Research Report Release calling for shifts in the Alberta Human Rights Complaint Process

The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights is pleased to release a research report addressing challenges in filing cases and navigating complaints with the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC). The report identifies barriers faced by individuals seeking remedies through the AHRC and proposes practical solutions.

The research aims to make human rights a practical reality, recommending changes that make the process more accessible and effective in seeking justice on discrimination. Accessible remediation processes are vital for vulnerable Canadians at the intersection of historically marginalized identities and social conditions.

"The Alberta Human Rights Commission is severely underfunded in comparison to its jurisdictional counterparts. The provincial government has not increased the Commission’s budget since 2015 thus impacting the capacity of the Commission to respond to the needs of Albertans." 

- Parveen Parmar, report author and Human Rights Officer 

The Centre identified eight administrative and six legislative barriers and worked with users and legal experts to build recommendations to address them. Some of the recommendations include: 

1. The Alberta Human Rights Act’s one year time limitation on filing cases after a discriminatory incident occurs is arbitrary and restricts the public’s ability to seek justice;

2. The use of a single format as the first point of entrance of the human rights complaint process becomes a barrier for users with diverse needs;

3. The Commission’s staff lack lived experience of discrimination, which limits their perspective and understanding of the issues presented by users; and,

4. The Commission does not have an internal accountability or internal review mechanism that users can access when they have concerns with treatment received by Commission staff. 

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