United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS)

The Canadian Legal Problems Survey informs our reporting on:

Global target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all;

Global indicator 16.3.3: Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism.

Canadian Indicator Framework

Ambition (SGD 16): Canadians have equal access to justice

In 2021, the Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS) was conducted to identify the kinds of serious legal problems people face, their methods of resolution for these problems, and the impact of these experiences on their lives. Data collection for the Canadian Legal Problems Survey concluded in August 2021, and survey results were published in January 2022. The survey had a final sample size of 21,170 people in the 10 provinces, including an Indigenous oversample. It had a response rate of 50.7%.

To complement the quantitative results from the CLPS, Justice Canada contracted with community-based researchers to undertake qualitative studies with specific populations including Black people (2 studies), immigrants (2 studies), persons with disabilities (3 studies), LGBTQ2S+ (3 studies), and Indigenous people (1 study). These reports will be posted on the department’s website and provide details and a comprehensive narrative about individuals, their legal problems and associated impacts.

Canada will use results from the CLPS to report on Global indicator 16.3.3 now that results are available. Of those who reported having a serious problem, 33% contacted a legal professional and 8% contacted a court or tribunal.

Privacy Act Modernization

This initiative contributes to:

Global target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels;

Global target 16.10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements (UN Global Indicator Framework)

In August 2021, Justice Canada published a “What We Heard” Report, summarizing the feedback received through public consultations on potential amendments to the Privacy Act. Justice Canada also published feedback from initial engagement discussions with Indigenous partners. Engagement with First Nations, Inuit and Métis will continue through a multi-stage approach.

The “What We Heard” Report notes that the Act’s definitions and approach to personal information, accountability and transparency frameworks, and oversight regime are all widely seen as unlikely to meet the challenges of a modern, digital Canadian society. As proposed in Justice Canada’s discussion paper, an overhaul of such elements would help restore and secure Canadians’ trust in their federal government’s activities involving personal information.

The feedback summarized in the Report has contributed to Justice’s substantive assessment of proposed avenues for modernizing the Act. The feedback has also helped inform Justice’s strategic planning, in that it helped guide and frame subsequent interdepartmental and Indigenous engagement activities.

This initiative contributes to:

Global target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all;

Global target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels;

Global target 16.10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements (UN Global Indicator Framework).

Canadian Indicator Framework
Ambition (SGD 171): Canada fosters collaboration and partnerships to advance the SDGs

Indicator: Number of open datasets published by the Government of Canada

Public consultations and engagement with civil society were completed on February 18, 2022. This input is reflected in the Open Justice Commitment, which will be included in Canada’s National Action Plan on Open Government 2022-2024. Work to advance the Open Justice Commitment will also support Canada’s commitment to a people-centred approach to justice, which was included in Canada’s submission to the December 2021 Summit for Democracy.

Justice Canada participated in the meeting of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Coalition on Justice in May 2021 and engaged in Open Government Partnership peer-to-peer exchanges with the Netherlands and the UK in the spring and summer of 2021.

Statistics Canada published the Canadian Legal Problems Survey Public Use Microdata File (35-25-0002) dataset in March 2022 for public usage, which promoted greater openness and transparency with information surveyed from Canadians.

This initiative contributes to:

Global target 5.22: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation;

Global target 10.33: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard;

Global target 16.b: Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development;

Global target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.

Canadian Indicator Framework

Ambition (SGD 10): Canadians live free of discrimination and inequalities are reduced

Indicator: Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed, by type

Ambition (SGD 16): Canadians are safe and secure, in person and online

Indicators:

• Proportion of the population who reported feeling safe walking alone in the area that they live
• Crime severity index, by category
• Incidence of certain types of crime: cybercrimes, homicides, hate crimes, sexual abuse before the age of 18, and physical, sexual, or psychological violence by current or previous partners, by offence

Ambition (SDG 16): Canadians are supported by effective, accountable and transparent institutions

Indicator: Proportion of the population with high levels of confidence in selected institutions

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and 2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan and Federal Pathway were released on June 3, 2021 to help address the Calls for Justice outlined in the Final Report of the National Inquiry into MMIWG and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

The National Action Plan includes commitments to improve access to justice supports through a human rights and an Indigenous rights lens. The work of the National Action Plan reflects Indigenous priorities and perspectives on justice.

The justice theme of the Federal Pathway to address MMIWG was co-led with Public Safety Canada and involved other justice sector departments and agencies. The Federal Pathway includes seven justice-specific objectives and corresponding federal commitments, which include activities that will contribute to improving the data collection to measure access to justice with respect to Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Justice also supported the work of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to coordinate the development of the National Action Plan, including working with over 100 Indigenous partners, towards an Indigenous-led and Indigenous-focused product.

All these initiatives reflect the broader Government of Canada commitment to implement the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and support the Implementation of Canada’s responsibilities under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

An important Justice outcome with respect to MMIWG is that Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people have increased access to justice. This outcome is related to the Canadian Indicator Framework Ambition on effective, accountable and transparent institutions. With regards to the associated CIF indicator, 4.6% of Indigenous women and gender diverse Indigenous people reported in the 2022 National Justice Survey being very confident that the criminal justice system is fair to all people and 8.5% reported being very confident that the criminal justice system is accessible to all people. This is in comparison to 6.5% of non-Indigenous women and gender diverse non-Indigenous people who reported being very confident that the criminal justice system is fair to all people and 10.9% who reported being very confident that the criminal justice system is accessible. There are departmental initiatives and commitments underway to address these concerns. Results of these initiatives will be reported in future reporting cycles.