DPR 2005-2006
Canadian Human Rights Commission

Section 1 - Overview

Commissioner's Message

In 2005-2006, the Commission continued the change process that began in 2002-2003 to improve the human rights dispute resolution process. The organization was restructured to better support its new business model. A newly established branch that offers a one-stop approach to resolving complaints allows the Commission to carry out this part of its work in the most effective and efficient way possible. These changes to the Commission's process and structure are producing the results intended: the previous backlog of cases has been virtually eliminated, the complaint workload is balanced and performance has improved substantially.

Making its dispute resolution process more efficient has allowed the Commission to channel more resources toward the front end of the human rights continuum. In 2004, it launched a Discrimination Prevention Program that has experienced considerable growth this year as more and more employers agree to work with the Commission on taking a preventive and early resolution approach to human rights in their organizations. Preliminary results from this program are promising. There is already evidence that the Commission is receiving fewer complaints from certain organizations which are proactively engaged in the prevention program, and that it takes less time to resolve complaints against organizations which have signed MOUs.

The Commission is following a similar, preventive approach in the area of employment equity-sharing knowledge with employers on hiring and promotion practices and providing targeted advice and preventive tools. The Commission's experience with the employment equity audit process indicates that employers need greater support in the form of information and knowledge in order to comply with the requirements of the Employment Equity Act and sustain gains already achieved. Fostering a better understanding of human rights helps prevent discrimination from occurring in the first place.

The Commission has also begun to expand its research and policy capacity, through the creation of a Knowledge Centre. It has developed an action-oriented research program that focusses on initiatives that serve to advance human rights in Canada, and has already undertaken a number of research projects this year.

Changing its structure and processes has made it possible for the Commission to use a wider range of tools to fully execute its mandate. The Commission is committed to continuing to apply sound, innovative and forward-looking management practices to ensure that it meets its objective of better serving Canadians and advancing human rights in Canada. In doing so, the Commission contributes to creating an inclusive society that promotes diversity.

___________________________
David Langtry
Commissioner

Management Representation Statement

I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2005-2006 Departmental Performance Report for the Canadian Human Rights Commission. This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2005-2006 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the TBS guidance;
• It is based on the department's approved Program Activity Architecture structure as reflected in its MRRS;
• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;
• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
• It reports finances based on approved numbers from the Estimates and the Public Accounts of Canada in the DPR.

______________________________
Stella Deacon
Acting Secretary General

Summary Information

The Canadian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) was established in 1977 to administer the Canadian Human Rights Act. The purpose of the Act is to promote equality of opportunity and to protect individuals from discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted.

The Commission also has a mandate under the Employment Equity Act, which seeks to achieve equality in the workplace and to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities. Both the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act apply to federal departments and agencies, Crown corporations and federally regulated private sector organizations.

The Commission consists currently of one full-time member and four part-time members. Full-time members are appointed for terms not exceeding seven years and part-time members for terms not exceeding three years. The full-time Commissioner is responsible for the operations of the Commission, supported by the Secretary General.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Human Resources (FTE)

Departmental Priorities 

Overall Departmental Performance

Operating Environment

The Commission has been engaged in a process of transformation that has shown positive results and considerable progress towards its strategic outcome. This journey began with a new business model aimed at balancing the resources and energies directed at each stage of the human rights case management continuum. Significant changes within the Commission have led to the offering of alternative dispute resolution at all stages of a complaint as well as more effective, consistent and timely handling of human rights cases.

Free from a previous chronic case backlog, the Commission was able to place more emphasis on discrimination prevention activities. The Commission is undertaking new strategic research and more focused litigation to address issues of systemic discrimination, and its approach to employment equity is being streamlined. All of this has been driven by a commitment to continuous improvement to the Commission's programs and corporate management practices.

Organizational Context

A major restructuring of the Commission has been completed, providing a solid foundation for continuous improvement and innovation. This allows the Commission to fully execute its mandate under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act. Its new features include:

• A Dispute Resolution Branch which integrates all services related to the processing of a complaint, including pre-complaint services, mediation before and after a complaint is filed, conciliation, investigation, litigation and liaison with the Tribunal;
• A Discrimination Prevention Branch which amalgamates the Employment Equity Compliance Program with a Prevention Initiatives and Liaison Division, Communications and Regional Offices. This will enable the Commission to focus on developing a more positive, productive relationship with employers while providing strategic advice and support; and
• A Knowledge Centre which emphasizes policy development, research, legal advice, and statistical analysis to enhance the level of understanding of human rights within Canadian society; as well as strategic initiatives which respond to emerging issues and combat broader problems of a systemic nature.

The restructuring presented a good opportunity to draw on the synergies among all of the Commission's activities in order to have a greater impact on human rights issues. For example, establishing the new integrated Dispute Resolution Branch resulted in a one-stop approach dedicated to resolving complaints in the most efficient and effective way possible, at every stage of the process, from the first telephone inquiry to a Tribunal hearing.

As with all major changes, there is a risk of organizational resistance. This risk is being mitigated by a strong change management program. During the period under review, the leadership of the Commission continued to focus on establishing a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in management practices. This commitment to sound management practices is demonstrated in the Commission's Management Accountability Framework (MAF). The MAF establishes a framework to ensure that the conditions for good management are in place in order to achieve results for Canadians. It is used as an analytical tool, identifying management strengths and weaknesses and setting out action plans for continuous improvement. Progress is monitored in part through monthly reporting on program results, as well as the ongoing monitoring of financial, human and materiel resource indicators of sound practice.

The Commission's processes and initiatives are frequently dependent on external parties. These dependencies pose a risk to the efficiency and effectiveness of its activities, such as delays in participation by complainants and respondents impacting the timeliness and effectiveness of dispute resolution processes or lack of control regarding the length of Tribunal hearings.

The Commission's Work and Canada's Performance

The Commission's strategic outcome aligns to the Government of Canada's strategic outcome of "creating an inclusive society that promotes linguistic duality and diversity." The Commission's activities positively impact on society's level of acceptance of the aforementioned outcome. The Government of Canada has identified indicators that measure its performance against the "inclusive society" outcome. The Commission's work advances the following Government of Canada performance indicators: attitudes toward diversity, discrimination and racism, same-sex marriages, and mixed (inter-racial) unions.

The following focuses on the specific priorities made in the RPP for the period under review:

The Commission strongly believes in the transformative potential of alternative dispute resolution processes and has implemented several new initiatives. One was the enhancement of the alternative dispute resolution model by adding preventive mediation to its full range of services such as mediation and conciliation. This is offered to the parties prior to the acceptance of a formalized complaint. The Commission also developed a new conciliation model, which includes an opportunity for some cases to proceed directly to a Tribunal hearing without further review by the Commission if an attempt at reaching a settlement fails.

Another change was the creation of a Preliminary Assessment procedure, which helps parties address incidents of discrimination as soon as possible by having an open and frank discussion on the issues raised in the complaint, next steps in the process and potential outcomes.

These and other improvements resulted in the Commission eliminating its backlog by bringing its overall caseload from 1,290 to 663 files. The Commission was also successful in reducing the average age of its active caseload from 25 months in 2002 to 9.1 months by the end of March 2006. Finally, approximately three quarters of the Commission's active caseload is less than a year old, which represents steady progress toward achieving a service standard where 85% of cases are resolved within a year.

The Commission committed to:

• Expand the Commission's research and policy capacity;
• Undertake ongoing environmental scans to monitor emerging and systemic human rights issues; and
• Conduct impact assessments of government initiatives.

The Commission created a Knowledge Centre responsible for research, strategy development and policy functions. The Knowledge Centre is also responsible for managing regulatory affairs, including the development of regulations and guidelines, as well as providing strategic proactive legal advice and studying systemic issues that have an impact on a group of people or on the overall human rights system.

Although the Knowledge Centre was not completely operational until November 2005, it was able to conduct several projects in 2005-2006 that will contribute to monitoring emerging and systemic human rights issues as well as to conducting impact assessments on governmental activities. These projects include: a study on key issues in the field of national security and human rights; a report on telephone access for deaf and hearing impaired Canadians; a report on the human rights reasons for repealing section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act; and a conference on section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, on hate on the Internet.

The Knowledge Centre also began work on a number of projects that will be completed or advanced in 2006-2007, such as conducting research on environmental sensitivities, the evolution of the status of sexual orientation in society and the development of a report card on the state of human rights in Canada.

The Discrimination Prevention Program was implemented and a dedicated team has been established. Under this program, the Commission committed to negotiate and enter into agreements with key organizations to assist them in reducing discrimination in workplaces or service centres by providing tools, training and workshops. Ten Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were successfully negotiated and signed during the year. The preliminary results for this program are encouraging and will be assessed more fully over time.

A measure of success for this effort was expected to be the decrease in the number of complaints against employers with whom the Commission signed MOUs, as well as a decrease in time to resolve complaints filed with the Commission. Although not enough time has passed to demonstrate an overall decrease in the number of complaints filed against MOU signatories relative to other respondents, a decrease was noticeable for certain MOU signatories. The data also showed fewer returns from a referral to an alternate redress mechanism for MOU signatories (12.5%) than from non-MOU respondents (20.9%). At the end of the fiscal year, the Commission established an Employer Advisory Council comprised of representatives from the MOU signatories to provide a forum for raising, examining, discussing and acting on issues related to the prevention of discrimination in workplaces and service centres across Canada.

The Discrimination Prevention Program initially offered its services in a very strategic way, identifying the largest employers as its initial key stakeholders. The program is beginning to see the benefits of its work with this first group of MOU signatories and it anticipates developing relationships with a broader range of stakeholders in the coming years.

The Commission's website has played an important role in providing information about the Discrimination Prevention Program. The website gives access to a series of tools and resources for employers, employee groups and others. The website allows for sharing of information about best practices for the provision of a discrimination-free work environment.

The Employment Equity Compliance Program requires employers to identify barriers to employment and implement best practices to eliminate gaps in the representation of four designated groups: women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and visible minorities. Since the beginning of the program, 205 employers had been found in compliance and 38 were under audit as of December 31, 2005. At that time, there were 588 employers subject to the Employment Equity Act with a combined workforce of just under one million employees. A total of 40% of these employers have been audited, or are currently under audit, and their combined workforce includes 76% of employees in the federally regulated sector.

The Commission monitors progress made by employers in implementing employment equity plans and achieving a representative workforce. This is done by tracking the achievement of the employers' hiring and promotion goals listed in their compliance reports following an audit.

The Commission completed the monitoring of progress for about 100 employers. Results indicated that just 37% of hiring and promotion goals for employers in the private sector were met. In the public sector, results were somewhat more positive, as 55% of goals have been met since the beginning of the program.

Progress towards the full representation of the four designated groups continues. In the private sector, persons with disabilities continue to benefit the least from employment equity measures. Conversely, visible minorities are fully represented overall and received hires in line with their availability. Their representation is highest in the banking sector where they now hold 21.8% of jobs, including 7.4% in senior management, 15.4% in middle management and 24.9% in professional occupations.

In the public service, there are encouraging signs of progress for all designated groups except visible minorities, who remain under-represented. They hold only 8.1% of all jobs and new hires continue to be lower than their availability of 10.4%. The government has not met the goals it set in endorsing the action plan from the report of the Task Force on the Participation of Visible Minorities in the Federal Public Service released in 2000. The Commission continues to work in collaboration with Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Treasury Board, in accordance with the authorities granted under the Act, to address employment equity in the federal public service.