'A hiring process with irregularities is not, in itself, evidence of discrimination'

A casual employee who said a federal agency promised her a permanent job has lost her discrimination case, after a human rights tribunal found her manager's upbeat emails were never a guarantee and her offer letter made clear the job was not permanent.

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal member Gary Stein dismissed the complaint against the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on Aug. 26, 2026. The employee alleged the agency kept her from a permanent role because of her race, colour, family status, religion, sex, and national or ethnic origin.

While the tribunal agreed she faced setbacks, including job insecurity and lost income, it found she had not proven those characteristics played any part.

A hopeful email, not a job guarantee

In fall 2019, a CBSA intelligence manager interviewed the employee, a former intelligence officer, and came away impressed. He sought sign-off to hire her permanently without a job competition, but a director general did not approve it.

That December, he emailed that he had preliminary approval to bring her on contract, with a no-competition hiring request to follow. She testified she took that to mean a permanent job was approved too. He testified that he never promised more. The tribunal found her honest, but his account was more consistent with the documents.

Then came the offer letter: full-time casual work from Feb. 24 to July 2, 2020. It said the offer should...

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