What happens at HRTO mediation, and should I settle?
Mediation is a voluntary-in-name, now largely mandatory meeting where a Tribunal member helps both sides try to resolve the case. Nothing said there can be used later, and any deal is binding. It is also where most matters end — which is why the public record is so thin: settlements produce no published decision, so the outcomes are invisible to everyone including researchers.
Mediation is a voluntary-in-form, mandatory-in-practice session where a Tribunal mediator tries to settle the case. Nothing said there can be used later. Most matters that settle do so here — and because settlements produce no published decision, this is where the public record goes dark. Whether to settle is your call, and it is the single least documented decision in the whole system.
Journey · Rule 15
Information from the public record, not legal advice.
What this stage is
If both sides agree, the Tribunal assigns a member to mediate — a confidential, off-the-record meeting (now usually by video) where a settlement is attempted. Nothing said there can be used later. If it settles, the parties file a confirmation (Form 25) and the file closes. If it doesn't, the matter continues toward a hearing in front of a different adjudicator.
Why this stage matters more than the hearing
Most cases that succeed, succeed here — quietly. When Ontario last formally reviewed the system in 2012, mediation typically happened within nine months and 62–65% of mediated cases settled. A settlement can include money, a reference letter, policy change, training — things a hearing might never order, agreed in an afternoon instead of contested for years.
And this is the stage the public record cannot see. A settled case produces no published decision, no reasons, no visible outcome. In fifteen years of decisions naming one police service, exactly one settlement is visible — and only because it was later litigated all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Everything you can read on CanLII is, by construction, the set of cases that didn't resolve here. That is the visibility gap this project exists to measure: what outcomes disappear.
What the record and the public data show
Whether mediation still settles at 2012 rates is unknown — the Tribunal does not publish current settlement rates. Two things have changed since those numbers: the Human Rights Legal Support Centre's dedicated mediation program — lawyers who attended mediations with otherwise-unrepresented applicants — was defunded in 2018–19, costing the Centre 15% of its staff; and hearing backlogs stretched to years, which changes both sides' incentives. What that did to outcomes is a question our planned data requests are designed to answer.
Going in unrepresented is where the asymmetry bites hardest. The respondent's side of a police case arrives with counsel who has mediated dozens of these; in our corpus, one firm appeared for the respondent side in 70% of matters where counsel was recorded. A mediator cannot advise you or tell you a number is low. If you can get advice for only one day of your case, this is a strong candidate for the day. See Getting help — summary advice before mediation exists precisely for this.
Confirm everything in writing. Terms agreed orally, or by phone afterward, generate the disputes the record shows. Same-day email is the discipline.
What we can't tell you
Current settlement rates, time-to-mediation, or whether represented applicants settle on different terms than unrepresented ones. All of it exists in the Tribunal's case-management system. None of it is published. Our requests are in preparation. FOI Tracker.
Next: Summary procedures
Published in good faith from public records as fair comment on matters of public interest. Believed accurate at the review date; errors will be corrected on notice. Information, not legal advice; no lawyer-client relationship is created.
Common questions
Is mediation binding?
The session is not. A signed settlement is — and it typically ends your application permanently, including claims you have not yet identified.
Do I have to attend?
Since 2025, applicant absence can end the case, and a missed post-mediation form can close it without further notice. Respondent absence merely limits their later participation. The asymmetry is real.
What terms should I watch for?
Non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses, releases covering future claims, and terms that prohibit further complaints. Our record contains matters where the settlement itself became the next round of litigation.
Will anyone know what I settled for?
No. That is precisely the visibility gap this project measures: settlements are invisible, so published outcomes systematically over-represent the cases nobody could resolve.
Do I have to attend?
Since 2025, mediation is effectively mandatory and your absence can end the case. A respondent's absence merely limits their later participation — the consequences are not symmetrical.
Is it confidential?
Yes. What is said in mediation cannot be used at a hearing, and settlement terms are usually confidential.
Should I sign a non-disparagement clause?
That is a decision to take advice on. Our record contains matters where such clauses were later litigated on both sides — including one where a police board brought its own application against a former applicant.
What happens after?
There is usually a form to file confirming the outcome. Missing it can close your file without further notice.