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Acting Chief Commissioner's Message

When the Canadian Human Rights Commission first opened its doors nearly thirty-five years ago, little was known about how best to approach the promotion of human rights in areas under federal jurisdiction. In the decades that followed, the Commission conducted research, litigated cases and worked with thousands of Canadians who brought their issues forward. Today, the Commission brings this wealth of knowledge and experience to each new challenge it faces.

Last year, the repeal of section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act came into full force. A key priority for the Commission was to assist First Nations in building capacity to address human rights issues within their communities. Our other key priority last year was to help federally regulated organizations develop self-sustaining human rights cultures. These priorities have now been incorporated into the very core of our business as permanent components of our work.

This year, the Commission will focus on different but related priorities. The first is to address systemic human rights issues that have the greatest impact on Canadians. The second is to support employers and service providers in resolving human rights issues at the source.

Systemic discrimination occurs when people are treated differently and negatively because of an established policy or practice. A specific focus will be placed on systemic issues related to disability and issues facing Aboriginal peoples. The Commission is bringing together the skills and expertise of its divisions to approach these issues collaboratively. At the same time, we continue to intervene at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the federal courts in representation of the public interest, and seek opportunities to discuss human rights issues with broader audiences in other fora.

Our second priority for the year ahead is to help organizations prevent discrimination at the root. We continue to help employers integrate equality, dignity and respect into their workplace cultures. We will continue to promote our recently released Human Rights Maturity Model, a roadmap for organizations to follow in order to improve their human rights capacity. We also remain committed to promoting diversity by helping organizations improve their employment equity performance.

New issues will almost certainly arise in the year ahead. To address them, we will draw on our cumulative experience and knowledge, and the collective expertise of our team of professionals at the Commission. It is a privilege to lead such a dedicated group of people.

Section I — Organizational Overview

Raison d’être

The Canadian Human Rights Commission’s founding legislation inspires a vision for Canada in which “all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have,” free from discrimination.

The Commission leads the administration of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and ensures compliance with the Employment Equity Act (EEA). The CHRA prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, and conviction for which a pardon has been granted. The EEA promotes equality in the workplace for four designated groups: women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

Both laws apply the principles of equal opportunity and non-discrimination to federal government departments and agencies, Crown corporations, and federally regulated private sector organizations. The provinces and territories have laws similar to the CHRA that address discrimination within their jurisdiction.

Responsibilities

The Commission promotes the core principle of equal opportunity and works to prevent discrimination in Canada. As a result its services include discrimination prevention, dispute resolution, and regulatory, policy and knowledge development.

The Commission works closely with federally regulated employers and service providers, individuals, unions, and provincial, territorial and international human rights bodies to foster understanding of human rights and promote the development of human rights cultures.

The Commission's mandate includes protecting human rights through effective case and complaint management. At times, this role also involves representing the public interest to advance human rights for all Canadians.

The Commission is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Employment Equity Act. This involves auditing federally regulated employers to ensure that they are providing equal opportunities to the four designated groups: women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture

A strategic outcome describes the long-term goals that each organization aims to achieve for the benefit of Canadians. The Commission aligns its program activities to support the Government of Canada priority of a diverse society, specifically promoting social inclusion. The strategic outcome states that the Commission will achieve this long-term benefit for Canadians through the continued promotion of equality, respect for human rights and protection from discrimination.

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Organizational Priorities

Priority 1	Type	Strategic Outcome(s) and/or Program Activity(ies)
Address systemic human rights issues that have the greatest impact on Canadians.	New	Equality, respect for human rights and protection from discrimination by fostering understanding of, and compliance with, the CHRA and the EEA by federally regulated employers and service providers, as well as the public they serve.
Status
Why is this a priority? Systemic discrimination is the creation, perpetuation or reinforcement of inequality among disadvantaged groups. It is usually the result of seemingly neutral legislation, policies, procedures, practices or organizational structures. The effect creates barriers to full participation in society. These include barriers to employment, benefits, services and the physical environment. Resolving systemic discrimination issues creates broader change and greater compliance with the CHRA thereby increasing human rights protection and promoting equality for a larger number of Canadians. The Commission will take a more proactive and focused approach in order to maximize results. The Commission will meet this priority by: Enhancing its structures, processes, tools and accountabilities to support a proactive, focused approach to systemic discrimination. Applying this approach to a significant human rights systemic issue.

Priority 2	Type	Strategic Outcome(s) and/or Program Activity(ies)
Support employers and service providers in resolving human rights issues at the source.	New	Equality, respect for human rights and protection from discrimination by fostering understanding of, and compliance with, the CHRA and the EEA by federally regulated employers and service providers, as well as the public they serve.
Status
Why is this a priority? Resolving human rights issues at the level of the organization offers a timely and effective way for employers and service providers to seek solutions that are adapted to their particular circumstances without resorting to a more formal process. Increasing the number of organizations with effective internal dispute resolution processes would allow the Commission to refer more complaints back to the source with confidence that they will be appropriately addressed. The Commission has developed a Human Rights Maturity Model that provides a roadmap and a performance measurement framework for federally regulated employers and service providers wanting to establish a self-sustaining culture of human rights. Internal dispute resolution processes put the onus on employers and service providers to understand and comply with the CHRA. All parties benefit from workplaces that respect human rights and constructively resolve issues at the source before they escalate. The Commission will meet this priority by: Researching complaint-related data to identify trends and gaps. Identifying and collaborating with employers and service providers who have the greatest need. Providing tools and guidance to assist in the development and implementation of effective internal dispute resolution processes.

Risk Analysis

The Commission has experienced an increase in requests for outreach, consultation and dialogue sessions on human rights, employment equity and dispute resolution services. At the same time, the full repeal of section 67 of the CHRA allows the Commission to receive additional discrimination complaints against the Government of Canada and First Nations governments. As a result, the Commission is at risk of not being able to meet increasing service demands and complaint volumes, in the short-term.

In response to this risk, the Commission is focusing its efforts on supporting employers and service providers in resolving human rights issues at the source¹. The Commission is helping employers and service providers develop skills and internal practices to resolve human rights issues within their workplaces. This, in turn, will decrease organizations' demand for external resolution through the Commission's complaint process. Further, these same employers and service providers will support the promotion of the Commission's strategic outcome. Creating equality, respect for human rights and protection from discrimination will reduce the demands on judicial processes to resolve workplace human rights issues.

In the long-term, the risk regarding increasing workloads may develop and transform in correlation with the evolving Canadian workforce. The face of Canada's workforce has changed. It continually becomes more diverse because of immigration trends, a growing Aboriginal population and the emerging challenge of four generations in the active workforce.

Employer policies and practices established long ago may inadvertently create patterns of inequality that become barriers for Canadians in achieving their full potential in employment, benefits, services, and the physical environment. These patterns and barriers of inequality can impact an entire group of people. They are identified as systemic discrimination.

To mitigate this longer term risk, the Commission will pursue the resolution of systemic issues that will have the greatest positive impact on Canadian society as well as on the systems and programs that create barriers to equality².This proactive approach to address future workload increases will be sustained and monitored through a "Framework to Better Address Systemic Discrimination". This framework was launched in 2011 and enables the Commission to address systemic priorities.

Planning Summary

The information provided in this subsection is concise, as the Commission's planning is explained in greater detail at the program activity level, under Section II.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
23,086	22,244	21,652

Human Resources (FTEs)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
209	203	199

The full-time equivalents (FTEs) referenced above are higher than planned levels previously reported. This increase is due to section 29.1(2)(a) of the Financial Administration Act (FAA), which came into effect June 26, 2011. The Commission now includes all respendable revenue and expenditures related to the delivery of internal support services to other federal government agencies.

The impact of the FAA change is an additional 12 FTEs for the Commission overall and reflected specifically within Internal Services. Internal support services are delivered subsequent to memoranda of understanding and include finance, information technology, procurement, compensation and other administrative services. In 2012-13, the Commission will provide internal support services to five small agencies.

Strategic Outcome: Equality, respect for human rights and protection from discrimination by fostering understanding of, and compliance with, the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and the Employment Equity Act (EEA) by federally regulated employers and service providers, as well as the public they serve.

Performance Indicators	Targets
Number of Canadians who are informed about and protected by the CHRA and the EEA	1.2 million by March 31, 2013

The Commission raises, examines, discusses and acts on issues related to the prevention of discrimination in workplaces and services. The Commission is able to reach a broad audience because of the diversity of its consultative forums and committee memberships. It offers its prevention-related best practices, tools and resources to various industry sectors. In addition, research is disseminated and used to inform and educate. In some instances, research provides a starting point for public debate of current societal issues, such as mandatory retirement or environmental sensitivities. The distribution of materials by the Commission during 2012—13 is targeted to reach 1.2 million Canadians.

Planning Summary Table

The Planning Summary Table includes each program activity along with allocated financial resources.

Planning Summary Table
($ thousands)

Program Activity	Forecast Spending 2011-12	Planned Spending			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Human Rights Knowledge Development and Dissemination Program	4,452	3,583	3,331	3,168	A diverse society that promotes linguistic duality and social inclusion.
Discrimination Prevention Program	4,616	4,323	4,235	4,149
Human Rights Dispute Resolution Program	8,828	8,838	8,534	8,249
Total Planned Spending	17,896	16,744	16,100	15,566

Planning Summary Table
($ thousands)

Program Activity	Forecast Spending 2011-12	Planned Spending
		2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Internal Services	6,736	6,342	6,144	6,086
Total Planned Spending	6,736	6,342	6,144	6,086

Expenditure Profile

This subsection examines the fluctuations in overall financial resources and expenditures over time and the reasons for such shifts.

The figure illustrates the Commission's spending trend from 2008-09 to 2014-15.

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In 2009-10, the Commission received additional funding for the repeal of section 67 of the CHRA. This funding will sunset in March 2014, although the requirements associated with the expansion of the Commission's mandate are ongoing. Funding from within other programs was temporarily re-allocated to respond to demand for services relating to the section 67 repeal. The Commission will continue to closely monitor the need for additional resources beyond the temporary funding envelope.

The spending related to the repeal of the section 67 of the CHRA was: $1.0 million in 2009—10, $1.9 million in 2010—11 and $2.2 million in 2011—12. In 2012—13 planned spending related to the repeal of section 67 will be $1.5 million, and $0.6 million in 2013—14.

In 2011-12, forecast spending increased by $1.3 million for payment in lieu of severance pay to eligible employees.

Estimates by Vote

For information on the Commission's organizational appropriations, please see the 2012—13 Main Estimates publication at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20122013/p2-eng.asp.

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