# How Should Federal Employers Handle Workplace Sexual Harassment?

> Federally, under the Canada Labour Code, employers covered by Part II must treat sexual harassment as part of the broader duty to prevent workplace harassment and violence (s. 122(1)). That means jointly developing a prevention policy and risk assessment with employees' health and safety representatives, training all staff and managers, responding to complaints within 45 days, using a qualified investigator when a formal investigation is requested, and keeping all records for 10 years.

Published 2026-08-31 · Last reviewed 2026-08-19 · [Canonical page](https://canadalegalcenter.ca/articles/how-should-employers-handle-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace-under-federal-jur/)

Legal information, not legal advice.

## Before you start: confirm you're a federally regulated employer

This process applies only to employers whose workplace falls under Part II of the [Canada Labour Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/l-2/section-122.html), which the Code calls a federally regulated workplace. If your business is provincially regulated in Ontario or Alberta, this specific framework does not apply to you; provincial occupational health and safety and human rights law governs instead, and that is a separate topic. Amendments to the Code known as Bill C-65 rebuilt the federal regime, folding what used to be a separate "sexual harassment" provision into a single, broader set of harassment and violence duties, a change the government's own [briefing materials](https://search.open.canada.ca/en/qp/id/esdc-edsc,Tassi%20-%20June2021%20-%20001) describe as repealing the old provisions and consolidating them under Part II.

The steps below are the compliance spine federally regulated employers work through, from defining the problem to closing out a complaint.

1. Know the legal definition your policy must use
2. Jointly develop a workplace harassment and violence prevention policy
3. Conduct the joint workplace risk assessment
4. Develop and implement preventive measures within six months
5. Designate a qualified person to receive complaints
6. Train every employee, including managers
7. Respond to a complaint: try internal resolution first
8. If unresolved, move to conciliation, then a formal investigation
9. Keep records for 10 years and protect confidentiality
10. Remember the duty doesn't end when the employee leaves

## 1. Know the legal definition your policy must use

Under [section 122(1) of the Canada Labour Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/l-2/section-122.html), "harassment and violence" expressly includes any action, conduct, or comment of a sexual nature that could reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation, or physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee. There is no separate, narrower definition of "sexual harassment" left in the Code; sexual harassment is a form of harassment and violence and is handled through the same prevention and response process as every other form.

## 2. Jointly develop a prevention policy with your applicable partner

An employer cannot write this policy alone. Under [section 10(1) of the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/FullText.html), the employer and the workplace's "applicable partner", meaning its policy committee, workplace committee, or health and safety representative, must jointly develop a workplace harassment and violence prevention policy. A policy the employer drafts and imposes unilaterally does not meet this requirement.

## 3. Conduct the joint workplace risk assessment

The same joint process applies to identifying risk. Under [section 8 of the Regulations](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/page-1.html), the employer and applicable partner must jointly identify the internal and external risk factors that contribute to harassment and violence, taking into account the workplace's culture, conditions, activities, and organizational structure, as well as external circumstances such as family violence that can spill into the workplace.

## 4. Develop and implement preventive measures within six months

Identifying risk factors starts a clock. Under [section 9 of the Regulations](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/FullText.html), the employer and applicable partner have six months from the date risk factors are identified to jointly develop preventive measures that mitigate that risk, along with an implementation plan, and then to put those measures into effect.

## 5. Designate a qualified complaint recipient

The person named to receive harassment and violence complaints cannot simply be whoever is available in HR. Under the Code's employer duties, the employer must ensure that this designated person has knowledge, training, and experience in harassment and violence issues and knowledge of relevant legislation. The same section requires the employer to investigate, record, and report every occurrence it knows about, and to take prescribed measures to prevent harassment, respond to it, and support affected employees.

## 6. Train every employee, including managers

Policy and process only work if people know them. Under [sections 125(1)(z.161)-(z.162) of the Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html), employers must ensure that all employees, including those with supervisory or managerial responsibilities, receive training in the prevention of harassment and violence and are informed of their rights and obligations. Managers are not exempt; they must complete the same training as everyone else.

## 7. Respond to a complaint: try internal resolution first

When an employee brings forward a complaint, the Code sets out a first step before any formal process begins. Under [section 127.1 of the Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2018_22/FullText.html), the employee may raise the complaint with their supervisor or with the person designated in the employer's policy, and the employee and that person must try to resolve it between themselves as soon as possible.

## 8. If unresolved, move to conciliation, then a formal investigation

If informal resolution doesn't work, the process escalates on a set timeline. Under [section 23(1) of the Regulations](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/page-2.html), the employer or designated recipient, the person who complained, and the person responding (if contacted) must make every reasonable effort to resolve the occurrence, and those efforts must begin no later than 45 days after notice of the occurrence is provided. If that fails and the person who complained requests it, a formal investigation must follow. The Regulations require any appointed investigator to have knowledge, training, and experience relevant to harassment and violence, plus knowledge of the Canada Labour Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act.

## 9. Keep records for 10 years and protect confidentiality

Once an occurrence is resolved or investigated, the paper trail has its own rules. [Canada.ca guidance](https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/workplace-health-safety/harassment-violence-prevention.html) confirms that all records relating to an occurrence, including investigation reports, police reports, and the employer's annual reports to the Labour Program, must be kept for 10 years. Separately, under [section 135.11(1) of the Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-19.html), an employer cannot disclose information likely to reveal the identity of anyone involved in an occurrence to a policy committee, workplace committee, or health and safety representative without that person's consent.

## 10. The duty doesn't end when someone leaves, and liability can attach without fault

Two points close out the process. First, an employer's duty to investigate, record, report, prevent, respond, and support survives a departure: if an occurrence involving a former employee becomes known to the employer within three months after that person's employment ends, the same obligations apply. Second, separate from the Code's process entirely, [section 14(2) of the Canadian Human Rights Act](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html) treats sexual harassment in employment as a form of discrimination, and the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in [Robichaud v Canada (Treasury Board)](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1987/1987canlii73/1987canlii73.html) that the Act allows for employer liability over an employee's discriminatory conduct on the job regardless of whether the employer authorized it or even knew about it. Running the Code's prevention and investigation process properly reduces this exposure, but it does not eliminate the separate human rights route available to the person affected.

## Frequently asked questions

**Does this process apply to every employer in Canada?**

No. It applies only to employers covered by Part II of the Canada Labour Code, generally known as federally regulated workplaces. Employers outside that scope follow their own province's occupational health and safety and human rights framework instead.

**Can a former employee still make a harassment complaint after leaving?**

Yes, federally. If an occurrence of harassment and violence becomes known to the employer within three months after the person's employment ends, the employer's duty to investigate, record, report, and respond still applies under section 125(4) of the Canada Labour Code.

**How fast does a federal employer have to act once a complaint is made?**

The employer, the person who complained, and (if contacted) the person accused must make every reasonable effort to resolve the matter, and those efforts must start no later than 45 days after notice of the occurrence is given, under section 23(1) of the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations.

**Can a federal employer be held responsible even if it didn't know about the harassment?**

Yes. Under section 14(2) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, sexual harassment is treated as discrimination, and the Supreme Court of Canada held in Robichaud v Canada (Treasury Board) that employers can be held liable for an employee's discriminatory conduct on the job whether or not they authorized or knew about it.


## Sources

1. [Canada Labour Code, s. 122(1)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/l-2/section-122.html), RSC 1985, c L-2, s 122(1)
2. [Canada Labour Code, s. 125](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html), RSC 1985, c L-2, s 125(1)(c), (z.16), (z.161)-(z.163), (4)
3. [Canada Labour Code, s. 127.1](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2018_22/FullText.html), RSC 1985, c L-2, s 127.1(1.1)-(2)
4. [Canada Labour Code, s. 135.11(1)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-19.html), RSC 1985, c L-2, s 135.11(1)
5. [Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, s. 8](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/page-1.html), SOR/2020-130, s 8
6. [Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, ss. 9-10](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/FullText.html), SOR/2020-130, ss 9-10
7. [Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, ss. 23, 25, 27](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/page-2.html), SOR/2020-130, ss 23, 25, 27
8. [Canadian Human Rights Act, s. 14(2)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html), RSC 1985, c H-6, s 14(2)
9. [Robichaud v Canada (Treasury Board), 1987 CanLII 73 (SCC)](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1987/1987canlii73/1987canlii73.html), [1987] 2 SCR 84
10. [Canada.ca, Requirements for employers to prevent harassment and violence in federally regulated workplaces](https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/workplace-health-safety/harassment-violence-prevention.html), Employment and Social Development Canada guidance (retrieved 2026-07-17)