Grants made

Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston will provide individualized wraparound court support and accompaniment, system navigation, referrals, public legal information, and practical assistance to women who have been charged with provincial and/or federal offences, are involved in family law matters, or face other legal challenges in the Kingston area. Partners for this work include Queen’s Law clinics.

Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University will continue to develop and build their legal clinic that will respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

The Hamilton HUB will expand its existing case management and system navigation programming to serve individuals including those experiencing homelessness, those restricted from other services, high-risk youth (ages 18-27), and those with substance use disorders. Services will include court support and public legal education about navigating the justice system.

The University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law will conduct activities that respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

Through this program, ABLE2 will increase legal knowledge for people with disabilities and provide them with referrals to appropriate legal professionals, including three hours of free legal advice. Volunteers from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Common Law will make referrals to volunteer lawyers, mediators, and paralegals. A plain-language legal library will be created to help clients better understand their rights and a Chat Box monitored by student volunteers will respond to questions and refer clients to relevant resources. Legal education workshops will be provided for people with disabilities, their families, caregivers, employers, community organizations, and the public.

African Community Services of Peel (ACSP) will establish a legal program to empower African newcomers and Black youth in Peel Region to better understand their rights and the justice system. The program will host legal education workshops, provide summary advice to individuals, enhance the scope of ACSP’s youth peer mentorship programs to include legal education, and facilitate digital literacy training. Partners include Peel Regional Police, individuals with lived experience, volunteer lawyers, and community legal clinics. The program aims to increase legal literacy and improve legal outcomes for newcomers and youth.

Animal Environmental Legal Advocacy will offer free summary legal advice to low and modest-income individuals and organizations facing animal and environmental legal challenges in Ontario. Working closely with law students to provide this service, it aims to address over 100 inquiries each year.

Disability Justice Network of Ontario will enhance its resources to continue to meet the needs identified by racialized people with disabilities who are incarcerated or otherwise in contact with the criminal justice system. Program activities will include the province-wide expansion of the EnAbling Justice: Access and Autonomy for Disabled People Facing Criminalization in Ontario handbook and the creation of accessible digital and print resources. The objective of this program is to support disabled people as they navigate the intersection of ableism, racism, and incarceration and give them increased knowledge, confidence, and autonomy when their dignity and freedom are at stake.

The Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University will conduct activities that respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

NELO Immigrant and Community Services (NICS) will provide legal education workshops to newcomers in the Black Creek community in Toronto. Workshop topics will include immigration and refugee law, employment rights and protections, housing rights, family law, and legal aid and access to services. The workshop presentations and materials will be published online and on social media in the languages spoken by NICS clients. Partners include pro bono lawyers and the Rexdale Community Legal Clinic. The objective of the project is to fill a gap in culturally sensitive legal information and access to services to newcomers in the Black Creek area.

Osgoode Hall Law School will conduct activities that respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

Queen’s University, Faculty of Law will conduct activities that respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

The Working Centre will support unhoused people in Kitchener, including those who are drug users and repeatedly involved in the criminal justice system, who incur preventable administrative charges. The project aims to help this group overcome the barriers they face in understanding the court system. With three added staff members, it will be better able to provide system navigation services through the court process, as well as community system navigation and referrals. Additionally, the program will inform clients of unknown warrants they may have and support them to turn themselves in and develop a plan.

University of Ottawa, Civil Law Section will provide experiential learning opportunities for students through 8 co-op internships and summer school opportunities in Indigenous communities. It will continue to operate the Notarial Law Clinic and the Interdisciplinary Clinic in Social Law (in partnership with the School of Social Work and the School of Nursing). It will also produce a documentary related to legal research identified during the year.

University of Ottawa, Common Law Section will provide experiential learning for students through various clinics including the Prison Law Clinic, Startup Law Clinic, EcoJustice Clinic, Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, and Mediation Clinic. It will also prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion through mentorship and fellowship programs and a tutorial program for students from equity-seeking groups.

University of Toronto, Faculty of Law will conduct activities that respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

University of Windsor, Faculty of Law will conduct activities that respond to access to justice needs in the local community and provide student enrichment opportunities through experiential learning and other means.

This partnership will allow Laidlaw Foundation to expand support for Black and Indigneous youth-led access to justice initiatives through their Youth Action Fund. Funding will be used to support 10 grassroots projects addressing systemic barriers in education, justice, and child welfare.

The Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest (KNCLN), in partnership with Queen’s Law and Queen’s Law clinics, will establish the Katarokwi Indigenous Law Clinic (KILC) in Kingston by studying best practices in Indigenous legal services, support, education, and advocacy. The clinic will host an articling student to provide frontline legal services and connect clients with existing services at Queen’s Law. This project will develop a business plan and long-term funding strategy and support the development of a legal clinic tailored to the particular needs of the Kingston Indigenous community.

The National Right to Housing Network will support civil society organizations and rights holders in Ontario to participate in review panel hearings under the federal National Housing Strategy Act. This project will develop public legal education materials on national and international housing rights laws, and provide support to participate in review panels. This project aims to enable meaningful engagement in access to justice mechanisms to advance the right to housing.

The Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters is focused on fostering engagement, pursuing a strategic approach to reforms, and coordinating the efforts of participants across the country concerned with civil and family justice. It will undertake various activities including: ongoing national coordination; holding its annual summit, regional colloquia, and communities of practice events; and continuing to work on its justice development goals and justice metrics.

Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) will provide culturally appropriate legal services for Canadian Muslim women seeking advice on family law issues and assist clients to navigate between Muslim family laws and the Canadian legal system. CCMW will also update its existing legal publications and develop and conduct a series of workshops on topics including family law, employment rights, and immigration law aimed at Muslim women and community leaders and volunteers, the latter who will be trained to deliver workshops at chapters throughout Ontario.

COMPASS Refugee Centre will expand its virtual Canada-US border clinic based in Ontario. This initiative will benefit border crossers seeking protection in Canada, potential anchor relatives in Canada, NGOs in Ontario and the United States, and Canadian immigration lawyers. The objective of the project is to provide quality legal information and advice for border crossers and those who serve them.

Direct Your Life, in partnership with correctional and probational institutions, will develop a comprehensive guidebook to support individuals navigating parole or probation in Ontario. The guidebook will provide clear, practical legal information and resources tailored to individuals on parole and probation. The guidebook will support groups who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and who face greater barriers to accessing legal information and other supports, particularly women, racial minorities, and individuals with lower socioeconomic status.

Hamilton Community Legal Clinic will build the capacity of stakeholders throughout Ontario to provide legal and rights-based support to underserved and marginalized Ontarians and increase health equity and access to justice through a health justice partnership framework. Activities will include interactive training and outreach sessions, and a multidisciplinary conference. They will work in partnership with representatives of the Ontario Health Justice Partnerships Community of Practice, a provincewide network of legal and health practitioners and academics.

HIV Legal Network will produce legal resources and deliver workshops that respond to pressing legal questions that shelters have about enhancing access for women and gender-diverse people who use drugs. Information will also outline shelters’ human rights and public health obligations to provide low-barrier, non-discriminatory care.

The Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation will receive additional support for a triage lawyer to continue to provide timely and free legal services to families who experience barriers to system navigation and/or access to resources, covering a comprehensive range of legal issues. The program recognizes and responds to the financial hardship that families of children and youth with disabilities are more likely to experience arising from legal challenges, related to loss of employment or immigration status, language barriers, workplace or school accommodations, and difficulty navigating government and community support services.

In partnership with Community Legal Education Ontario, the Centre will develop a Guided Pathway tool to assist individuals to complete and file a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario application in English or French. With Osgoode Hall Law School, the Centre will pilot a project to expand its early resolution and mediation services program to support more unrepresented claimants at the earliest stages of their human rights disputes, with a particular focus on mediations. The Centre will also hire a paralegal to assist with intake, application-stage services, and representing clients at mediations.

Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS) delivers an academic and extra-curricular program to teach young people about law and justice and to support them in graduating high school, accessing post-secondary education, gaining summer jobs related to legal public interest and social justice organizations, and considering a justice or legal career. It focuses on high school students experiencing barriers to postsecondary success.

The Métis Nation of Ontario’s Advocacy Program increases the understanding of individual rights, responsibilities, and the legal system, encompassing knowledge and awareness of laws, regulations, and legal processes, including Gladue report supports and services, that affect the lives of Métis people.

REST will address the needs of homeless and at-risk Black youth (ages 16 to 24) in Peel Region by providing culturally responsive legal education, training, and wraparound support to assist youth to navigate housing-related legal challenges, to prevent evictions, and to secure stable housing.

The Second Chance Scholarship Foundation will provide a post-secondary education scholarship to a student who is, has been, or is at risk of becoming in conflict with the law and who is enrolled in a college or university program relating to legal education.

Social Planning Council Oxford will maintain and expand the work of its Oxford Tenant Support Network that advises tenants about their rights to housing primarily through a telephone helpline. The Council will engage in outreach with community agencies to set up two-way referrals, run the hotline with trained peer workers, and provide legal information workshops on housing law topics.

The Agapè Centre (Agape) will create a weekly community legal information hub and host quarterly community legal education sessions on topics such as encampments and the family court process. The hub aims to address the unmet legal needs of Agapè users who struggle to meet their food security issues, while legal issues compound in their lives.

Vision of Hope Resource Centre’s Youth Legal Empowerment Project Needs Assessment will implement a community survey to better understand the landscape of anti-Black racism affecting youth in Brampton and Peel Region and gaps in programs and services for Black and racialized youth within the community and criminal justice system.

In response to harmful interactions between police and racialized neurodiverse youth, Youth Alliance for Intersectional Justice will implement consultations with community agencies that work with racialized neurodiverse youth, and will host education forums with young people to strategize improved interactions between police and racialized neurodiverse youth in the Greater Toronto Area. Upon completion of these activities, an impact report with recommendations will be produced. Resources for racialized neurodiverse youth will also be created and housed on an online database, supporting them to access legal information regarding their rights that avoids legalese and complex content.

YWCA Hamilton will create two roles to meet the specific legal needs of two groups: pregnant/parenting women who have been incarcerated or involved in the justice system and women involved in the sex trade (who have an inherently higher risk of being involved with the justice system). YWCA Hamilton will provide court and legal navigation support and specialized information and connection to services around family law, custody, medical access, child welfare and visitation, and other family law needs. It will also host ‘Know Your Rights’ workshops that provide women with a safe space to access relevant legal information, ask questions, and share experiences and challenges in accessing legal services.

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) will facilitate meetings of the Council of Experts in Indigenous Laws and host the 3rd Indigenous Laws Gathering (ILG) in Ontario. AFN will partner with First Nations and regional organizations, such as the Chiefs of Ontario, to organize the ILG incorporating the customs, protocols, and Indigenous law considerations of the host First Nation(s). AFN will also work with faculties of law in Ontario to encourage participation of students and faculty. The goal of this initiative is to advance legal education and research on the recognition of Indigenous laws.

Black Law Students’ Association of Canada (BLSA Canada) will host its annual conference benefiting Black law students from across the country. BLSA Canada aims to foster connections between Black law students and legal professionals to promote professional development, legal education, and cultural awareness within the legal sector.

The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) is a national nonprofit organization with a mandate to advance civil and family justice reform. Over the next three years, CFCJ will learn more about people’s justice pathways and the dispute resolution models showing promise in meeting people’s legal needs. To achieve this, it will explore justice solutions and their impact, gather socio-legal data, and research insights relevant to Ontario’s civil and family justice landscapes.

Horizons, in collaboration with the Northumberland Community Legal Centre and Niagara Community Legal Clinic, will develop a new collective program that will provide legal education and support to Migrant Agricultural Workers (MAWs) in Northumberland County and Niagara Region. The initiative will deliver legal information sessions, provide on-farm outreach, and enhance knowledge exchange between the partners to create best practices. As the number of MAWs increases in the region, including those who are in Ontario year-round, the project aims to address the gaps in legal services and education for MAWs in understanding their legal rights in Ontario.

Mushkegowuk Council aims to revitalize its Omushkego laws and build an Indigenous-led justice system, starting with an in-person Justice Conference in Timmins that will include participants from each of the seven Mushkegowuk First Nations. With the conference as a launchpad, the Council will then develop a comprehensive Justice Strategy to outline next steps. While the initial direction will come from the conference, a Justice Advisory Committee will be established for ongoing feedback and direction.

S.H.I.F.T. (Support and Hope for Individuals and Families Today) will partner with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights to provide staff and client training on housing rights. This initiative will also supplement staff hours to assist S.H.I.F.T.’s shelter clients in South Simcoe with personalized supports on housing rights issues. The objective is to increase understanding of tenant rights and improve housing retention as clients move out of the shelter system and into permanent housing.

The Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region will launch a legal advocacy project in Waterloo Region, supporting newcomer survivors of gender-based violence. Funding will be used to hire a new full-time Newcomer Legal Advocate, cover essential training expenses, and ensure accessible client services including transportation and interpretation support for approximately 100 newcomer survivors each year. Funding will expand SASC’s legal advocacy program to promote legal literacy, empower survivors of gender-based violence, and enhance access to justice for newcomers in Waterloo Region.

The Justice and Equity Lab at St Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health), conducts research at the intersection of health, justice, and social-structural inequities with a focus on the health and social challenges associated with brain injury, criminal justice involvement, and homelessness. This project aims to reduce barriers to communication and compliance, in order to improve outcomes of the bail process in Toronto for people with a history of brain injury. This project will improve outcomes for people with brain injuries going through the bail process by equipping criminal justice professionals with tools to identify and better serve clients, whilst also directing clients to additional community-based supports.

This two-year partnership will support the Black Opportunity Fund’s Justice Grant Program. The program will expand the number and duration of grants to Black-led, Black-serving, and Black-focused not-for-profits that provide justice-related services to Black communities.

The Brain Injury Association Waterloo Wellington will develop and implement training for family law services, healthcare providers, and other professionals around how to recognize brain injury (BI) in intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. It will also develop resources to assist survivors of IPV with BI to navigate the family law system effectively and will work with researchers to better understand the experiences of IPV survivors with BI in the family court system.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust (CCLET) delivers workshops to educate Ontario students, teachers, newcomers, and the public about their civil rights and freedoms, and democracy more broadly. This initiative increases access to reliable and youth-centric information on civil liberties. CCLET will expand its efforts to deepen relationships and programming for Indigenous and northern Ontario communities and develop new resources for students and teachers interested in starting Gender Sexuality Alliances in their schools.

Aîné/es avisé/es (Informed Elders) is a French-language legal education project designed to educate and advise Ontario seniors about their rights, helping them make informed decisions. It includes legal education workshops and one-on-one in-person legal sessions provided remotely for seniors.

The Federation of Black Canadians (FBC) will carry out a needs assessment and environmental scan to develop a Know Your Rights curriculum for its Supports for Student Learning Program (SSLP) in Brampton and Ottawa. FBC will establish an advisory group, engage previous SSLP participants in Ontario to understand their needs, and carry out an environmental scan of public legal education resources and partnerships. This initiative will benefit Black youth in Ontario by expanding the SSLP program and providing Know Your Rights information online on FBC’s Black Pulse platform.

Innocence Canada is dedicated to identifying, advocating for, and supporting the exoneration of individuals wrongly convicted of a crime, and to preventing future wrongful convictions through legal education, and justice system reform.

John Howard Society of Canada will provide legal support and education to prisoners held in solitary confinement in two federal prisons – the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener and the Millhaven Institution for men near Kingston. It will visit the prisons to ensure prisoners are aware of and can exercise the rights afforded to them in solitary confinement. It will also conduct educational activities with the Correctional Officers at both prisons regarding the obligations of Correctional Service Canada and the role of civil society organizations when serving prisoners in confinement.

The Childhood Arrivals Support and Advocacy Program works to support undocumented childhood arrivals. These are young people who were moved to Canada as children who have lived all their lives without official authorization or documentation, and thus are vulnerable to deportation to birth countries where they have little to no connection. Activities include outreach to youth, teachers, and parents through schools and community programs and legal system navigation, including legal support, in an effort to file permanent residence applications.

Luke’s Place (LP) supports women in Durham region who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV), as well as their families, and the professionals who support them to navigate the family law system. LP’s services include a legal clinic, family court support, legal information sessions, resources to help women understand their rights, and a family law resource room for women to safely access computers to complete family court documents or attend virtual court hearings. LP also leads trainings for service providers and lawyers who support abused women through family court.

The Muslim Legal Support Centre (MLSC) connects Muslim communities across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to volunteer lawyers who provide free summary advice, legal document preparation, and guidance on navigating legal processes. MLSC also hosts public legal education sessions and drop-in clinics in partnership with community organizations in the GTA. This initiative enhances Muslim communities’ access to culturally responsive and accessible legal support.

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project is dedicated to better understanding the needs, motivations, and challenges of self-represented litigants (SRLs) in civil and family courts and administrative tribunals. It promotes new and more affordable models of legal service delivery that better support SRLs. It is committed to the development of practical resources geared specifically to SRL’s needs, especially in relation to cultural and procedural matters that can often confound them.

Northern Justice Watch aims to provide legal education to the approximately 50,000 Ontarians from the following communities, the: Hizmet Movement in Turkey, Yezidis in Northern Iraq and Syria, Hazaras in Afghanistan, and Tigray in Ethiopia. This project will research the legal needs of these communities, develop curriculum on Canadian and international human rights laws, conduct outreach through partner organizations, deliver legal education workshops, establish a network of human rights lawyers, and provide referrals. It aims to increase legal literacy among participating communities to enhance their capacity to exercise their rights, engage with the legal system, and seek justice for crimes against humanity.

Pro Bono Ontario (PBO) develops and manages programs that connect volunteer lawyers with Ontarians who can’t afford a lawyer. Wherever possible, it embeds its free legal services in front-line environments like courthouses, schools, and hospitals – places frequented by people with legal problems they can’t afford to address. Its signature program is its Legal Advice Hotline where it provides up to 30 minutes of free legal advice and assistance with civil law matters in Ontario (no family law, immigration, or criminal). PBO plans to transform its volunteer outreach and recruitment strategies, and to improve its use of technology to streamline the client and volunteer experience.

Intersections is an evidence-informed early intervention program that helps children and youth (8-17) access appropriate supports and services to reduce the likelihood of becoming involved in the justice system. This grant will support the costs of a social worker who will complete intake of young people referred by police, and refer them to relevant services such as anger management, education support, internet safety, or human trafficking support services.

The 519’s Access to Justice Program responds to the legal needs of BIPOC 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Toronto and Ontario. The 519 offers a general summary advice legal clinic, specialty legal clinics for criminal law, immigration and refugee law, housing law, and Trans ID matters. It also offers refugee mock hearings, a court support program, and public legal education workshops. Expanded efforts will support more access to justice services and programs for trans and non-binary populations and the production of a handbook with a focus on Ontario Law as a critical response to rising hate and violence against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

The Family Court Advocacy Program improves access to justice for women in Halton navigating the family law and court process. It provides case management support including preparation for and accompaniment to legal appointments and court proceedings, risk assessments and safety planning, information about family court and family law issues, and assisting women to explore options and next steps such as dispute resolution. In addition, it aims to inform women of family law issues through public legal education workshops.

By supporting legal staff costs, this grant will support the Newcomer Legal Clinic to provide legal advice to clients abused by employers or partners, supports refugee claims, and supports resettled refugees to navigate the complex family reunification process. It also supports out-of-status migrants hoping to regularize their status. It is the only provider of free comprehensive legal support to migrants and refugees in Northwestern Ontario.

United for Literacy’s (UL) Supporting Self-Advocacy for People Involved with the Justice System project will produce and disseminate legal resources to both formerly incarcerated and currently incarcerated individuals in federal custody in Ontario. UL, in partnership with several justice-focused organizations and Correctional Service of Canada, will provide accessible information about the complex systems that impact prisoners on a digital learning platform, to improve the abilities of people within correctional facilities and post-release to navigate the corrections and court systems.

Intersections is an evidence-informed early intervention program that helps children and youth (8-17) access appropriate supports and services to reduce the likelihood of becoming involved in the justice system. This grant will support the costs of a social worker who will complete intake of young people referred by police, and refer them to relevant services such as anger management, education support, internet safety, or human trafficking support services.

Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) supports Indigenous community members across Ontario who are experiencing legal issues. ALS offers legal services such as court workers, Gladue services, a post-charge diversion program, an alternative dispute resolution program for child welfare matters, and justice circles. This initiative will enhance Indigenous communities’ access to legal services that are culturally responsive.

L’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario (AJEFO) will offer public services including free 30-minute consultations with a lawyer, in French or English, to anyone with a legal problem in the province. AJEFO also operates cliquezjustice.ca, which houses simplified legal information to assist users to better manage everyday legal issues. AJEFO also hosts legal workshops, and creates simplified legal resources for vulnerable groups. Additionally, it facilitates Law Days, which provide an opportunity for secondary students in French-language high schools to explore themes related to justice. This initiative will enhance Ontarians’ access to French language legal services

The Criminalization of Women Pro-Bono Project at the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic (BSCC) will provide trauma-informed summary legal advice, brief services, high need case management, and referrals to women and non-binary people who have experienced gender-based violence and have been charged with or convicted of a criminal offence. This initiative will connect women and non-binary people to responsive and trauma-informed legal support.

The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR)’ Pro Bono and Public Education Program provides legal support that is tailored to the needs of low-income tenants in Ontario who face eviction or experience human rights violations connected to their housing. CCHR offers educational programming for service providers, workshops for community members, system navigation support, and referrals to volunteer lawyers. CCHR will also research emerging and ongoing legal challenges in housing across Ontario, enhance staff training on diversity, equity and inclusion, and implement a development strategy and impact measurement framework. This initiative enhances tenants’ access to timely and reliable legal support.

The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) will use Artificial Intelligence to generate 76,140 summaries of Ontario case law and legislation. These summaries will be translated into both official languages and publicly available for free online access by legal professionals and the general public. The objective of the project is to make complex legal documents more accessible and searchable.

Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) develops clear, accurate, and practical legal education and information to help Ontarians understand and exercise their legal rights, especially those who face barriers to accessing the justice system. The CLEO Connect program offers training and resources for trusted intermediaries who assist people with low incomes to identify and address their legal issues. CLEO will also conduct public legal education (PLE) research for the benefit of legal education stakeholders, and will launch a Generative AI in PLE project to enhance the usability of CLEO’s Guided Pathways website, which assists users to complete legal forms. CLEO’s work will enhance access to justice for Ontarians by making legal information more widely available in accessible formats, and by making legal documents easier to complete.

Connecting Ottawa coordinates a consortium of over 50 legal and non-legal organizations to implement a regional plan to provide legal information and referrals to people who are not proficient in English or French or who face communication challenges as the result of a disability or sensory impairment. The initiative enhances linkages between legal and community workers in Ontario.

EmpowerHer Diversity Hub will conduct a legal needs assessment to better understand the legal needs and available resources for agricultural workers, international students, and other vulnerable groups in Ontario including survivors of gender-based violence with precarious immigration status. Research results will inform the development of resources that address the most pressing legal needs of the community, as well as produce a map that identifies existing legal resources and services available to the target communities.

The FCJ Refugee Centre serves refugees and others at risk due to their immigration status through all steps of the refugee determination and refugee appeals processes. The Centre primarily works with refugee claimants, rejected refugee claimants, individuals with precarious immigration status, temporary foreign workers, and those who have been victims of human trafficking. It also provides training workshops and legal education materials for frontline workers who serve refugees in the Greater Toronto Area and other parts of southern Ontario on aspects of the immigration and refugee process and procedures. The Catalyst grant will help the Centre to ensure it has the capacity and expertise to serve its clients and assist other organizations to do so, as well as to ensure its evolution and sustainability.

Gillian’s Place, located in St. Catharines, will hire a Family Court Support Worker to support its Legal Program that provides free legal advice, information, and referrals to help women who have experienced intimate partner violence through the family and criminal court systems.

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) is Ontario’s leading law reform agency, conducting research, providing multidisciplinary analysis, and reports on emerging legal policy issues. The LCO will continue to conduct research focused on artificial intelligence, consumer protections, environmental accountability, and protection orders. The LCO will create reports in multiple languages, and build new partnerships to expand the reach of their research. The LCO aims to promote access to justice and contribute to public debate to benefit the general public and justice sector stakeholders.

Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence (LAND) will develop culturally appropriate legal resources and deliver in community trainings on environmental and Indigenous rights in northern Ontario. LAND will establish an Advisory Circle of Indigenous Knowledge Holders. The project will strengthen Indigenous community members’ knowledge of their rights, and their ability to participate in project decision-making and consultations with governments and industry.

Level will deliver and grow its three youth programs in Ontario: (1) the Indigenous Youth Outreach Program (IYOP), a justice education and mentorship program for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth, (2) the Environmental Justice Program, a program to provide knowledge and skills for youth to advocate for environmental justice, and (3) the Black Youth Justice Program, providing justice education and mentorship to Black youth. These programs encourage youth to increase their critical thinking and leadership skills and their knowledge of the law and careers in justice.

Ontario Justice Education Network will engage the judiciary, the Bar, the courts, and the education community throughout Ontario by developing and growing innovative educational tools that introduce young people to the justice system. This initiative will provide young people with tools to understand the law and develop the ability to address their own legal issues. OJEN will increase the range and depth of its public legal education initiatives, focusing on increased Francophone resources, more in-person programming, website redesign, and increased learning from Indigenous partners to inform approaches to programs and services.

Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) provides legal help without charge to low-income individuals and nonprofit organizations, and experiential learning opportunities to law students. With chapters in 22 of 23 Canadian law schools, PBSC develops legal placements for law students in a range of work settings including legal clinics, nonprofit organizations, courts, and tribunals. Under the supervision of a lawyer, student volunteers draft memos, develop and deliver legal education workshops, assist lawyers and duty counsel with client intake, assist clients with document preparation, represent clients before tribunals and courts, and provide legal information to clients.

The Probono Inmate Appeal Program (PIAP) coordinates and supports a roster of experienced criminal appellate counsel to act as duty counsel on the appeals of unrepresented appellants in criminal cases before the Court of Appeal for Ontario. PIAP will also provide guidance on procedure and strategy for ineffective assistance of counsel appeals. This initiative will enhance unrepresented appellants’ access to legal support.

The Seizure and Brain Injury Centre will make legal services accessible to people living with brain injuries in northern Ontario. It will create accesible toolkits tailored for people with brain injuries, and will develop a list of legal professionals trained in working with clients with brain injuries. By expanding its laptop library, more clients in remote communities will be able to access virtual court. The object of this project is to enhance access to justice for northern Ontarians living with brain injuries.

The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History studies and promotes public interest in the history of the law, the legal profession, and the judiciary in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada. It does so by publishing books on Canadian legal history, creating and preserving an oral history archive, supporting academic research, and hosting a diverse range of topical educational events.

Victim Services Toronto will work with Toronto Police 51 Division to provide victims with trauma support, legal information, case management, court accompaniment, and will provide a direct link to the Crown Attorney stationed at 51 Division. This project aims to advance access to justice by connecting police, the criminal justice system, community support agencies, and victims of crimes.

The Workers Action Centre (WAC) will expand their reach to benefit temporary, low-wage and precarious workers across southern Ontario. WAC will operate a workers’ rights phone line in 6 languages and lead workshops about workers’ rights to improve access to justice for multi-racial and immigrant workers who have little protection and power in the workplace, and who are unable to adequately deal with violations or access labour and human rights protections.

The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) will develop legal education resources on the duty to consult First Nations. COO will carry out legal and policy research, and conduct outreach and engagement with the 133 First Nations in Ontario. This initiative will benefit First Nations in Ontario, and the Governments of Ontario and Canada, by providing guidance on standards for accomodation and consultation practices.

Ottawa & District Injured Workers’ Group willl grow its University Clinic Project in partnership with the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. The clinic supports workers across the province whose claims for WSIB have been rejected by providng legal expertise in identifying potention objections a client may have to a WSIB decision. The project’s goal is to enhance access to justice for people injured at work in Ontario.

The Algoma Community Legal Clinic will host articling students to support its work to provide representation to low-income people living in Sault Ste. Marie and district. The articling students will represent clients at the Landlord and Tenant Board, work on matters involving the Ontario Disability Support Program and on other benefit issues, as well as provide representation and community outreach in the area of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Amnesty International Canada will host articling students to support its research and action with respect to a variety of pressing international and national human rights concerns. Its work is both focused on individual situations such as taking up the case of an individual who is detained as a prisoner of conscience as well as on reform initiatives, seeking to create the legal, political, and social conditions that prevent human rights violations from occurring in the first place.

Animal Justice Canada will host articling students to support its work to prevent cruelty to animals through the enforcement of existing laws and increasing public awareness. The articling students will conduct legal research, draft motions and pleadings, participate in strategy and policy meetings, and draft public legal education materials.

The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic will host articling students to support its work providing legal services to women and non-binary survivors of gender-based violence, and in systemic advocacy initiatives including public legal education and law reform.

The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR) will host articling students to support its work to advance the right to housing. The articling students will assist tenants who are facing eviction or other housing-related legal issues, participate in the development and delivery of public legal education materials and workshops, and conduct research to support CCHR’s policy and litigation work.

Community Justice Collective will host articling students to support its work alongside community organizers and social justice movements in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas to challenge displacement, criminalization, exploitation, and racism.

Egale Canada Human Rights Trust will host articling students to support its work advancing the rights of 2SLGBTQI people in Canada, through reseach, awareness and legal advocacy.

Innocence Canada will host articling students to support its work to identify, advocate for, and exonerate individuals who have been convicted of a serious crime that they did not committ and to prevent future miscarriages of justice through legal education. The articling students will assist with case review and investigation, and completing applications of wrongful conviction.

The John Howard Society of Canada will host articling students to support its work to promote just, effective, and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime. The articling students will assist in policy and law reform proposals, litigation research and preparation, and guidance to prisoners and former prisoners on legal issues.

Luke’s Place will host articling students to support its work improving the experience of women and their children as they deal with family law issues after fleeing abusive relationships. Luke’s Place provides training, resources and mentoring to service providers across Ontario, and provides free legal services including summary legal advice and court form drafting support.

Peacebuilders International (Canada) will host articling students to support its Restorative Youth Circles program where youth have the potential to have their court cases diverted pre-trial out of the court system. The articling students will also assist with criminal record suspensions, public legal education, and policy development.

Pro Bono Ontario (PBO) will host articling students to support its work leveraging volunteer lawyers to assist low-income Ontarians in the area of civil, non-family law. The articling students will provide support to lawyers serving clients who call PBO’s Free Legal Advice Hotline, and for those where lawyers are providing enhanced services, including representation.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre will host articling students to support its work providing legal, advocacy, and research services on behalf of those elements of the public interest that would otherwise be unable to be adequately heard before courts, tribunals, and decision-makers.