Archives: Grants (page 28)

The Committee to Support Indigenous Youth Aging Out of Care (the Committee) will design and disseminate a legal information package for Indigenous youth across Ontario who are aging out of the foster care system. The Committee is comprised of lawyers from Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario who have relevant professional and lived experience. Partners include the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. This initiative will provide Indigenous youth with reliable and culturally relevant legal information to support their transition to adulthood.

Maggie’s Toronto Sex Worker's Action Project will consult sex workers in Toronto to identify their pressing legal concerns related to their encounters with law enforcement and discrimination in other areas of their work and lives, such as housing, employment, immigration, family law and child custody matters. In response to these consultations and in collaboration with sex worker advisory groups, the project will produce comprehensive, plain language public legal education resources.

R.I.S.E. Arts and Community Services (R.I.S.E.) will engage artists in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who will work alongside volunteer lawyers to produce a series of short informational videos accompanied by creative works such as images, songs, music, poetry, posters, and spoken word pieces. R.I.S.E. will also host public legal education (PLE) workshops for Black youth in the GTA, led by an artist and a legal educator. Partners include the Black Legal Action Centre and the Ontario Justice Education Network. This initiative will fill a gap in PLE resources that are engaging and culturally relevant to Black youth.

WomenatthecentrE will create an up-to-date, bilingual, and interactive website that provides information on the court process to youth in Ontario who are preparing to testify in criminal court, including those who are survivors of sexual assault. This new site will enable WomanatthecentrE feature to update and expand the information on the CourtPrep.ca website that was launched in 2004. This initiative will increase access to reliable information for youth navigating the court system.

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 Environmental Law Association (CELA) will develop a report and accompanying toolkit about establishing Indigenous-led and governed protected areas, known as Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) in Ontario. Partners include Asubpeeschoseewagnog Anishinabek (ANA or Grassy Narrows First Nation). CELA will work with the ANA land protection team and Elders to gather community insights to support the development of the report and toolkit. This initiative will support ANA’s ongoing efforts to establish an IPCA. CELA anticipates that the resources created will benefit other First Nations communities looking to do the same.

Peacebuilders International (Canada) will research and share findings on how extending the age for diversion could improve access to justice for youth aged 18-25 involved in or at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system in Toronto.

Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS)’s Summer Job Program will place students in paid four-week jobs with legal aid clinics and public interest organizations. The initiative benefits high school students involved in the LAWS program and offers them a unique opportunity to learn about access to justice, observe the legal aid system in action, and interact directly with the legal community.

Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) will use artificial intelligence to develop a custom classification for Ontario case law to enhance the CanLII website’s search capacity. The initiative seeks to make Ontario case law more accessible for users by making navigation easier based on area of law.

The Law Society of Ontario will launch a five-year pilot that allows providers of innovative technological legal services (ITLS) to serve consumers while complying with risk-based public protection requirements. Participants that meet expectations can receive permits from the Law Society to continue providing legal services in Ontario on an ongoing basis. The project responds to regulatory issues that innovators and consumers have faced in developing and using ITLS. It is designed to provide greater certainty about the rules and standards that will apply to ITLS providers and to provide consumers with increased choice and confidence that the assistance they receive is effective and safe.