FAQs: The complaint process

  1. What is the complaint process?

    Depending on the individual complaint, it will go through a number of steps:
    1. Making the complaint.
    2. Serving a complaint on respondent(s)
    3. Sharing the respondent's response with the complainant
    4. Conciliation
    5. Investigation
    6. Dismissal or discontinuance
    7. Appeals to the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals
    8. Report to the Chief of Commission and Tribunals and referral to human rights tribunal
    9. Human rights tribunal

    For details of the complaint process, see Making and resolving human rights complaints.

  2. How long does the complaint process take?

    The median time frame for completing the complaint resolution services provided by the regional offices and the director's office was 475 days in 2010-11. The Alberta Human Rights Commission's performance target is to complete the complaint resolution process within 435 days from the date a complaint is accepted. Many complaints take significantly less time, while some very complicated cases take more time.

    Some files go through the review and tribunal processes provided by the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals and the members of the commission. If the time it took to complete the review and tribunal process is added to the time it took to complete the complaint resolution and settlement process provided by the regional offices and director's office, the average total time to close was 526 days and median was 338 days.

  3. When does a complaint become public?

    A complaint only becomes public if and when it reaches the tribunal hearing stage. Documents filed with the tribunal are public once the tribunal hearing begins. Human rights tribunal decisions are published in the Decisions section of the Commission's website.

    Revised: January 18, 2012

 

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Please contact the Commission by telephone or regular mail
if you have a specific complaint.

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