Archives: Grants (page 10)

John Howard Society of York Region's (JHSYR) new program, WRAP: We Rise Against Pressure, complements their existing programs that prevent youth becoming involved in the criminal legal system. JHSYR will hire and equip two new case managers that will provide case management, court support/navigation, mentorship, and referrals to other supports. This funding will remove barriers for youth who are at risk of being involved in the criminal legal system and expand their service timelines for youth who have exhausted other service timelines and still need support, providing continuity of services.

The Conflict Analytics Lab (CAL) at Queen’s University is partnering with Pro Bono Ontario (PBO), a Foundation Catalyst grantee, and the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard (Harvard A2J Lab) to develop a housing focused AI tool integrated into CAL’s existing OpenJustice AI tool. This project phase will cover the creation of the housing focused AI logic and a randomized control trial (RCT) with the AI tool to test and validate the usefulness of the OpenJustice tool and the validity and accuracy of information OpenJustice provides PBO volunteer lawyers.

The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII) will use artificial intelligence to generate summaries of 96,000 Ontario judicial decisions and 51,980 federal case law and legislative documents. These summaries will be translated into both official languages and publicly available for free online access by legal professionals and the general public. This is phase 2 of the artificial intelligence summarization project, and will add to the 76,140 legal documents that were summarized in phase 1. The objective of the project is to make complex legal documents more accessible and searchable.

Durham Family & Cultural Centre, a Black-focused, Black-led, Black-serving (B3) charitable organization in Durham region, will hire a full-time Program Coordinator for one year to research other existing legal programs for Black and racialized youth and their families in Ontario to determine how to best meet their community’s legal needs.

The Navigating Our Rights (NOUR) project will equip Arab and African newcomer women in Ontario with culturally and linguistically tailored legal education, individualized navigation support, and peer-led community connections to overcome barriers to justice and strengthen their legal empowerment.

The Beyond Barriers initiative will strengthen access to justice for people with brain injuries in Ontario by expanding Brain Injury Association of Toronto’s online platform with survivor video narratives and plain-language legal information. The project will deliver a series of professional workshops and community forums and provide direct support to justice-involved individuals with acquired brain injury. Sessions will be developed in collaboration with the Project Consultant and placement coordinators, and delivered by the Project Outreach Coordinator, consultants, or legally trained volunteers depending on the audience and topic.

Equal Step: Supporting Equity Through Legal Education & Navigation is a joint initiative of The Help Centre and the Northumberland Community Legal Centre, aimed at improving access to justice for seniors and survivors of domestic violence in Northumberland County. The project will pair a Social Service Worker and a Paralegal/Community Legal Worker to deliver coordinated legal information, public legal education, document and form assistance, digital access support, and trauma-informed navigation through family, criminal, and civil legal processes. This work will strengthen clients’ ability to understand and exercise their legal rights, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities where access to justice is limited by geography, poverty, and systemic barriers.

Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario’s Justice Access and Legal Empowerment Program in Thunder Bay will support women and gender-diverse individuals. This multi-pronged initiative will deliver trauma-informed legal education and legal navigation services for individuals to understand their rights, engage effectively with the justice system, promote decarceration, and access legal resources.

Halton Women’s Place will maintain and increase access to supportive services in Halton and expand outreach efforts to include women in rural areas who often have a heightened risk of domestic violence due to isolation, limited resources, and fewer safe, accessible spaces.

Carleton University’s Ānako Indigenous Research Institute will develop and host their inaugural Ojigíjowewin Indigenous Legal Symposium. This will be a 3-day event in October 2025 to collaboratively gather the thoughts, feedback, and guidance of Indigenous legal experts as they pertain to false claims of Indigenous membership and identity. This symposium will bring together Indigenous legal experts to provide keynote presentations, participate in panel discussions, lead breakout sessions, and share their communities’ legal orders with respect to this topic.