Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 1,207,000
September 26, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 1,198,000
September 26, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 766,000
September 26, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 7,957,000
September 26, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 1,359,000
September 26, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 3,232,000
June 25, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 3,954,000
June 25, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 2,897,000
June 25, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 1,015,000
June 25, 2024
Catalyst III 2025-2027
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.
$ 2,739,000
June 25, 2024
