How long do I have to file a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario application after the incident happened?

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario operates under the Human Rights Code, which sets a filing deadline considerably shorter than Ontario's general two-year civil limitation period. An application generally needs to be filed within a relatively short window after the incident, or after the last incident if the discrimination involved an ongoing pattern rather than a single event, so acting promptly once you believe you've experienced discrimination matters far more here than it would for an ordinary civil claim.

The Tribunal does generally have some discretion to allow a late application in appropriate circumstances, where the delay was incurred in good faith and allowing the late filing wouldn't cause substantial prejudice to anyone affected, but this discretion isn't something to rely on as a backup plan. Because the deadline for a human rights application is meaningfully shorter than what many people assume applies to Ontario legal claims generally, and because the exact current filing window should be confirmed directly with the Tribunal before relying on any general description, anyone considering this route should treat the timeline as urgent and confirm the specific requirement as soon as possible rather than treating it the way they might a more familiar two-year civil deadline.