Results at a Glance
Throughout 2022-23, the Department of Justice Canada (Justice Canada) supported a broad range of Government priorities, initiatives and ministerial mandate letter commitments through its two core responsibilities: Legal Services and Justice System Support. Within these core responsibilities, Justice Canada ensured evidence-based public policy and governance and a people-centred approach to justiceFootnote 1 based on data and research through the application of critical considerations in its work. These considerations include equity, diversity, and inclusion; Gender-based Analysis Plus; privacy; modern treaty implications; and strategic environmental assessments.
Among other accomplishments, Justice Canada achieved the following key results for both ongoing and concluded commitments in 2022-23.
Legal Services
- Provided legal services for COVID-19 related policies and priorities in the public service and in federally regulated workplaces, as well as for broader public health measures relating to the Quarantine Act to protect Canadians from the effects of COVID-19.
- Supported the extension and modification of COVID-19 related emergency support programs and recovery benefits to assist Canadians in need (e.g., the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Business Account).
- Provided legal advice on government debt management, the fiscal framework, and international trade law.
- Assisted on Canada’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Provided legal services to support securing Canada’s telecommunications systems; to combat online hate, harassment, and ideologically motivated extremism; and to promote measures against money laundering, profiting from proceeds of crime, and financing terrorism.
- Supported federal departments and agencies on priorities (e.g., obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) that reflect the Government’s ongoing commitment to advance reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
- Provided strategic advice in the development and implementation of legal positions and strategies in complex cases and class proceedings.
- Collaborated with client departments on work related to the Public Order Emergency Commission, an independent public inquiry following the invocation of the Emergencies Act.
Justice System Support
- Engaged with Indigenous governing bodies and representative organizations, federal departments, provincial and territorial governments, and other stakeholders in support of a renewed relationship with Indigenous peoples by accelerating progress on Indigenous justice priorities, such as:
- the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples;
- responses to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice; and
- the Justice-specific Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including negotiating administration-of-justice agreements and supporting activities that promote the revitalization of Indigenous laws, legal systems and traditions.
- Supported the appointment of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, whose mandate is to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment, protection, and preservation of unmarked graves and burial sites at former Indian Residential Schools.
- Continued to address systemic discrimination and overrepresentation of First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Black and other racialized people, and marginalized populations in the criminal justice system, in particular by advancing the development of an Indigenous Justice Strategy and Canada’s Black Justice Strategy, and by improving the collection and use of disaggregated data to support evidence-based decision-making.
- Assisted in the revival of the Law Commission of Canada and the appointment of its president and commissioners.
- Supported criminal law reforms to improve public safety by addressing gun violence, repealing certain mandatory minimum penalties, addressing criminal responsibility for harms resulting from extreme voluntary intoxication, and ensuring the safe, efficient and effective operation of criminal proceedings.
- Led work to establish an independent miscarriage of justice review commission.
- Continued implementing federal family law reforms to help ensure a more accessible family justice system that responds to Canadian families’ needs and the best interests of the child.
- Supported new projects such as the Community Justice Centre pilots, which are community-driven models that integrate justice processes with health and social services to provide a coordinated approach to break the cycle of offending and improve community well-being.
- Supported the Action Committee on Court Operations in Response to COVID-19 to promote a nationally harmonious approach to modernizing Canadian court operations, drawing on lessons learned from the pandemic.
Internal Services
- Maintained vigilance and readiness to adapt Justice Canada’s workplace to changing circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, while preparing the workforce for the transition to a hybrid work model.
- Identified and implemented strategies and practices, including the Department’s Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Framework and the updated Employment Equity Plan, to improve equity, diversity and inclusion and to address systemic discrimination in hiring, retention and promotion that may be experienced by equity-seeking groups.
- Fostered a healthy and safe, respectful, diverse, inclusive, and accessible work environment through priorities such as Justice Canada’s Mental Health Strategy and Accessibility Plan.
- Continued to transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient operations.
- Promoted strategies for departmental digital information sharing to improve collaboration, while ensuring adequate cybersecurity practices and accessibility.
For more information on Justice Canada’s plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: What We Achieved” section of this report.
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