2022-23 Departmental Plan

I am pleased to present the Department of Justice Canada’s 2022-23 Departmental Plan.

This report provides information on the Department’s key priorities, as well as Justice Canada’s planned initiatives and activities for 2022-23. It highlights our objectives and future deliverables, and sets the course to help guide our efforts over the next fiscal year. In 2022-23, the Department of Justice Canada will continue to work alongside other departments and agencies on a variety of Government of Canada priorities through the delivery of high-quality, integrated legal advisory, litigation and legislative services, as well as programs and services to support the Canadian justice system.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on the lives of many Canadians. As we look ahead to the coming year, recovery efforts will remain a top government priority. We are committed to assisting the Government in this important work, and to helping our citizens in need by providing legal advice in areas such as vaccination planning, emergency support programs and recovery benefits, government debt management, and international trade law. The Department will also continue to support the Action Committee on Court Operations in Response to COVID-19 in its role of restoring Canadian court operations in a way that prioritizes the health and safety of participants and upholds the justice system’s fundamental values.

Our road to reconciliation includes acknowledging the failings of our past, as we make our way towards a brighter tomorrow. The recent identification of more than 1,000 unmarked graves and burial sites of Indigenous children who died in former Indian Residential Schools has shed light on decades of pain, inter-generational trauma and loss experienced by Indigenous peoples and communities. Strengthening and renewing our relationship with Indigenous peoples continues to be a key focus for the Department. We will support government efforts to advance meaningful reconciliation and self-determination through renewed Nation-to-Nation, Inuit-to-Crown, and government-to-government relationships and collaboration. Open and honest partnerships with Indigenous leaders, governments, stakeholders and organizations, based on the recognition of rights, respect, and cooperation, will be key in healing as a nation and in ensuring that our actions are informed by the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples.

The Department will continue to support meaningful action on various initiatives, including responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice, the Federal Pathway and National Action Plan. We will also advance work to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act including the development of an Action Plan, the development of an Indigenous Justice Strategy and the legislative reforms to support Indigenous child and family services. The Department will also support the appointment of an independent Special Interlocutor dedicated to working directly and collaboratively with First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments, representative organizations, communities and families, and other stakeholders, to identify needed measures and make recommendations relating to federal laws, regulations, policies and practices surrounding unmarked graves and burial sites at former residential schools.

There is a great deal of work ahead of us to make this country more just and inclusive for future generations. This includes addressing systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people, racialized groups and members of other marginalized populations in the criminal justice system. It also includes supporting criminal law reforms aimed at addressing gun violence, as well as work relating to the implementation of legislation that criminalizes conversion therapy to protect the dignity and equality rights of LGBTQ2+ persons, and federal family law reforms that prioritize the needs of children and families.

We will continue to strive for a legal framework and a justice system that reflects our values as Canadians: transparent, fair and free from discrimination. We will adapt and modernize our justice system to enhance access to justice for all participants during the pandemic and beyond. As we forge ahead amidst the uncertainty of the global pandemic, we remain steadfast in our commitments to ensuring a fair, effective, relevant and accessible justice system for all Canadians.

As Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I encourage Canadians to read this 2022-23 Departmental Plan to learn more about what we are doing to deliver on mandate commitments. I have full confidence that the Department will continue to serve all Canadians in an open and transparent way, as we support government efforts to build a more resilient economy and a cleaner, greener and healthier future for all our children.

The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada