Responding to a Complaint
The Human Rights Code enables the respondent to provide a formal response or reply to the complaint, but it is not mandated. The Commission will always request a response Reply because it assists us in investigating the complaint.
If a Reply is submitted, a copy will be provided to the complainant. We will usually remove the names of any third-parties referenced in the document.
We will usually give the respondent 30 days to submit a Reply that responds specifically to details in the complaint and will also request documents or evidence that will assist in the investigation of the complaint.
In some cases, we will advise the parties of the need to conduct a preliminary assessment of the complaint to consider our jurisdiction to further investigate the allegations or due to some other legal issue. The Reply may be for the purpose of responding to the preliminary issue only and if the allegations in the complaint are later investigated, a further Reply may be submitted to respond to the substance of the allegations.
There is no impact on the time the complainant will wait to have the complaint investigated if the respondent does not submit a reply or delays submitting the reply.
