Once a conciliator is assigned to the complaint, the Commission has a 60-day time limit for parties to try to resolve their issues through conciliation. For more information, refer to the Conciliation page.
Under section 21(1) in the Alberta Human Rights Act, the Director of the Commission can refuse or dismiss a complaint. For example, the Director may at any time dismiss a complaint, or part of the complaint, if they determine it:
Under section 21(2) in the Act, the Director may also refuse to accept or dismiss a complaint, or part of it, if it:
The Director may also dismiss a complaint or part of a complaint if the complainant refuses to accept a fair and reasonable proposed settlement.
The Director may refer the complaint to the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals for resolution.
The Director’s decision-making authority comes from section 21 of the Act.
The Director may or may not take carriage of the complaint before the Tribunal. This authority comes from section 29 of the Act.
The Commission does not require the complainant or respondent to be represented by a lawyer throughout the process. However, you may need or want someone to represent you during the process.
For example:
If you have someone other than a lawyer representing you, you must fill out an additional form.
You may also choose a lawyer to help you through the process. If you do get legal help, you pay the costs of the lawyer yourself. For more information on where to get legal help, refer to the Other helpful agencies page.
For the Tribunal process, read the Litigation Representative practice direction for more information.
During the complaint process, the Commission encourages and supports the parties to find a mutually agreeable resolution. Both parties should make reasonable efforts to settle or remedy a complaint. When considering or making a proposal to settle or remedy a complaint, you should think of:
During conciliation, the conciliator may provide guidance on finding an appropriate remedy to resolve a complaint. A remedy is a way to address the issue between the parties. The goal of a remedy is not to punish the respondent. It is meant to restore the complainant to the position they would have been in if they did not experience discrimination. A remedy can be financial, non-financial, or a combination of both.
Some examples of financial remedies include:
Some examples of non-financial remedies include:
The parties to a complaint can resolve the issue outside of the complaint process. If you and the other party do so, you should document and sign the agreement and provide a copy of the signed agreement to the Commission.
To learn more about how remedies are determined, refer to our Remedy information sheet.
The Alberta Human Rights Commission is committed to ensuring Indigenous Peoples have access to culturally appropriate services that consider the uniqueness of Indigenous culture and heritage. Indigenous people may use a variety of cultural or spiritual practices, including:
At the earliest opportunity, interested parties should inform the Commission of their request. If you are involved in the Tribunal process, read the Indigenous cultural/spiritual practices at Tribunal proceedings practice direction for more information.
A human rights officer from the Office of the Director of the Commission reviews and assesses potential complaints under the requirements in the Alberta Human Rights Act and the Commission’s Bylaws. An officer may not accept a complaint if:
If the Commission does not accept your complaint, we will send you a letter with the reason why.
The Commission aims to:
For the fiscal year 2021-22, complaints took an average of 538 days for the Director and staff to either resolve the complaint or make a decision to dismiss or refer the complaint to the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals. Many complaints resolve at conciliation, which takes less time.
For files that reach the Tribunal stage, in 2021-22, the overall average time for complaints to close was 721 days.
In some circumstances, additional time may be needed to process complaints if:
Refer to the 2021-22 Annual Report for more information on complaint resolution statistics.
The Commission is committed to ensuring that complainants, respondents, and all those who take part in our processes are able to fully participate. This outlines some of the services available to the public upon request. Refer to the information below to contact the Commission about requesting an accommodation.
Accommodations available
A variety of accommodations may be available to help parties fully participate in our complaint and tribunal processes, including:
This is not a complete list of all the accommodations available. Parties can work with the Commission to identify and request appropriate accommodations.
The Commission is also committed to ensuring our accommodation process is respectful of the diverse populations we serve. A formal request for accommodation is not always necessary. For instance, a party may inform the Commission of their correct pronoun prior to or at any point during the complaint or tribunal process (see the Tribunal’s practice direction on pronouns and form of address).
Factors impacting an accommodation request
The Commission is only required to provide accommodations for needs (not preferences) to the point of “undue hardship.” This means that if a requested accommodation impacts the timeliness of the complaint process or the right to a fair hearing, it may not be possible to provide. Instead, the Commission will work with the party to determine an appropriate accommodation that is less disruptive to the fairness of our processes, while still accommodating individual needs to the best of our ability.
The Commission may ask for information regarding an accommodation request, such as medical records, to:
How to request an accommodation
The party requesting an accommodation should contact the Commission and provide details of what they need. In some cases, the Commission may ask for more information, including relevant medical records. The party requesting the accommodation does not need to send their accommodation request to the other parties, unless the Commission thinks the accommodation could impact the rights of the other parties.
If you are involved in the Tribunal process, read the Accommodations practice direction for more information, including how to request accommodation.
Learn about each step of the complaint process in this graphic version of each step.
Most human rights complaints accepted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission will go to conciliation. Conciliation is a non-adversarial way to resolve complaints.
Access all of the human rights complaint process related forms.
Our vision is a vibrant and inclusive Alberta where the rich diversity of people is celebrated and respected, and where everyone has the opportunity to fully participate in society, free from discrimination.
