How to Write a Grievance in Canada

A grievance is a legal document. It is the first record an arbitrator will read if the case is not resolved at an earlier step, and everything that follows — the employer's response, the union's reply, disclosure, witness preparation — is framed by how the grievance was drafted. Canadian arbitrators generally take a liberal approach to grievance interpretation, but a clearly written grievance still does more work for the grievor than a vague one.

A well-drafted Canadian grievance typically contains:

• The parties.The grievor's name, job title, department, employee number, and bargaining unit. For policy or union grievances, identify the union as the grievor.
• The dates. Both the date of the incident (or the date the grievor became aware of it) and the date the grievance is being filed. These drive the arbitrability analysis.
• The articles alleged to be violated.Cite specific articles of the collective agreement — not a general reference to “the agreement.” Include any legislation engaged (human rights code, employment standards, occupational health and safety).
• Statement of facts. A chronological, neutral description of what happened. Who did what, when, and where. Avoid editorial language and stick to observable facts.
• Remedy sought.What the grievor wants — reinstatement, compensation, a cease-and-desist order, a declaration, or a policy change. Ask for “and such further and other remedy as the arbitrator deems just” to preserve flexibility.
• Signatures and step.The grievor's signature, the union representative's signature, the date, and the step of the grievance procedure being filed.

Writing a grievance from a blank page is the slowest possible starting point. A steward usually has a set of facts, a rough sense of which articles are engaged, and a few days to get something filed. Everything else — mapping the facts to the agreement, drafting the statement of facts, proposing a remedy — is recurring work that can be automated.

Sertus reads the collective agreement and the facts of the case, and produces a first-pass grievance draft that cites the specific articles engaged, lays out the facts in a neutral chronological form, and proposes a remedy grounded in what Canadian arbitrators typically order for that kind of violation. The steward then edits the draft — because the human is still the author — but starts from a structured document instead of a blank page.

Sertus is built by the co-author of Canadian Labour Arbitration(Brown & Beatty), the reference text Canadian arbitrators cite, so the drafting is grounded in the framework arbitrators actually apply. Sertus does not provide legal advice; consult counsel for any matter requiring a legal opinion.