Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 166 v. Sir Sanford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology
PEHT Case No: 3176-24-PE
Ontario Public Service Employees Union/Syndicat des Employés de la Fonction Publique de l’Ontario, Local 166, Applicant v Sir Sanford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology, Respondent
BEFORE: M. David Ross, Chair
DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL: February 3, 2026
This is an application under the Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.7 as amended (“the Act”). This application was filed on March 31, 2025. This matter was filed with Review Services on January 22, 2021.
The parties signed a pre-hearing conference memorandum on August 15, 2025. In that memorandum, the parties identified that there is a preliminary issue which they require the Tribunal to decide before they can litigate the merits of the case. In the pre-hearing conference memorandum, the parties have requested a second pre-hearing conference hearing to be convened after the preliminary issue is decided.
A hearing was set for December 16, 2025 for the Tribunal to hear the preliminary matter. By letter dated November 19, 2025 the parties requested to adjourn the December 16, 2025 hearing date. The reason given was “the parties have had productive discussions toward potential resolution of this Application and are seeking this rescheduling to permit more time for those discussions in the hope that this matter can be resolved”. This request was granted and the date was rescheduled to February 26, 2026.
By letter dated February 3, 2026, the Tribunal received a request to adjourn the February 26, 2026 hearing. The parties provided no dates to reschedule the date to, only said that it should be after April 1, 2026. The parties have said that they are “engaged in productive decisions toward potential resolution of the preliminary issues of the Application”.
The request is denied. The hearing date is solely to resolve a preliminary issue. The parties have requested another prehearing conference date after that issue before the parties can start litigating the merits of the case.
This matter was brought to Review Services in January 2021. If was filed with the Tribunal on March 31, 2025. The Tribunal has already granted an adjournment to allow the parties to engage in their productive discussions to resolve the matter. The parties have been provided ample time to resolve preliminary matters between them.
The Tribunal has issued many decisions over the past few years that address the prejudice that delay has on proceedings. This is not withstanding the fact that perpetual delays in litigating a pay equity dispute does not advance the purposes of the Act. The most recent decision was issued only a few days ago on January 27, 2026 in Ontario Nurses’ Association and Algoma Health Unit which has not yet been reported on as of the date of this decision.
In the Tribunal’s view, a February 26, 2026 hearing date will either act as a deadline to focus the parties’ discussion to resolve their preliminary issues, or the preliminary issues will be heard and decided such that the hearing on the merits can be scheduled.
“M. David Ross”
M. David Ross, Chair