What Is Workplace Harassment in Canada?
Content last verified against official statutes: November 13, 2026
Quick Answer
Workplace harassment is any conduct that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation, or injury. Your employer is legally required to have prevention policies, investigate complaints, and protect you from retaliation. Depending on the nature of the harassment, you may also be able to go to the Head under the Canada Labour Code, the CHRC, or the OPC.
The Legal Definition
Under the Canada Labour Code and the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (SOR/2020-130), harassment and violence is defined as any action, conduct, or comment, including of a sexual nature, that can reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation, or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee. The definition itself is in section 122(1) of the Canada Labour Code, which the Regulations adopt. The same definition also includes any action, conduct or comment prescribed by regulation.
Harassment vs. Bullying vs. Discrimination
These terms overlap, but the law treats them differently. For federally regulated workplaces, the Canada Labour Code uses a single term, harassment and violence, defined in section 122(1) (see above). The Code has no separate definition of bullying; bullying is covered when it fits that definition. Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, harassing someone on a prohibited ground of discrimination in matters related to employment is a discriminatory practice (s.14(1)(c)), and sexual harassment is deemed to be harassment on a prohibited ground (s.14(2)). The prohibited grounds (s.3(1)) are race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability, and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered. A complaint about a discriminatory practice can be filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (s.40(1)).
Your Employer's Legal Obligations
Under the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (SOR/2020-130), every federally regulated employer must have a workplace harassment and violence prevention policy, conduct a workplace assessment to identify risk factors, develop preventive measures, establish a resolution process for complaints, ensure every employee is trained within three months of starting and at least once every three years (the designated recipient and the employer must be trained too), and designate a person or work unit to receive notice of an occurrence. For a current employee, the Regulations set no time limit for giving that notice. Provincially regulated employers are covered by their own province's legislation instead, so check the rules that apply in your province.
How to Document Harassment
Documentation is the foundation of any harassment complaint. Record each incident as soon as possible, including the date, time, location, what was said or done, who was present, and how it affected you. Save emails, text messages, chat logs, voicemails, and any other written evidence. If you report verbally to a manager or HR, follow up with an email confirming what you reported and when. Keep copies of all documents in a personal location outside your work systems, such as a personal email or USB drive. Canada is a one-party consent jurisdiction (Criminal Code s.184), meaning you can legally record your own conversations without the other party's knowledge.
Where to File a Complaint
You have multiple options depending on your situation. Start with your employer's internal process, as this is often required before escalating externally. For federally regulated workplaces, section 127.1 of the Canada Labour Code sends a harassment and violence complaint first to your supervisor or the person your employer's policy designates, and, if it is not resolved between you, to the Head under Part II of the Code. If the harassment is based on a protected ground (race, sex, disability, etc.), file with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) within one year of the last incident. If a federally regulated employer has misused your personal information, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) under PIPEDA, which covers employee personal information only in federal works, undertakings and businesses (s.4(1)(b)). For provincially regulated workplaces, the body to contact and the process come from that province's own legislation; in Ontario, for example, a human rights application goes to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Human Rights Code s.34). You may be able to use more than one avenue, but they can affect each other: the Canadian Human Rights Commission can decline a complaint that could more appropriately be dealt with under another procedure (CHRA s.41(1)(a) and (b)), and a reprisal complaint under section 246.1 of the Canada Labour Code cannot be made if you already made an unjust dismissal complaint on substantially the same facts, unless it was withdrawn (s.246.1(2)). Each has its own deadline, so check each body's rules.
Protection Against Retaliation
Canadian law prohibits your employer from retaliating against you for reporting harassment or participating in an investigation. The Canada Labour Code restricts reprisals against employees who make a complaint, give information, testify, or exercise their rights under it (see ss.133, 147 and 246.1). The exact reprisals covered, and whether the burden of proof shifts, depend on which provision applies to your situation. A reprisal complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board generally has to be filed within 90 days of when you knew, or ought to have known, of the action.
What Employers Often Get Wrong
Many employers fail to meet their legal obligations around harassment. Common failures include not having a written harassment policy, not providing training, conducting inadequate investigations (or no investigation at all), dismissing complaints without proper process, allowing the alleged harasser to remain in a position of power over the complainant during an investigation, and retaliating against employees who report harassment. These failures can strengthen your legal position if you need to escalate your complaint to a tribunal or court.
Key Deadlines
SOR/2020-130 sets no time limit for a current employee to notify the employer of harassment. A former employee has three months from the day employment ended (Canada Labour Code s.125(4)). For a complaint under s.127.1, SOR/2020-130 s.4 allows until the later of three months after employment ended and, if notice of the occurrence was given, three months after the resolution process is completed. The Head of Compliance and Enforcement can extend the s.125(4) period in limited cases such as trauma or a health condition. For filing with the CHRC, the general deadline is one year from the last incident of discrimination, which the Commission can extend. For reprisal complaints to the CIRB, the general deadline is 90 days from when you knew, or ought to have known, of the action. For a provincially regulated workplace, the deadline comes from that province's own legislation, so check it. PIPEDA sets no general time limit for a complaint to the OPC, except six months (extendable) for a complaint about a refused access request (s.11(3)), but earlier is better. Do not wait to consult a lawyer, as some deadlines are hard cutoffs that cannot be extended.