Your Quick Guide to Know How Mediation Works in Ontario’s Legal System
- Amy Wilson
- Dec 14
- 5 min read
Photo courtesy of Freepik
When people hear about a legal dispute, they always envision some big courtroom showdown. However, that’s not always the case in Ontario. Regardless of whether you have a disagreement with your boss, a human rights situation, or a monetary issue, there’s a good chance you won’t end up in the trial court in Ontario. The legal system in this province is designed to encourage you to work it out between you and the other party involved in the case, through a process known as mediation.
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Mediation Is Everywhere
In Ontario, you can find all sorts of cases being resolved through mediation. For instance, when a marriage ends, couples often contact a lawyer for divorce mediation in Calgary, Ontario, or another part of Canada to learn how to split assets without a judge getting involved.
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Family law is a completely separate area, but the two main pillars remain consistent in the Ontario justice system: Administrative Tribunals and the Civil Courts. However, it’s important to consider your location first along with how much the process will cost and how long you’ll have to wait for a verdict before using any option.
Administrative Tribunals
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If you’re worried about being treated unfairly at work or you’re thinking about taking legal action against discrimination, you don’t really need to go to the court in Ontario. Instead, you go to the Tribunal.
Essentially, an Administrative Tribunal is a small court created by the government to handle specific issues. These are not as official, slow, or expensive as a real court. In most cases, there aren’t any costs involved and things are organized in a way that you can deal with everything without hiring an attorney.
However, you must understand that there are two common tribunals in Ontario: the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Both these tribunals place heavy emphasis on mediation to resolve cases.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB)
If you complain about unsafe working conditions and your supervisor fires you or suspends you as punishment, it’s considered “reprisal”. It’s prohibited under Section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. To begin proceedings, you have to file a notice through Form A-53 with the Board. The process is quite fast; after all, someone has just lost their job and needs answers immediately.
After you’ve filed, the Board assigns a Labour Relations Officer (LRO) to your case immediately. There’s the mediator. They’ll get in touch with both you and your employer, usually within a few weeks. Considering how quickly the OLRB works, most of these cases can usually be resolved through mediation in less time than it takes to go to trial.
Learn More About OLRB Mediation: Step to Justice - OLRB Mediation
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO)
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If you’ve been denied housing because of your race, or fired because you need accommodation for your disability, the HRTO is where you go to file your case. It costs nothing to file through the Tribunal’s Smart form online. However, unlike the Labour Board, the Human Rights Tribunal has to deal with enormous backlogs, making people wait for years to get a hearing date.
To prevent these delays, the Human Rights Tribunal has now implemented radical changes. Beginning June 1, 2025, all new cases must go through mediation. Previously, it was possible to skip mediation, but now there’s no opt-out clause, just to ensure faster resolution of these cases.
Learn More About HRTO Mediation: HRLSC - preparing for a mediation at the tribunal
The Court System
If your dispute involves money, like failure to repay a loan, breach of contract, or faulty construction work, you may have to go to the civil courts. Unlike tribunals, courts are formal and strict, and the process costs money as well. In Ontario, there are different courts depending on the amount of money you’re suing for. For instance:
Small Claims Court
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Also known as “The People’s Court”, it was originally established for regular people, but recently it has become much more sophisticated with the claim amount now increased to $50,000. It means that even if you have larger lawsuits with more money involved, you’ll still have to be in the small claims court.
Keep in mind that even in this court, you can’t go to trial without going through a mediation process or a Settlement Conference. That’s when you and the plaintiff have to appear in front of a judge about three to six months after you file your defence. Still, the judge’s role in this situation is only to mediate.
The Superior Court of Justice
This is the “big leagues” and is suitable for claims over $50,000. The rules get rather complex here, so it’s vital to have a lawyer. The issue is that Ontario is huge and the rules vary greatly from one place to another.
Under Rule 24.1 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, mediation has become mandatory, but that’s not true for every location. If you file a lawsuit in Toronto, Ottawa, or Windsor, you’ll need to hire an independent mediator to “attempt to settle out of court”, whereas smaller jurisdictions don’t strictly require “mediation”.
Learn More: Mediation for Civil Cases
The “Rule 49” Strategy
The Ontario court system has a specialized tool designed to punish stubbornness. It’s known as the Rule 49 Offer to Settle. In essence, it’s simply a guideline that increases the financial risk of proceeding to trial. Suppose you sue someone in contract disputes to the tune of $100,000. However, the individual (who happens to be your contractor) presents you with a “Rule 49 Offer” to settle for $80,000 that you decline and proceed to trial.
Years go by, and when you get to trial, you win your lawsuit but the judge awards you only $75,000. Since you won less than what was offered in advance to settle the lawsuit through Rule 49 Offer, you might face sanctions from the judge. This rule actually discourages people from going to trial and forces them to look at a mediation offer seriously.
Comparative Analysis of Mediation Procedures
Endnote
If you’re caught up in a dispute in Ontario, understanding how the process of mediation works can be every bit as important as understanding who is right and who is wrong. Whether you're filing a simple form at the Labour Board or preparing for a large lawsuit in Superior Court, one message remains consistent from the Ontario justice system: work it out!
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Author Bio:
Amy Wilson is a freelance writer and content strategist with a passion for crafting engaging stories and insightful articles. With years of experience across industries, she specializes in creating compelling content that connects with readers. When she's not writing, Amy enjoys exploring new ideas, traveling, and diving into a good book.
