Introduction

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) is the federal legislation that governs the criminal justice system (CJS) for youth aged 12 through 17. The Act came into force on April 1, 2003 to replace the Young Offenders Act (YOA), which was more punitive in nature. In fact, the YCJA was implemented to assist in providing a solution to the reality that the Canadian youth custody rate was higher than the adult rate; one of the highest in the Western world (DeGusti 2008). In 2001/02, there were 14 youth sentenced to custody for every per 10,000 youth population; representing a total of 15,100 admissions that year (Marinelli 2004).Footnote 1 The YCJA introduced a framework for fairer and more effective justice outcomes for youth (and victims) involved in the CJS. The Act promotes youth rehabilitation and reintegration into society through diversion from the formal justice system and greater community involvement in responding to youth crime, while also promoting responsibility and accountability through measures that are proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the youth’s stage of development (YCJA s 3).Footnote 2

In support of these goals, section 19 of the YCJA introduced conferences as a means to assist both decision makers, and youth involved in the CJS. These provide an opportunity for various professionals and stakeholders, including the young person concerned and their family, to come together to discuss the matter in a more informal setting in order to formulate recommendations about the young person’s case.

Despite the introduction of section 19 conferences almost 20 years ago, little is known about their use in Canada, and there is a lack of empirical evidence on their impact and effectiveness. To address these gaps in knowledge, the Department of Justice Canada conducted a national survey in 2020. The purpose of this research was to better understand how provinces and territories are using section 19 of the YCJA (and other related sections). This research also aimed to gain insight into ways of addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous and racialized youth in the CJS. This report provides a summary of key survey results and findings.