Archives: Grants (page 35)

The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic’s Criminalization of Women Pro-Bono Program seeks to increase access to justice for women in the Greater Toronto Area who have experienced violence and have been charged with and/or convicted of criminal offences. Through the program, the Clinic provides women with summary legal advice and brief services for their criminal law matters. Program participants with more complex criminal law needs can access a community of pro bono criminal defense lawyers for legal advice. The program is for survivors of violence, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, who come from underserved communities, and who have complex socio-economic and legal needs.

Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust will provide workshops, seminars, and in-class sessions in schools, educational institutions, and faculties of education, educating students and teachers about their civil rights and freedoms. It prepares the next generation of Canadians for civic engagement by introducing teens to the exploration of civil liberties, critical thought, and the development of democratic habits.

Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) will continue to serve as the central hub for all public legal education and information in Ontario. CLEO develops clear, accurate, and practical legal rights education and information to help people understand and exercise their legal rights, with a particular focus on support for trusted intermediaries. The use of trusted intermediaries significantly expands access to justice for low-income individuals and people from marginalized and vulnerable communities in Ontario.

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 as well as assisting with the family sponsorship and family reunification processes. The Centre primarily works with refugee claimants, rejected refugee claimants, individuals with precarious immigration status, temporary foreign workers, and those who have been trafficked. 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.

Innocence Canada is dedicated to identifying, advocating for, and exonerating individuals convicted of a crime that they did not commit and to preventing such injustices in the future through legal education and justice system reform. The Catalyst grant will enable the organization to continue to coordinate and administer its pro bono program, which reviews and assesses claims of innocence, as well as to enable the continuation of its legal education program.

The John Howard Society of Ontario (JHSO) will create an innovative new program to scope and serve the unmet civil legal needs of JHSO clients in Ontario. This grant will benefit JHSO clients, which includes people in provincial or federal correctional institutions, those recently released from those institutions, and other at-risk clients. Through the Catalyst grant, JHSO aims to develop programming that is responsive to the particular circumstances of justice-involved individuals who have civil legal problems.

L'Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario (AJEFO) raises awareness, informs, and educates the general public and jurists about their legal rights in the official language of their choice. It will offer services at its legal information centre in Ottawa and public legal education on its CliquezJustice.ca portal. AJEFO also plans to enhance its services for the general public. It will offer different workshops about justice-related topics across the province. This benefits Franco-Ontarians and other Ontarians.

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) will conduct research, provide multidisciplinary analysis, and develop reports on current and emerging legal policy issues. Partners include various justice sector organizations such as the Citizen Lab and the Criminal Lawyers Association. This grant will benefit justice sector stakeholders and the general public. Through the Catalyst grant, the LCO aims to promote access to justice and contribute to public debate.

Law in Action Within Schools is a partnership between the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, and the Toronto District School Board that delivers a law and justice-themed academic and extra-curricular high school program designed to teach students about law and justice. It will support them to graduate from high school, access post-secondary education, and consider a justice sector or legal profession career.

Luke’s Place serves women needing family support who have been subjected to abuse and the frontline workers and lawyers who assist them. It supports women and their children through the family law process. It provides both direct services and systemic support in Durham region and provincially. The Catalyst grant will enable the organization to expand access to summary legal advice at its Oshawa-based pro bono clinic, improve upon and expand its virtual legal clinic to rural southwestern Ontario (currently, in partnership with over 20 women-serving organizations the virtual clinic serves urban and rural areas in northwestern and northeastern Ontario), update its legal information resources and training materials, and evaluate the overall impact of its work.