Most people don’t do this. In fact, very few people do.

Why?

It’s a long and slow process. If you hire a lawyer to help you, it will be expensive, and if you don’t, you’ll need to do a lot of work yourself.

And the outcome is sometimes not very satisfying.

Some people hope that, at the end of the process, they’ll be told that, yes, they were harassed, and it shouldn’t have happened. But that seldom happens. Over half of complaints never get to a final ruling. The rest are settled in mediation or thrown out, abandoned, or withdrawn.

So why do people decide to file a complaint?

Some people want to go to court and speak the truth in public . Even if their odds of winning are low.

If that’s what you want, the Human Rights Commission can be a good choice.

It can be a shorter process than civil court, where cases can take several years. You’re allowed to represent yourself, which means you don’t need to pay for a lawyer. And it’s a little less adversarial than civil court.

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission and what it does

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission is the agency that receives and investigates complaints about violations of the provincial Human Rights Code. It helps people mediate, or settle, their complaints. If a complaint can’t be resolved, there may be a hearing at the Human Rights Adjudication Panel. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission and the HRAP deal with harassment and discrimination cases.

The commission and the HRAP work to resolve complaints. If your complaint falls within the commission’s jurisdiction, it will accept it. Then it will encourage you to resolve the complaint through mediation. If that doesn’t work, the adjudication panel may hold a hearing. If it does, the panel listens to both sides and decides whether you were sexually harassed. If it decides you were, it may order the other party to make amends in some way. 

Why consider filing a complaint with the commission

If you decide to file a complaint with the commission, here are a few things you may get out of the process:

• It’s a chance to tell the harasser what they did is not okay.
• You might get back money you lost because of the harassment—maybe you didn’t get a special project or a promotion, or were fired.
• You might get your job back, or get a reference for a new one.
• You could request that your workplace make changes that would affect everyone there, not just you, such as improving their employee policies and training around sexual harassment.
• It is possible to get some money to recognize the emotional harm you suffered from the harassment.

Pros and cons of going to the commission and the HRAP

Will the commission accept my complaint?

• You have one year from when the harassment happened to file your complaint with the commission. If the harassment happened more than once, the deadline is from one year of the last incident of harassment. In certain situations, the commission will accept late complaints if you can show the delay was in good faith and the late complaint will not cause significant harm to the respondent.
• You can file a complaint with the commission if you work in Manitoba or if the harassment happened in Manitoba, but not if you work at federally regulated workplaces, like banks, airlines, telephone companies, and TV and radio stations. See Am I a federally regulated worker? (And why it matters). If you’re unionized, you must make your complaint through your union. You’re covered if you’re non-unionized, temporary or permanent, an independent contractor, or undocumented.
• After you submit your complaint, the commission might decide that the harassment you faced doesn’t relate to a ground of discrimination under the code. In that case, your complaint will not proceed.
• If you’ve already started a case in civil court, the commission will likely wait until after the case is finished to process your complaint. There are a couple of exceptions to this: if you withdraw the civil case, or if your civil case is dealing with a different issue that is not included in your human rights complaint. For example, if the civil court case is only about unpaid wages.
• Even if you have another case going on, you still have to apply to the commission within one year of the last incident. You can file your complaint to get it in within the deadline, and then ask the commission to wait to process it until after the other case is resolved.
• If you win your other case, the commission may decide not to hear your complaint. If you lose the case and feel as if the other process didn’t deal with the same human rights issues, you can explain this to the commission. It will decide whether or not your case has been dealt with.
• You can file a complaint against anybody who is sexually harassing you at work—your employer, a co-worker, a supervisor, a customer or contractor. In your complaint, you can also name the company or organization you were or are working for. Even if your employer is not harassing you, they have to protect you from sexual harassment and a harassing environment. See How to report sexual harassment to your employer.

Who’s who

Complainant

When you file a complaint with the commission, you are the complainant. That means you are the person who is filing a complaint that you have been sexually harassed.

Respondent

The respondent can be anyone who is harassing you or has harassed you at work—your boss, a co-worker, a customer, even a contractor. There may be several respondents. You can file a complaint against both the person who harassed you and your employer for not protecting you.

Representative

You and the respondent are both allowed to have a lawyer represent you through the commission process, or you can represent yourself. If you are represented by a lawyer, the commission will generally communicate only with your representative, and it will be their responsibility to keep you informed.

Mediator

If you agree to mediation, the commission will assign a mediator. Their job is to explain the mediation process to you and the respondent, listen to your stories, and try to help you reach an agreement. They are expected to behave neutrally: They aren’t supposed to pick a side or favour either you or the respondent. They may explain to you why your case is weak or strong, but they won’t make a decision about whether your complaint can be established. Their goal is to try to reach a solution or solutions that both parties can agree to, so your case doesn’t have to go to a hearing.

Adjudicator

If your case does go to a hearing, an Human Rights Adjudication Panel adjudicator, or decision-maker, will hold a hearing where they will listen to you and the respondent, and make a decision about whether your complaint can be established. Very few cases ever get to the hearing stage. If the decision-maker finds in your favour, they will order the respondent to do various things, like give you money as compensation for what you experienced.

What you’ll have to prove

• If the matter goes to adjudication, the commission is a party to the hearing and will take the lead in establishing that your human rights have been breached. The lawyer for the commission is not your lawyer. But your interests will often align and the commission may call you as a witness to testify in order to prove the discrimination or harassment occurred. You are still entitled to call evidence on your own and to have a lawyer if you want, but the commission will do the major work in terms of proving the code was breached.
• It’s you, the complainant, who has to show there is enough evidence to go forward to a hearing. If the commission recommends that your case go to a hearing, you will have to convince the HRAP that there was more than a 50% chance that what happened to you was sexual harassment under the code. This is called the burden of proof on a balance of probabilities. The HRAP will use the “reasonable person” standard to decide whether your harasser should have known that their behaviour was unwelcome. This standard considers what a reasonable person in your position would have thought, and what a reasonable person in your harasser’s position would have thought about the situation.
• You’ll have a chance to tell your story—or testify—submit documents, and bring witnesses to the hearing to prove your case. Sexual harassment often occurs without witnesses. However, the HRAP will still consider your testimony (you stating what happened and how it affected you) even if there are no documents or witnesses to support what you are saying. You may have to prove your case mainly through talking about your story at the hearing and explaining what happened.
• Usually, there needs to be more than one incident. But sometimes, one incident can be so serious that it falls under the definition of sexual harassment. Remember, just because you didn’t say “no” or “stop” doesn’t mean that what the respondent did wasn’t sexual harassment. Under the code, the harasser either has to know or should have reasonably known that their behaviour was unwelcome. There may be many reasons why you might not have felt comfortable saying anything when the harassment was happening, like a power imbalance between you and your boss, or your fear that you would get punished if you said anything to an important client.

Other important considerations

• An HRAP hearing is usually a public process. In most cases, personal information about the cases and their parties may be available to the public and searchable on public internet databases. In some cases, the HRAP allows parties to request a publication ban, which is an order to stop the respondent or someone else from publishing your name or certain details about your case.
• When the HRAP writes and publishes a decision, it usually includes the full name of the parties. But it will publish only the initials of a party who is younger than 18. If you do not want to have your full name published, and you can provide a good reason for this, you can ask the adjudicator to use only your initials in the published decision. This is known as anonymization. You can ask for an anonymized decision at any point after you apply. The decision is going to be made on a case-by-case basis.
• If you need some changes in the commission process, ask in advance or as soon as you can. You can request accommodations of medical needs, religious observances, or language needs. You may have to supply more information, like medical documents.

Possible outcomes

The code lists the remedies that the HRAP can order at the end of a sexual harassment case, if you are successful. There are many factors that affect the kind of, and the amount of, remedies you might receive. One might be how vulnerable you were and how much of a power imbalance there was between you and your harasser. There are two categories of remedies.

Monetary compensation

• General damages compensate you for the loss of or harm to dignity, feelings, and self-respect.
• Special damages compensate you for lost wages, or for things you had to pay for yourself because of the harassment, such as therapy. Special damages can include the costs you will continue to have, such as future therapy appointments.

Non-monetary compensation

• Future compliance, or public interest remedies, can be things like changes to your workplace policies. You could, for example, ask for training for the harasser on sexual harassment policies.
• Non-monetary compensation can also include things like your employer giving you a reference letter or taking steps to get you back to a job, either at the same workplace or another one. It can also include transferring your harasser to a different department.

When you meet with the intake officer you can discuss what remedies you would like in each of these categories, including the total amount of money you think you should receive. Be aware that the HRAP looks at what kinds of steps you took to reduce the losses you faced because of the harassment. This is called mitigation. If you did not take steps to limit your financial losses, for example, by looking for a new job after having been fired, the HRAP may lower the amount of money it will award to you for lost income.

The commission’s website lists its past decisions. You will find summaries of cases, with the panel’s orders, including in cases of sexual harassment.

If you want to learn more about the kinds of decisions the HRAP has ordered in cases like yours, there is an easy place to start. You can search for decisions of the HRAP related to sexual harassment and read full case decisions at CanLII, a free database for legal decisions in Canada. See how to search for and read decisions on CanLII here.

At a hearing, the decision-maker, known as an adjudicator, can only order remedies allowed under the code. At mediation, a settlement can contain whatever terms and remedies you and the respondent agree on. Usually the mediator will try to help the parties decide on remedies by explaining what the HRAP can and would likely decide if the case does go to a hearing. Read more about mediation and the hearing processes below.

Even once a matter or complaint has been referred to an adjudicator to hold a hearing, you can resolve the complaint by mediation if both parties agree to try this. The mediation will be conducted by an adjudicator, who is not the adjudicator who has been assigned to hear your case, so that if the mediation is not successful, and the matter does not resolve, the parties still proceed to go through the hearing with the other adjudicator.

The commission process step-by-step

You may be able to get help from a lawyer for free. Here are some places that offer free or lower-cost legal services:

• Commission staff are trained to help you with the process of filing a complaint. You can call or email the commission to book an appointment with one of its human rights officers, who will assess your situation and help you draft a complaint.
• The Community Legal Education Association has a Workplace Sexual Harassment Hotline: 1-877-226-4366. The hotline is staffed by a lawyer who can provide legal information and advice, and make appropriate referrals to agencies and other resources.
• JusticeNet is a not-for-profit service for those whose income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford regular legal fees. To qualify you must have a net family income under $90,000 and be experiencing financial difficulties. Participating lawyers’ reduced rates vary depending on your family size and income.
• Your workplace union, association, or Employee Assistance Program may be able to help you find legal services or cover part of your legal fees.

Applying

The complaint process and instructions are available online on the commission’s website.You can file directly online, or you can send a copy through mail, email, or fax. The commission can mail you copies of the forms if you are having trouble downloading them or don’t have access to a printer. Visit the website for exact contact information.

The first step is to book an appointment with an intake officer who will listen to your story and record the details in the right format to submit. They will ask about the events; about your employer; the effect the harassment had on you; the remedies you are asking for; and whether you are interested in mediation.

After your appointment

The commission decides if the case meets the criteria of discrimination, called a jurisdictional review. If it accepts your complaint, it will be sent to the respondent, who will then have a chance to give an answer to it. That’s called a reply. At this stage the commission might suggest early resolution through mediation.

An investigator is then assigned to look into the case. Based on the investigator’s report, the commission may either dismiss the case or recommend it for a hearing at the Human Rights Adjudication Panel. If it is referred for a hearing, a panel of adjudicators from the HRAP is assigned to the case and the formal hearing process starts. There are also more opportunities for mediation before the hearing process.

Mediation

Mediation is the process of trying to settle your case by coming to an agreement with the respondent, who must also agree to mediation. This process is not to determine whether you were sexually harassed according to the code. Mediation is a way of encouraging the parties to settle their dispute without having to go to a hearing where someone else will decide if the law was broken. This process is optional, but highly encouraged by the commission. Remember that, if you agree to a settlement in mediation, your case will not go to a hearing. The HRAP will not write a public decision and your case will wrap up faster. You won’t have to talk at a hearing about what happened to you, or face questions about it.

The commission can help the parties mediate at any point up to a hearing before the HRAP. Commission staff will ask you about early resolution at different stages in the process. Mediation is also possible after the respondent has provided their reply. Most cases are resolved through mediation or early resolution. Only a small percentage proceed to a hearing.

Neither party chooses the mediator. The commission will assign one to your case. Mediators are neutral parties who will not take a side before, during, or after the process. They work with both sides to try to find a resolution that works for everyone. You can provide information or show documents to a mediator and request they keep it confidential from the other side.

After the mediation

The hearing

The commission will decide whether to refer your case to the HRAP for a hearing. Your complaint will be part of the commission’s materials, referring the case to the HRAP together with any evidence gathered in the investigation and the investigation report.

The adjudicator from the HRAP will schedule a pre-hearing conference call where all parties will discuss the hearing and try to simplify what comes next. It is scheduled by the adjudicator, after they have all of the materials.

You should think in advance about what issues you want to bring up at the call by reviewing the documents and witness statements you have received from the respondent. For example, the respondent might be trying to bring a witness to the hearing who has nothing to do with the sexual harassment you experienced. You might feel intimidated by this person, or you just might not want this person involved in the process. This is something you would raise as an issue and it would be dealt with at this call.

The HRAP will correspond with you, asking you for information, documents, or witness lists at different stages of the process. You will be sent the forms you need to use for each stage of the process, along with the deadlines for when to submit them.

Anytime you prepare one of the forms or documents, be sure to send it to the HRAP, the respondent and the commission. At the hearing, the commission is one of the parties and will present evidence and make arguments. The commission will present the evidence that it found in its investigation.

Preparing for the hearing

Attending the hearing

If your hearing is in person, it may happen at the commission offices, or in another location, like a meeting room at a hotel. The decision-makers are sometimes referred to as adjudicators or as the panel.

If you haven’t taken part in mediation already, the adjudicator will likely offer you and the respondent one last chance to try to mediate. If you have already gone through an unsuccessful mediation or you don’t want to do this, the hearing will begin. Both sides will make opening statements at the beginning of the hearing and closing statements about the case at the very end. The HRAP will receive documents and hear from witnesses about what they know about your sexual harassment allegations.

The commission’s lawyer leads the evidence and ask the questions of you and the other witnesses. They are there to present the case, in the public interest. You don’t need to bring any witnesses, ask any questions, or make legal arguments at all.

When the hearing is coming to an end, the adjudicator will review all of the evidence that you and the respondent have presented both before and during the hearing. They will likely reserve their decision, considering it for a while and writing the reasons. This can take several months.

The decision

The HRAP will send its decision to you by mail or email. If you have a lawyer, your lawyer will get a copy. It will also be posted on CanLII, a free database for legal decisions in Canada. See how to search for and read decisions on CanLII here      

The adjudicator’s decision will explain how they looked at the facts in the case and how they applied the Manitoba Human Rights Code and other cases decided by the HRAP to your situation. They will state whether your complaint was successful and whether you were sexually harassed according to the law. If your complaint was successful, the decision will outline the remedies you will be receiving.

If you are happy with the decision and the remedies, you will need to make sure that the respondent follows the orders in the decision. If the respondent doesn’t do what they’re ordered to do, you can take steps to enforce the decision.

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, established in 1917, is an agency that operates “at arm’s length” from the government of Manitoba. It gives benefits and supports to people who’ve been injured at work. These can include replacement of lost wages, health care (including rehabilitation, counselling, and medications), and, in extreme situations, retraining.

If you’ve been harmed by sexual harassment at work, you might think the WCB will help you.

• Maybe after you were harassed, you took time off work and so lost income.
• Maybe the harassment damaged your mental health, and you ended up needing to spend money on medication for anxiety or depression.
• Maybe the harassment had such an effect on you that you had to leave a male-dominated industry and ended up needing to retrain for a new type of work in a different field. 

Those are the kinds of expenses—replacement of lost wages, medication costs, retraining costs—that the WCB normally does reimburse.

And so it might sound like a good idea to file a claim with the WCB.

But we need to warn you: The WCB is very unlikely to help you. 

The WCB is not going to say, “Yes, you were harassed, and you were punished for reporting it. Here is some money to make up for the pay you lost.” It’s not going to say, “We agree with you that your industry is unfriendly to people like you, and that it makes sense for you to retrain for a different job where you’re less likely to be harassed. We will fund your retraining.”

All the WCB can do is to give you benefits and supports if you have suffered a physical injury at work (rare in cases of sexual harassment) or psychological injury (less rare in sexual harassment cases, but hard to prove). It will only help you if the harm you’ve suffered fits into that category.

Historically, the WCB has mostly handled claims related to physical injuries suffered by workers in male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing, and in uniform occupations like policing and firefighting. If you slip at work and break your ankle, or are struck by a falling object, or are injured in a fire or explosion: that is the kind of situation the WCB was designed for, and has a lot of experience handling.

The WCB has less experience with mental health harms. It requires you to prove that your injury would not have occurred but for work-related factors. Work doesn’t have to be the only reason but it must be at least part of the reason. 

Realistically, it’s likely that, if you apply for benefits because of a psychological injury, you’ll be turned down. If you want to pursue the claim after being denied, you’ll need to be prepared to go through an appeal process. Appealing can take a long time, and of the few appeals that are heard, many are denied.

Psychological injury claims

The WCB awards benefits due to the injury you sustained, which in your case would be damaged mental health. This could be a diagnosis of conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or anxiety.

Sexual harassment in the workplace can cause psychological injuries. The WCB recognises that psychological injuries can occur from:

• someone intentionally harming you
• a traumatic event, or cumulation of traumatic events, related to your work or workplace

According to WCB policy, traumatic events typically involve direct exposure to actual or threatened violence or harm and cause an acute reaction. An acute reaction means that the traumatic event causes a severe outcome. It does not necessarily have to happen right after the event.

The WCB considers traumatic events to be sudden, unexpected, or shocking. A cumulative series of traumatic events can result in a psychological injury. The traumatic event or events leading to a psychological injury does not have to be identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 unless you are claiming that post-traumatic stress disorder is presumed to be a personal injury from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment.

Pros and cons of going to the WCB

Will the WCB accept my application?

• To be eligible for benefits and services under the WCB process, you must be a “worker” employed in a business or industry that is covered by the Workers Compensation Act.
• If you aren’t sure whether you’re covered by the WCB, you can call (1-855-954-4321), or seek advice from your union, a lawyer, or the Worker Advisor Office.
• The WCB will only accept your claim if the harassment arose “out of and in the course of employment.” Meaning harassment only counts if it takes place at work, during your work hours (or within a reasonable period before or after work), and while you are performing your work duties. If you live on your employer’s property, harassment that takes place outside work hours may still be covered. Similarly, if your work requires you to go to different places, you may be covered while travelling and at the different locations.
• The WCB won’t cover every kind of mental stress that arises at work. If you develop a mental health condition caused by your employer making changes to your shifts or other working conditions, for example, or firing you, or due to interpersonal conflicts that don’t involve harassment, you aren’t eligible to file a claim.
• As a general principle, the law says that you can’t have the same issue decided twice in two different places. If you start a case for the same problem in more than one forum, it’s possible that the decision-maker in one of them will wait until the case has been decided in the other forum or dismiss it altogether. People often try the WCB first. However, it’s best to speak with a lawyer about your options, as the facts of your case may allow you to approach more than one forum. See You’re being sexually harassed at work. What are your options?

Special situations

Contact the WCB (1-855-954-4321) to learn about the rules that apply if you are in one of these categories:

• non-resident worker
• undocumented or don’t have a work permit
• foreign agricultural worker

The WCB will look for proof of these three things when it reviews your psychological injury claim:

1. The sexual harassment you experienced was the willful and intentional act of another person, or an acute reaction to a traumatic event or series of events. According to WCB policy, traumatic events are usually “sudden, unexpected, or shocking” and cause an acute reaction. Traumatic events typically involve direct exposure to actual or threatened violence or harm.

2. The willful or intentional act or traumatic event(s) occurred in connection with your employment. You suffered a psychological injury. If your claim is for post-traumatic stress disorder, and you are claiming that it is presumed to be a personal injury from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment under subsection 4(5.8) of the act, it must be diagnosed by a physician or psychologist according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5.

3. An indication that “but for” the act or traumatic event or events the psychological injury would not have occurred.

Legal help

You may be able to get help from a lawyer for free. Here are some places that offer free or lower-cost legal services:

• The Worker Advisor Office is an independent government agency that provides free and confidential services about workplace injuries and compensation to workers. This office can provide information, advice, and help with representation to you throughout the WCB process. It also has an extensive network of supports for injured workers and may be able to direct you to other organizations that can help.
• The Workplace Sexual Harassment Project of the Community Legal Education Association has a hotline staffed by a lawyer who can provide legal information, advice, and referrals.
• The Community Legal Education Association also offers a Law Phone-In and Lawyer Referral Program. The two lawyers on staff offer general legal information and advice. They can refer you to a lawyer, and the first interview (up to 30 minutes) is free.
• The Legal Help Centre provides help to people who are not eligible for legal aid and whose gross family income is between $50,000 and $75,000, depending on family size. It offers legal information, summary advice, or referrals via telephone appointments.
• JusticeNet is a not-for-profit service for those whose income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford regular legal fees. To qualify you must have a net family income under $90,000 and be experiencing financial difficulties. Participating lawyers’ and paralegals’ reduced rates vary depending on your family size and income.
• Your workplace union, association, or Employee Assistance Program may be able to help you find legal services or cover part of your legal fees.

For advice on hiring a lawyer, see How to hire and work with a lawyer.

Social and health supports

• Manitoba 211: This community and social services helpline is available 24 hours a day by phone (211) or online. It can put you in touch with more than 4,000 services, supports, programs, and more.

Applying

First, you must decide if filing a claim with the WCB is the right choice for you. Because there is a very high turndown rate for claims involving sexual harassment, there might be other forums—for example, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission or civil court—where you could have a better chance of success.

Report your injury to your employer, either by using their own internal form or the Notice of Injury to Employer form from the WCB. Next, you need to go to your health care professional and receive whatever treatment is required. Your health care provider will fill out and provide a form to the WCB about your injury and treatment.

Then report your psychological injury to the WCB. You’ll find more information about work-related psychological injuries here, and more about the process to file a claim here. You can report by phone (1-855-954-4321) or submit the Worker Incident Report form directly online or mail it to:

Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba
333 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 4W3

You must file your application within one year of the injury. If you are already past the one-year deadline, there are circumstances where the WCB extends this deadline if not doing so would result in an “injustice.”

Once you’ve filed a claim, the WCB will send you a claim number and the name and contact number of the adjudicator looking after your claim. This person may guide you through the next steps.

Your employer’s report

Give a copy of the Notice of Injury to Employer form to your employer, or fill out your workplace’s internal reporting form. Your employer must complete the Employer Incident Report form within five days of your injury or when you report your injury to them. This will include information about your job, your earnings, and your psychological injury. They must submit the form to the WCB and give you a copy. They may disagree with your claim when describing your injury themselves.

After the forms are filed

Once all of the forms have been submitted, an adjudicator will consider your claim. A WCB adjudicator might contact you to ask about the details. Many claims are disallowed at this stage.

An independent health examination

The WCB may ask you to undergo an independent health examination if it thinks more medical information is necessary to make a decision in your case.

The independent health professional may not agree with your health professional’s diagnosis. If so, the WCB may use that opinion as a reason to deny you benefits.

If your claim is approved

See the Benefits Guide FAQ for a detailed outline of what you might be eligible to receive from the WCB if your claim has been successful. This includes:

• health care benefits like therapy and prescription drugs
• money to replace income you’ve lost due to your injury
• retraining, if necessary

Returning to work

A case manager at the WCB will work with you, your employer, your health professional, and your union representative or worker advocate to develop a return-to-work plan. This will set out the steps you’ll need to take in order to resume working. It might involve modified or alternative duties.

If you are no longer able to do your old job, a vocational rehabilitation consultant will be involved to look for alternatives.

The WCB’s Worker Handbook outlines the return-to-work process.

If your claim is turned down

It’s very likely that your WCB claim for psychological injury due to sexual harassment will be denied. A high number of these claims are dismissed at an early stage in the process, often after only brief consideration. Appealing is lengthy and seldom successful.

If you are unhappy with the decision, the first thing you can do is to discuss your case with the adjudicator. You can indicate any new information and explain why you think your claim should have been approved. Occasionally, when given more documents or information, the WCB changes its decision.

If you are not successful at this stage, you can request a file review at the WCB Review Office by filling out the Request for Review form.

There is no time limit to apply. You can also ask for a copy of your claim file at any time in the process by asking your adjudicator, or by calling the WCB’s file access department at 1-204-954-4453. You can also call the Worker Advisor Office to help you with your claim.

This will be a written process only. A review officer will make the decision. They may ask you or your employer to send in more information before they decide. The WCB’s Review Office FAQ document outlines the review process thoroughly.

Typically, decisions are made within 60 days, though they can take up to eight weeks. You will receive the decision in writing. If you disagree with it and you feel you have new information that might change the decision, you have the option of making a final appeal to the Appeal Commission.

The Appeal Commission

The Appeal Commission is the final level of appeal if you disagree with a WCB decision. It’s independent from the WCB but applies WCB policies in its decisions. You must have already gone through the WCB appeal process to reach the Appeal Commission. There is no time limit for filing an appeal.

The Appeal Commission process usually includes an in-person hearing, but sometimes is handled through written submissions only. You can request a certain format, but the commission will make the final decision. A panel of three commissioners will be the decision-makers.

There are two types of appeals. First, you can appeal the process of the decision (for example, that you weren’t given a fair opportunity to provide information or to respond to things that were said by someone else). Second, you can appeal the basis of the decision itself, by arguing the decision was incorrect on the facts (for example, because the medical evidence established that you had a psychological injury).

You start your appeal by submitting a Worker Appeal of Claims Decision form.

For a thorough explanation of all the next steps, see the Appeal Commission’s web page on the appeal process and this FAQ page.

In most of its cases, the Appeal Commission makes its decisions within 60 days after the hearing has finished. You’ll receive a copy in writing.

Appeal Commission decisions are final—there’s no other appeal. You may request a reconsideration, but these requests are rarely granted. You may pursue a judicial review of the decision, which is a limited and technical review through the civil court system. If you are considering this, you should discuss your case with a lawyer to review your options. See How to find and work with a lawyer.