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In December 2025, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission released an update on its ongoing efforts to reduce investigation backlogs and wait times. While there's been incremental progress, the human rights complaints process continues to take a long time to move through the system.
In its update, the Commission says:
In April 2022 – at the start of our wait time reduction strategy, the Commission had 614 files awaiting investigation. As of December 2025, the Commission reports modest improvement in wait times (with the estimated time for files to be assigned to an investigator decreasing from 24 months to 22 months on average). When accounting for the number of newly registered complaints against the number of disposed files, the Commission has reduced the overall queue of investigation files by 265 files from 2022 to date.
In 2024, the Commission disposed of 200 files, which was less than our goal of 325 files. Our progress in 2024 was impacted by staffing vacancies. While we did not meet our annual dispositions target, we were able to increase the number of files in active investigations. In addition, streamlined investigative initiatives, the overtime efforts of our existing staff, and legal support are assisting us to make progress on this important goal. We will report our 2025 outcomes in 2026.
For businesses, this may not seem like a problem. A complaint filed against you can sit dormant for close to 2 years before any real meaningful work is needed. This means no legal costs or time sinks for quite a while. But during that interim period, the looming risk of future liability and the prospect of incurring costs to defend remains. Further, delay can be detrimental to your businesses ability to properly defend itself as there is a risk that that witnesses will no longer be available or will have trouble recalling key evidence years after the events in question.
Against that backdrop, I'd like to explore a few ways businesses who receive human rights complaints against them can counteract the slow-moving system.
1. Seek Early Dismissal Before an Investigation Begins
Not every human rights complaint automatically proceeds to a full investigation. Early in the process, complaints can be screened on request to determine whether there is a basis for dismissal, in whole or in part, before an investigation ever begins.
At this stage, complaints may be vulnerable where, for example, the alleged conduct, if assumed to be true, does not amount to a breach of human rights legislation.
For businesses, this makes early legal assessment critical as it could lead to a dismissal of the complaint without ever reaching the investigation phase.
2. Assert Workers Compensation Exclusivity Where Applicable
Where a complaint is filed by a current or former employee and is fundamentally grounded in workplace injury, which includes psychological injury, employers should assess whether the Workers Compensation regime applies.
If the injury is compensable under the WCB statutory scheme, there may be a basis to argue that the human rights complaint should not proceed at all. If that's the case, you don't have to wait for the Human Rights Commission to weigh in on this issue since you can go to the Appeal Commission (a separate body from the human rights system) and ask it to determine if the right to pursue a human rights complaint has been superseded by the worker's compensation scheme.
3. Make Early, Reasonable Settlement Offers Where Appropriate
In cases where early dismissal is unlikely to succeed, businesses should still consider whether an early, reasonable offer makes business sense. Given the long timelines highlighted by the Commission's update (about 22 months from complaint being filed to an investigator being assigned), early resolution can reduce legal spend, management time burden and uncertainty.
If an offer is refused, businesses can have the offer reviewed for its reasonableness. If the offer is found to be reasonable, the complaint may be dismissed entirely.
Bottom Line for Businesses
The Commission's December 2025 update reinforces a reality Manitoba businesses who receive human rights complaints already face: human rights complaints are rarely quick and delay itself can be a source of risk to the business.
Businesses who respond strategically by seeking early assessment, asserting jurisdictional limits where available, and making reasonable settlement offers are far better positioned than those who simply wait for the system to run its course
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
