4. Programs Overview
General Note that Links Justice Programs to Mandate Letter Commitments
Department of Justice programs provide a strong platform for working with provinces, territories and other key stakeholders to achieve mandate letter and other Government of Canada priorities.
New Mandate Letter Priority: Advance the priorities of Indigenous communities to reclaim jurisdiction over the administration of justice in collaboration with the provinces and territories, and support and fund the revitalization of Indigenous laws, legal systems and traditions.
- Budget 2019 included $10 million over five years to support the revitalization of Indigenous laws and legal traditions.
- This funding responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 50, which calls on the federal government, in collaboration with Indigenous organizations, to fund the establishment of Indigenous law initiatives for the development, use and understanding of Indigenous laws and access to justice in accordance with the unique cultures of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
- Funding for this initiative is provided through the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program, and began in fiscal year 2019-20.
New Mandate Letter Priority: Reduce reliance on mandatory minimum penalties and promote non-criminal approaches to drug possession.
New Mandate Letter Priority: Make drug treatment courts (DTC) the default option for first-time non-violent offenders.
- The Drug Treatment Court Funding Program supports provincially and territorially administered drug treatment courts.
- These courts provide non-violent offenders with an alternative to incarceration by offering them the opportunity to complete a court monitored drug treatment program.
- While first-time non-violent offenders are eligible for DTC programs, there are also Criminal Code mechanisms that can divert them from the criminal justice system at an earlier stage than a DTC program. Bill C-5 enacts a principle of declaration in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act encouraging police and prosecutors to divert the simple possession of controlled substances away from the criminal justice at the earliest point of contact unless the offence raises public safety issues.
- Drug treatment courts have proven successful in breaking the cycle of drug use and criminal recidivism.
- Budget 2021 announced funding of $28 million over five years, beginning in 2021-2022, and $7 million ongoing, to the Drug Treatment Court Funding Program to support the operation, expansion and creation of DTCs.
- This funding will contribute to reduced recidivism rates by supporting offenders in addressing their cycle of addiction and criminal behaviour, with a particular focus on offenders from marginalized and vulnerable populations. It will also contribute to addressing Canada’s opioid overdose crisis by making available treatment as an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders suffering from substance use disorder.
- Justice Canada has signed contribution agreements with provinces and territories to allocate the increase to the DTCFP budget for fiscal years 2021-2023. New funding agreements for 2023-2028 are in development and will be offered to the provinces and territories prior to the end of the current fiscal year.
Mandate Letter Priority: Work with provinces and territories to provide free legal advice and support to survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
- For Justice Canada, Budget 2021 announced $48.75 million over five years to support independent legal advice and independent legal representation for victims and survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence across Canada.
- Through the Victims Fund, Justice Canada is supporting 12 jurisdictions to deliver independent legal advice and representation programs to support victims and survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
- These programs provide accurate, personalized legal information and advice to help survivors understand and exercise their legal options in areas such as civil, family, and criminal law. They help survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence make informed decisions, increasing their confidence and making their voices more effective in the criminal and family justice system.
Mandate Letter Priority: Work with the provinces and territories to establish a Community Justice Centres program to put courts along side other critical social services.
- In the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, the Government of Canada proposed an investment to support Community Justice Centre pilot projects in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as community engagement to expand the Community Justice Centre concept to other provinces and territories.
- Community Justice Centres, or CJCs, bring justice, health and social services together to address the root causes of crime, divert individuals accused of non-violent offences away from incarceration, and connect them with social supports.
- Through the integration of culturally appropriate services, CJCs can help decrease the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples and Black Canadians in the criminal justice system and provide solutions to systemic issues.
- An agreement has now been signed with the BC First Nations Justice Council to support Indigenous Justice Centres in British Columbia. Agreements have also been signed to support community engagement on CJCs in other jurisdictions.
- Work continues to establish other pilots.
Mandate Letter Priority: Continue work on a renewed relationship with Indigenous people, including contributing to building the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and continuing progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls for Action.
- The 2020 Fall Economic Statement announced $49.3 million to support the implementation of Gladue Principles in the mainstream criminal justice system.
- This funding will respond to the Final Reports of both the MMIWG National Inquiry and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as each Report emphasized the need for comprehensive funding to implement Gladue Principles.
- This funding will support the following three key components:
- Funding for the development of Gladue reports, cost-shared with provinces and territories.
- Funding Indigenous-led community programs and services to provide post-sentence Gladue aftercare and casework. This assists individuals who have had a Gladue report in meeting the conditions of their sentence.
- Funding for projects focused on implementing Gladue Principles in the mainstream criminal justice system (educating criminal justice system professionals and changing mainstream practices, processes and structures to address systemic barriers and discrimination).
- Budget 2021 announced $27.1 million over 3 years, beginning in 2021-22, to improve access to justice for Indigenous people. This included:
- Funding to address program integrity pressures in the community-based justice programs supported by the Indigenous Justice Program.
- Funding for Indigenous-led civil and family mediation to address community and family conflicts and prevent their escalation, as well as provide opportunities for parents to resolve their disputes, including custody arrangements.
- Funding to support Indigenous Family Court work services to assist those who are navigating the family justice system.
Supplementary Mandate Letter Priority: Introduce legislation and make investments that take action to address systemic inequities in the criminal justice system, including to promote enhanced use of pre- and post-charge diversion and to better enable courts to impose sentences appropriate to the circumstances of individual cases.
- The 2020 Fall Economic Statement announced an investment of $6.64 million over five years followed by $1.6 million annually on an ongoing basis to implement an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA) component of the Legal Aid Program. Since the inception of this initiative, my Department has been working closely with the provinces and the territories as well as community organizations to implement IRCAs across the country. This measure is expected to result in better-informed sentencing decisions based on an understanding of the systemic inequalities faced by many Black Canadians and members of other racialized groups.
- Budget 2021 announced $216.4 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, and $43.3 million ongoing, for the Youth Justice Services Funding Program to increase funding to the provinces and territories in support of diversion programming and to help reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples, Black Canadians, and other racialized groups in the youth justice system. By diverting youth to the right services at the right time and addressing the root causes of crime, this measure would help reduce the crime rate and promote better outcomes for young people and their communities.
- Measures included in Bill C-5 will promote pre-charge diversion and address overincarceration of Indigenous and Black Canadians.
- This priority is also supported by the 2020 Fall Economic Statement funding with respect to Gladue Principles and Community Justice Centre pilot projects.
Other Priority: Increasing the safety of our communities.
- Ensuring the safety of our communities is the ultimate objective of our criminal justice system and is a priority of our government.
- The Department of Justice’s Victims Fund helps to ensure that victims and survivors of crime have improved access to justice.
- The Victims Fund is a multi-faceted program that provides grants and contributions to provinces, territories and non-governmental organizations to advance activities that increase access to, and awareness of, victim services and the needs of victims of crime.
- The Victims Fund regularly funds projects and initiatives of relevance to a wide range of victims and survivors of crime, notably in relation to sexual violence, human trafficking, child victims and violence against Indigenous women and girls.
Other Priority: Legal representation and information.
- The right to legal representation is a fundamental tenet of Canadian democracy. Nowhere is this right more critical than in ensuring that the most vulnerable in our society have proper legal representation – this includes Indigenous people and those with mental illness.
- The Department of Justice’s Legal Aid Program provides contribution funding to enable the provinces and territories and their legal aid plans to deliver criminal legal aid services to economically disadvantaged persons at risk of incarceration and to youth facing prosecution under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
- In 2022-23, we are investing $142.4 million in ongoing funding, in criminal legal aid. This is $30 million more than our contribution in 2015-16. Additionally, the 2020 Fall Economic Statement announced $40 million in COVID-19 relief funding for criminal legal aid. Ten million of the $40 million was provided in 2021-22, and the remaining $30 million is being provided in 2022-23.
- We are also making available $3.25 million in federal contributions for the State-Funded Counsel component of the Legal Aid Program.
- In cooperation with our provincial and territorial partners, we are continuing to explore and develop innovative approaches for delivering these critical legal aid services in a cost-efficient, sustainable manner.
- Date modified: