Archives: Grants (page 2)

Ontario Nature will collaborate with Indigenous communities, forestry companies, and local organizations to identify effective legal pathways for protecting Designated Conservation Lands located within Ontario’s Forest Stewardship Council certified forests. Each year, the project will engage with forest management units to develop tailored protection strategies that reflect community and regional priorities. These efforts support broader conservation goals, including contributing to Canada’s target of protecting 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030.

Kinbrace Community Society will improve and maintain its My Refugee Claim initiative. It provides accessible, multilingual, public legal education resources, including Ready Tours, that help refugee claimants understand the refugee protection system and prepare for their refugee hearings.

Christie Refugee Welcome Centre (CRWC) will run the Child Representative Program which will provide minors with qualified volunteer designated representatives and expand staff capacity to provide specialized legal support to all unaccompanied and separated children navigating immigration legal proceedings in Ontario.

Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough (EFRY-P) will provide support to the Indigenous People’s Court E. Naaknind Anishinabek (IPCENA) in Peterborough. EFRY-P will also sustain and grow their established Justice Services Court Case Management program, increasing their capacity to deliver services and to meet the needs of marginalized clients. Staff will support clients to access information, legal resources, and wraparound supports.

HIV Legal Network (HIVLN) will equip people who use drugs, service providers, and shelter staff across Ontario with accessible legal information to navigate the province’s evolving drug policy landscape. HIVLN will develop and disseminate legal and policy resources (Q&As, toolkits, and web-based guides) in English and French, with culturally tailored content for Indigenous, Black, and gender-diverse communities. HIVLN will continue to partner with community organizations to determine their language needs and to develop workshops and webinars that address key legal questions related to improving access for women, trans, and gender-diverse people who use drugs, particularly within shelter settings.

The John Howard Society of Ontario's Centre of Research and Policy will undertake sector-wide research on the impacts of the legal system’s adoption of digital technology on the most vulnerable justice-involved Ontarians. Funding will support a new Legal Coordinator position and honoraria for research participants and a Core Advisory Committee. They will conduct a needs assessment and then research with people with lived experience, service providers, and lawyers. Using the research, they will design a public legal education program model for people with lived experience and service providers to address the gaps and barriers identified with digital technology uptake.

Peacebuilders International (Canada) will grow its Restorative Youth Circles Court Diversion Program and introduce court navigation, case management, and aftercare support. In partnership with the Youth Justice Transformation Lab, it will also grow its public legal education program to improve understanding of the youth justice system, anti-black racism, and anti-racist approaches. These programs will benefit youth in the criminal justice system, particularly black and racialized youth, by reducing delays, alleviating court backlogs, diminishing stigma and trauma, reducing recidivism, and fill gaps in navigation and aftercare.

The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres will strengthen its Indigenous and Human Rights Program. This program seeks to combat anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination by building knowledge about human rights among urban Indigenous communities.

Thunder Bay Multicultural Association will sustain and expand its Newcomer Legal Clinic (NLC). TBMA will support key staff (a supervising lawyer, outreach coordinator, and intake worker) while broadening access to legal advice, application support, and representation in immigration proceedings and Federal Court. NLC will also formalize its support for frontline service providers and expand regional outreach through regular visits and public legal education sessions.

Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) will strengthen and expand its public legal education programs in Ontario by delivering workshops on technology-facilitated gender-based violence, workplace discrimination and harassment, reproductive justice, and consent and sexual assault law to high school and post-secondary students and to community organizations. LEAF will also expand its public legal education resources in response to emerging needs and requests, develop and implement a standard volunteer training program, review and amend materials based on feedback and updates to the law, and leverage digital and new media to access wider audiences.