What should a grievance form include?

At minimum: the grievor and bargaining unit, the date of the incident, the specific articles of the collective agreement alleged to be violated, a statement of facts, the remedy sought, and signatures with dates. Good forms also capture witnesses, evidence attachments, and the grievance step.

Do Canadian unions still use paper grievance forms?

Many locals still use paper or PDF grievance forms that get scanned and filed. The form itself is rarely the bottleneck — the problem is what happens after: evidence in email, timelines in calendars, collective agreement references in a binder. Sertus replaces that entire workflow.

Can I import paper grievance forms into Sertus?

Yes. Sertus reads scanned grievance forms and extracts the parties, dates, articles, and statement of facts, turning them into searchable case records automatically. Historical backlogs can be imported in a single onboarding session.

How does Sertus improve on a paper grievance form?

Sertus links each grievance to the articles of the collective agreement, tracks deadlines automatically, and drafts a first response using AI. Instead of starting each case from a blank template, the business agent starts from an AI-prepared assessment.

Grievance Form Template for Canadian Workplaces

A practical template and a walkthrough of what a good grievance intake form captures — and what to do after it is filed.

What belongs on a grievance form

A grievance form is a legal document. It is the first record a subsequent arbitrator will see, and it frames every argument that follows. In Canadian practice, a good form captures enough detail that the issue can be assessed on its face, and leaves enough room that the case can evolve as evidence comes in.

At minimum, a Canadian grievance form should include:

Grievor details. Name, job title, department, bargaining unit, and employee number.
Date of the incident and date of filing. Critical for deadline tracking and arbitrability arguments.
Articles of the collective agreement alleged to be violated. Specific articles — not a generic citation to “the agreement.”
Statement of facts. A chronological, neutral description of what happened.
Remedy sought. What the grievor is asking for — compensation, reinstatement, policy change, or a declaration.
Witnesses and evidence. Named witnesses and attached documents where available.
Step and signatures. Which step of the grievance procedure is being filed, signed and dated by the grievor and the union representative.

The form is not the bottleneck

Most Canadian locals already have a grievance form that works. The bottleneck is what happens after the form is filed. Evidence lives in email threads. Collective agreement references live in a binder. Deadlines live in a calendar maintained by one person. Step letters get drafted from scratch each time. Arbitration preparation starts from a cold file.

Sertus takes the form as the starting point and builds the rest of the workflow around it. Uploaded forms are read automatically — the grievor, articles, dates, and statement of facts are extracted into a structured case. The AI reads the collective agreement and surfaces the specific articles in play. Deadlines are tracked against the agreement's own timelines. A first draft of the step response is prepared before the business agent even opens the file.

Sertus is built by the co-author of Canadian Labour Arbitration(Brown & Beatty), the reference text Canadian arbitrators cite, so the AI analysis is grounded in the arbitration standards that actually matter.

Next steps

Want to see what happens after the grievance form is filed? Book a demo and we will walk you through a real case on Sertus — from intake to a first-draft step letter. See also our pages on grievance management, AI-assisted drafting, and the collective agreement navigator.

Last updated: April 2026

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