# How Should Employers Handle Sexual Harassment: Federal vs Ontario vs Alberta?

> Federally, Ontario, and Alberta employers must all prevent, investigate, and respond to workplace sexual harassment, but under different statutes: the Canada Labour Code (federal), the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Human Rights Code (Ontario), or the Occupational Health and Safety Act/Code and Human Rights Act (Alberta). Which one applies depends on whether the employer falls under federal or provincial jurisdiction.

Published 2026-08-25 · Last reviewed 2026-08-19 · [Canonical page](https://canadalegalcenter.ca/articles/how-should-employers-handle-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace-federally-or-prov/)

Legal information, not legal advice.

## Federal, Ontario, and Alberta duties at a glance

Every employer in Canada has a legal duty to prevent and address workplace sexual harassment, but which statute sets that duty, and exactly what it requires, depends on whether the employer is federally regulated or falls under Ontario's or Alberta's rules.

<div class="table-scroll">

| Requirement | Federal (Canada Labour Code) | Ontario (OHSA + Human Rights Code) | Alberta (OHS Act/Code + Human Rights Act) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definition covers sexual harassment | Yes, explicitly | Yes, explicitly, including virtual conduct | Yes, as objectionable or unwelcome conduct |
| Core prevention duty | Prevent, respond to, and support employees affected by harassment | Ensure an appropriate investigation of every incident or complaint | Develop and implement a written violence and harassment prevention plan |
| Written policy required | Yes, jointly with the workplace partner (union or committee) | Program required; reviewed at least annually | Written plan required with specified elements |
| Investigation outcome in writing | Not specified in this article's sources | Both complainant and alleged harasser told in writing of results and corrective action | Investigation report required, kept and produced to OHS on request |
| Record retention | Not specified in this article's sources | At least 1 year (training documentation) | At least 2 years (investigation report) |
| Separate human rights route | Grounds referenced in required training | Standalone right to freedom from harassment (sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression) | Addressed under general employment discrimination provision |

</div>

Regardless of which column applies, two Supreme Court of Canada rulings sit underneath all three regimes. [Janzen v Platy Enterprises](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1989/1989canlii97/1989canlii97.html) established that sexual harassment is discrimination on the basis of sex under human rights law, and the [Robichaud](https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bchrt/doc/2024/2024bchrt153/2024bchrt153.html) decision confirmed that employers are liable for harassment committed by their staff even though never authorized, because employers are best placed to fix a discriminatory workplace.

## Which regime governs your workplace

The starting question is not which rules an employer prefers, it is which jurisdiction the employer's operations fall under. Employers whose operations are federally regulated must comply with the [Canada Labour Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/l-2/section-122.html) and its regulations, which apply the same way whether the workplace is in Ontario, Alberta, or any other province. Employers outside federal jurisdiction follow the occupational health and safety law of the province where the workplace is located: Ontario's [Occupational Health and Safety Act](https://www.ontario.ca/document/guide-occupational-health-and-safety-act/part-iii0i-workplace-violence-and-workplace-harassment) or Alberta's [Occupational Health and Safety Act and Code](https://www.alberta.ca/workplace-harassment-violence). A harassment complaint can also proceed as a human rights matter in parallel with, or instead of, the occupational health and safety route, since the two systems address different things: workplace safety versus discrimination.

## Federal requirements in detail

Under [section 125(1) of the Canada Labour Code](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html), federally regulated employers must take prescribed measures to prevent and protect against harassment and violence, respond to occurrences, and offer support to affected employees, and must ensure all employees, including managers, receive training on prevention and on their rights and obligations. The [Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/FullText.html) require the employer and the applicable workplace partner (a union or health and safety committee representative) to jointly develop both preventive measures and a harassment and violence prevention policy, and the person designated to receive complaints must have relevant knowledge, training and experience. Required [training content](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/20210701/P1TT3xt3.html) must cover the link between workplace harassment and the discrimination grounds in the Canadian Human Rights Act. An employee can bring a complaint directly to a [supervisor or the designated person](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-16.html) named in the employer's policy.

## Ontario requirements in detail

Ontario's OHSA requires an employer to ensure an [appropriate investigation](https://www.ontario.ca/page/code-practice-address-workplace-harassment) is conducted into every harassment incident or complaint, and to inform both the complainant and the alleged harasser, if they work for the same employer, in writing of the investigation's results and any corrective action. The employer's harassment program must be reviewed at least annually, and documentation of harassment-related training should be kept for at least one year. Separately, [Ontario's Human Rights Code](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-h19/latest/rso-1990-c-h19.html) gives every employee a standalone right to freedom from workplace harassment because of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and separately prohibits a sexual solicitation or advance by anyone in a position to grant a workplace benefit, where that person knows or ought to know it is unwelcome.

## Alberta requirements in detail

Alberta's occupational health and safety legislation defines workplace harassment broadly and requires employers, as far as reasonably practicable, to prevent workers from being subjected to or participating in it. Employers must develop and implement a written [violence and harassment prevention plan](https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-code/part-27-violence-and-harassment/) that includes measures to eliminate or control the hazard. After an incident, the employer must prepare an [investigation report](https://www.alberta.ca/workplace-harassment-violence) and keep it for at least two years, providing it to Alberta OHS on request. Sexual harassment can also be pursued as sex discrimination under the general employment provision of the [Alberta Human Rights Act](https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/A25P5.pdf), which, unlike Ontario's code, has no standalone harassment section. Government guidance confirms an employer's [legal responsibility](https://alis.alberta.ca/succeed-at-work/employment-laws-and-standards/sexual-harassment-here-s-what-you-need-to-know/) to maintain a workplace free of sexual harassment and notes that Human Rights Commission complaints generally must be filed within one year of the event.

## A worked example

An Alberta retailer receives a written harassment complaint on March 1. Because the employer already has a written violence and harassment prevention plan in place, as required under [Part 27 of the OHS Code](https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-code/part-27-violence-and-harassment/), it follows that plan to investigate. Once the investigation is complete, the employer prepares an investigation report and retains it for at least two years, ready to produce it if Alberta OHS asks. If the complainant believes the conduct amounted to sex discrimination rather than only a safety hazard, they separately have up to one year from the event to file with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, alongside, not instead of, the internal process.

## Common mistakes

- **Treating one statute as the whole answer.** An employer that only follows its occupational health and safety obligations, in Ontario or Alberta, can still face a separate human rights complaint over the same conduct, since the OHSA/OHS Code and the human rights statutes address different legal questions.
- **Federal employers writing policy unilaterally.** The Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations require the harassment and violence prevention policy to be developed jointly with the workplace partner, not imposed by the employer alone.
- **Assuming intent is a defence.** Robichaud makes clear that an employer is liable for harassment committed by its employees even when it never authorized or knew about the specific conduct.
- **Skipping written notice of investigation results (Ontario).** Ontario's OHSA specifically requires both the complainant and the alleged harasser to be told the outcome and any corrective action in writing, not just verbally.
- **Under-retaining records (Alberta).** An Alberta employer that discards an investigation report before two years have passed cannot produce it if Alberta OHS asks to see it.

## Frequently asked questions

**Does the same sexual harassment law apply to every employer in Canada?**

No. Federally regulated employers follow the Canada Labour Code, Ontario employers follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Human Rights Code, and Alberta employers follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act/Code and Human Rights Act. Employer liability for harassment committed by staff, and the principle that sexual harassment is sex discrimination, apply in all three under Supreme Court of Canada rulings.

**How long must an employer keep harassment investigation records?**

In Ontario, documentation of harassment-related training must be kept for at least one year. In Alberta, a written investigation report following a harassment incident must be retained for at least two years and produced to Alberta OHS on request. The sources reviewed do not specify a retention period for the federal regime.

**Can an employee file a human rights complaint about sexual harassment separately from an internal workplace complaint?**

Yes, in both Ontario and Alberta. Ontario's Human Rights Code gives a standalone right to freedom from workplace harassment based on sex, while Alberta's Human Rights Act addresses it through its general employment discrimination provision; Alberta guidance notes complaints to the Human Rights Commission must generally be filed within one year of the event.

**Is an employer liable if a manager sexually harasses an employee without the company's approval?**

Yes, in all three jurisdictions. The Supreme Court of Canada held in Robichaud that employers are liable for harassment by their employees even though never authorized, because employers are best placed to remedy discriminatory workplace conditions.


## Sources

1. [Canada Labour Code, s. 122(1)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/l-2/section-122.html), Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2, s 122(1) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
2. [Canada Labour Code, s. 125(1)(z.16), (z.161)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-125.html), Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2, s 125(1)(z.16), (z.161) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
3. [Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/FullText.html), Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130, ss 9, 10(1); Canada Labour Code s 125(1)(z.163) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
4. [Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, s. 12(2)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2020-130/20210701/P1TT3xt3.html), Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130, s 12(2)(b)-(c) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
5. [Canada Labour Code, s. 127.1(1.1)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-16.html), Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2, s 127.1(1.1) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
6. [Robichaud v Canada (Treasury Board)](https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bchrt/doc/2024/2024bchrt153/2024bchrt153.html), Robichaud v Canada (Treasury Board), 1987 CanLII 73 (SCC), [1987] 2 SCR 84
7. [Janzen v Platy Enterprises Ltd](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1989/1989canlii97/1989canlii97.html), Janzen v Platy Enterprises Ltd, 1989 CanLII 97 (SCC), [1989] 1 SCR 1252
8. [Government of Ontario - Guide to the OHSA](https://www.ontario.ca/document/guide-occupational-health-and-safety-act/part-iii0i-workplace-violence-and-workplace-harassment), Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSO 1990, c O.1, s 1(1) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
9. [Government of Ontario - Code of Practice to Address Workplace Harassment](https://www.ontario.ca/page/code-practice-address-workplace-harassment), Occupational Health and Safety Act, RSO 1990, c O.1, s 32.0.7(1), s 32.0.8 (retrieved 2026-01-15)
10. [Human Rights Code (Ontario)](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-h19/latest/rso-1990-c-h19.html), Human Rights Code, RSO 1990, c H.19, s 7(2), s 7(3)(a)
11. [Alberta.ca - Workplace violence and harassment](https://www.alberta.ca/workplace-harassment-violence), Occupational Health and Safety Act, SA 2017, c O-2.1; Occupational Health and Safety Code (Alberta), Part 27 (retrieved 2026-01-15)
12. [Alberta OHS Laws - Occupational Health and Safety Code, Part 27](https://search-ohs-laws.alberta.ca/legislation/occupational-health-and-safety-code/part-27-violence-and-harassment/), Occupational Health and Safety Code (Alberta), Part 27, s 390(1) (retrieved 2026-01-15)
13. [Alberta Human Rights Act](https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/A25P5.pdf), Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c A-25.5, s 7(1)
14. [alis.alberta.ca - Sexual Harassment: Here's What You Need to Know](https://alis.alberta.ca/succeed-at-work/employment-laws-and-standards/sexual-harassment-here-s-what-you-need-to-know/), Government of Alberta, alis.alberta.ca, 'Sexual Harassment: Here's What You Need to Know' (retrieved 2026-01-15)
15. [Government of Alberta - Discriminatory Action Complaints (LI061)](https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3555911a-ed16-42f2-8be9-91e14f426ce0/resource/f7a0298a-977a-4f88-b1bc-89273089bf95/download/lbr-discriminatory-action-complaints-2020-06.pdf), Government of Alberta, 'Discriminatory action complaints', LI061 (June 2020) (retrieved 2026-01-15)