Fact Sheet: Developing the Indigenous Justice Strategy to address the overrepresentation and systemic discrimination of Indigenous people in the justice system

Engagement objective

Develop a culturally appropriate strategy informed by the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples that includes concrete recommendations for action to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the Canadian justice system.

Engagement themes

The following themes emerged from pre-engagement with partners, and guided discussions during Justice Canada-led dialogues from Fall 2022 to Winter 2023:

1. Supporting Indigenous justice systems
2. Reforms to the existing Canadian justice system to reduce overrepresentation and systemic discrimination of Indigenous people

Engagement process

• Phase 1: Pre-Engagement (completed)
  Justice Canada met with Indigenous representative organizations that could provide a voice for their membership at the national level and offer early guidance on the scope and preferred approach to develop the Indigenous Justice Strategy (the Strategy). These discussions provided direction for future discussions on the development of the Strategy.
• Phases 2-3-4: Engagement, Development, Validation and Release
  1. Indigenous-led Engagement (2021-2024): $11 million was provided to 38 Indigenous organizations to lead community engagement to inform the development of the Strategy.
  2. Justice Canada-led Engagement (2022-2024):
     • First Nations communities
     • Inuit communities
     • Métis communities
     • National Indigenous Organizations
     • Indigenous justice experts
     • Indigenous justice program and service providers
     • Indigenous frontline workers
     • Indigenous people who are incarcerated
     • Justice practitioners
     • Indigenous academics
     • Provinces and territories
     • … to inform the development of the Strategy.
  • Phase 2: Engagement (completed)
    • Development and improvement of Engagement Plan
    • Online engagement activities to help improve the draft Engagement Plan
    • Information Sharing Forum to discuss and improve the draft Engagement Plan
    • Regional and distinctions-based Justice Canada-led dialogues on the two themes:
      • Wave 1: November 2022 to March 2023 (virtual)
      • Wave 2: August 2023 to December 2023 (in-person and virtual)
  • Phase 3: Reporting and development of a draft Strategy (completed)
    • Development of Justice Canada-led engagement Wave 1, Wave 2, and People With Lived Experience What We Learned reports
    • Integration of recommendations and feedback from both streams of engagement
  • Phase 4: Validation of draft Strategy and finalization (completed)
    • Release of Key Elements Consultation Draft
    • Co-development and engagement to help improve the Key Elements Consultation Draft
    • Update and finalize the Strategy
• Phase 5: Release of the final Indigenous Justice Strategy (current) to address the overrepresentation and systemic discrimination of Indigenous peoples in the justice system.
• Implementation (2025 and after): The Government of Canada will work with Indigenous peoples, provinces, and territories, leveraging existing justice-focused collaborative tables and processes to help to advance regional priority-setting and cost-shared implementation plans to implement the measures recommended through the Indigenous Justice Strategy.

For more information, please visit Justice Canada’s Indigenous Justice Strategy webpage.