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Justice Delayed, Technology Deployed: Rethinking How Ontario’s Tribunals Work
Ontario’s tribunal system exists to make justice more accessible. Tribunals resolve disputes that affect people’s homes, employment, human rights, and financial security. They are intended to offer a practical alternative to the cost and complexity of traditional litigation. Yet when cases remain unresolved for extended periods, accessibility loses much of its meaning. A right that cannot be exercised in a reasonable time may be a right in theory rather than in practice.
The question is not simply whether Ontario needs more adjudicators or greater funding. Those resources matter, but so does the way the system operates. When administrative processes are unnecessarily complicated, information is repeatedly entered, documents require manual review, and routine procedural tasks consume time that could be spent advancing cases, the system creates its own obstacles.
Artificial intelligence and automation deserve serious consideration as potential solutions. However, their value should be judged by a practical standard: can they help tribunals move cases forward more efficiently while preserving the fairness and independence that make adjudication legitimate?
