What Is Workplace Harassment in Canada?
Last updated: March 2026 | MyWorkRights.ca
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. You can file externally with the CIRB, CHRC, or OPC depending on the nature of the harassment.
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. This includes a single serious incident or a series of incidents. The definition is broad and covers verbal abuse, bullying, intimidation, threats, unwanted sexual advances, and discriminatory conduct based on protected grounds.
Harassment vs. Bullying vs. Discrimination
In Canadian law, these terms overlap but have distinct legal significance. Harassment is the broadest category and covers any pattern of unwelcome conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome. Bullying is a form of harassment that involves repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed at an employee that creates a risk to health and safety. Discrimination is harassment based on a protected ground under the Canadian Human Rights Act (race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability, or conviction for a pardoned offence). Discrimination complaints have additional legal protections and can be filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
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, provide mandatory training for all employees, and designate a person to receive and handle complaints. There is no time limit for notifying your employer about harassment under these regulations. Provincial employers have parallel obligations under their respective occupational health and safety or employment standards legislation.
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, you can file a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). 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 the harassment involves misuse of your personal information, file with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) under PIPEDA. For provincial workplaces, contact your province's human rights commission or employment standards office. You can pursue multiple avenues simultaneously.
Protection Against Retaliation
Canadian law prohibits your employer from retaliating against you for reporting harassment or participating in an investigation. Under the Canada Labour Code (s.246.1), an employer cannot dismiss, suspend, demote, discipline, harass, or take any adverse action against an employee because they filed a complaint, gave evidence in a proceeding, or exercised any right under the Code. If your employer retaliates, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to demonstrate that the action was not retaliatory (CLC s.246.1(4)). You can file a reprisal complaint with the CIRB within 90 days of the retaliatory 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
There is no statutory time limit for notifying your employer of harassment under SOR/2020-130. For filing with the CHRC, the general deadline is one year from the last incident of discrimination. For reprisal complaints to the CIRB, the deadline is 90 days from the retaliatory action. Provincial deadlines vary. While there is no time limit for filing a PIPEDA complaint with the OPC, earlier is better. Do not wait to consult a lawyer, as some deadlines are hard cutoffs that cannot be extended.