What can the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario award if I win?
Two things, mainly: money for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect — an amount meant to recognise the harm, not to punish — plus any lost wages or costs you can prove. The Tribunal can also order non-monetary remedies: training, policy changes, a letter, a reinstatement. It cannot award legal costs, and it cannot fine anyone. Awards are set by comparing your case to published decisions with similar facts.
The range, from the Tribunal's own comparison
In a recent sexual-harassment decision the Tribunal did something unusually useful: it reviewed its own decade of substantiated sexual-harassment-with-assault cases to set the range. Those decisions, from 2018 to 2024, ran from $42,500 to $200,000.
The applicant in that case was awarded $75,000. The Tribunal placed the conduct at the less serious end — one incident, no prior or subsequent verbal conduct — while treating the fact that it happened before the parties had even been introduced as aggravating. Notably, it also treated inflation as a factor in comparing past awards to present ones, which pushes the effective range upward over time.
Common questions
Do I get my legal fees back?
No. The HRTO cannot award legal costs to either side — which cuts both ways: you also cannot be ordered to pay the respondent's costs if you lose, unlike in civil court.
Can the Tribunal order someone fired or disciplined?
No. It can order the organisation to do things — training, policy change, reinstatement, a reference letter — but discipline of an individual is the employer's or the oversight body's decision, not the Tribunal's.
Is the money taxable?
Injury-to-dignity awards are generally not treated as employment income; lost-wage components generally are. This is a question for an accountant or lawyer about your own award.
Why are police awards so much smaller than employment awards?
Different facts and different social areas, mostly — but the honest answer from our record is that too few police matters reach a remedy for a range to exist at all.
What if the respondent just doesn't pay?
An HRTO order can be filed with the Superior Court and enforced like a court judgment.