Executive summary

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Introduction

The evaluation of the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Initiative (the Initiative) was conducted by the Department of Justice (Justice) Evaluation Branch and it covers fiscal years 2017-18 to 2020-21. It was completed in accordance with the Treasury Board’s Policy on Results and the Financial Administration Act, and considered the broader accountability process related to the Action Plan for Official Languages - 2018-2023 (Action Plan).

The evaluation focussed on the results achieved through its two main pillars (information and training) and the activities undertaken in support of the Advisory Committee1 and the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Working Group. It included questions concerning the relevance of the Initiative, particularly in light of the needs in regions with smaller concentrations of official language minority communities (OLMCs), as well as the needs of underserved populations. The evaluation also assessed activities undertaken by the Official Languages Directorate and the Programs Branch’s Innovations, Analysis and Integration Directorate (IAID) to support the implementation and management of the Initiative.

Program Description

The Initiative helps to provide Canadians from OLMCs with access to legal information regarding their rights and responsibilities in the official language of their choice, and to access a justice system that meets their needs in that language. To this end, the Initiative includes two main pillars:

• The information pillar supports activities that specifically aim to offer legal information to help members of the OLMCs learn about their rights, obligations and responsibilities in the official language of their choice.
• The training pillar involves the training and the development of bilingual justice professionals to improve their language skills, thereby increasing their ability to offer services in French outside Quebec and in English in Quebec, as part of their work within the justice system.

The Initiative provides support to the Advisory Committee on Access to Justice in Both Official Languages, whose mandate is to bring together representatives from Justice, community organizations, jurilinguistic centres and law faculties from OLMCs. It also supports the FPT Working Group on Access to Justice in Both Official Languages, which includes representatives from Justice, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, and representatives from provincial and territorial (PT) governments.

Finally, the Initiative provides operational and core funding to strengthen the internal capacity and financial stability of eligible organizations working in the field of access to justice in both official languages.

Findings

Relevance

The Initiative is related to Justice’s responsibility of ensuring that the federal government is supported by high-quality legal services and that the Canadian justice system is fair, relevant, accessible, and reflective of Canadian values. This is expected to be done in accordance with the broad framework provided by the Canadian constitution, including all applicable language provisions.

To support this vision, the Initiative provides core funding to a range of organizations that promote access to justice in both official languages, and supports a range of projects and activities that allow members of the OLMCs to be adequately informed about their rights and obligations in their official language. The Initiative also enhances the capacity of the courts and of the justice system more broadly to operate in both languages, and allows both community stakeholders and FPT governments to network, collaborate and pursue dialogues that specifically focus on the official languages dimensions of access to justice. Finally, the Initiative represents Justice’s most significant contribution to supporting the goals of the federal Action Plan2.

Over time, the Initiative has been responding to the needs of various groups of individuals living within the OLMCs. Efforts have been made, particularly through a gender-based analysis plus (GBA+), to fully appreciate the range of needs that could be addressed, including those of more isolated or marginalized individuals and communities. The more predominant areas of the law where legal information is needed include family law, labour and employment, succession law, immigration law, and criminal law.

Effectiveness

Legal Information

Evaluation findings point to significant progress made towards the goals set in relation to the information component of the Initiative. Particularly through the work of CliquezJustice, Éducaloi, and the jurilinguistic centres, there is a considerable body of relevant material available in both English (in Quebec) and French (for all other regions of Canada) on priority areas of the law such as family law, housing, labour and employment, succession law, and immigration law. This includes online information, videos, and paper-based documents, all written for a wide audience. Work has also been undertaken to identify emerging legal information needs, such as those related to mental health, services to victims of crime, and bankruptcy.

On that basis, there is a comprehensive network of organizations that deliver information activities, including legal information clinics and grassroots organizations that come with an already established trusting relationship with harder to reach and disenfranchised individuals and communities. The evaluation confirms the need to further expand delivery strategies that build on the existing strengths of the recipient organizations to secure a broader reach of the targeted population.

Funded organizations regularly reassess their approach, based on the experience acquired and the feedback they received from the individuals they served and from their organizational partners. In this context, the Initiative has proven to be flexible enough to allow the organizations to implement required changes to their approach.

Training

The Initiative has proven to be the driving force behind the efforts in Canada to enhance the capacity of the justice system to operate in both official languages. It has facilitated the process of identifying needs and establishing priorities, and has supported organizations that have successfully designed and delivered training activities to various categories of justice professionals, using a range of materials, including the resources developed by the jurilinguistic centres. Ultimately, the funded activities allow justice professionals to enhance their abilities and comfort levels to operate in both official languages. Additionally, most of these training activities reproduce actual scenarios encountered in the justice system and this is seen as a best practice.

Moving forward, the challenges facing key stakeholders include the fact that activities funded to date cover many but not all key groups (for example, private practice lawyers) across all regions within the justice system. In addition, establishing strong partnerships among the various organizations involved in the provision of language training remains critical to further expand the reach of the Initiative and to secure the sustainability of the services offered.

Advisory Committee and the FPT Working Group

The Advisory Committee and the FPT Working Group are mature structures that have enhanced collaborations among key stakeholders. The evaluation indicates that facilitating further interactions between these two structures would facilitate their respective work.

Design and Delivery

The Initiative rests on a solid delivery structure, and stakeholders are generally satisfied with the current reporting requirements that are associated with the funding provided. The range of information and data provided has proven to be a key source for this evaluation.

Also, Justice has been including considerations related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the ongoing management of the Initiative. To this end, it has conducted a GBA+ that provided valuable insights and allowed for data gaps to be identified. Justice thereby engaged the Advisory Group in exploring how EDI considerations could be further integrated in the activities funded, including activities that focus on traditionally disenfranchised or harder to reach communities and individuals. Funded organizations are also responding to this call for a more systemic integration of EDI considerations within their own governance structures and processes.

Efficiency

Stakeholders are generally satisfied with the current process used to allocate funding. The application process, the review of these applications, the allocation of funding are all seen as operating efficiently. There is strong support for multi-year funding, as this approach allows for more stability and facilitates the implementation of the funded activities. In addition, the Official Languages Directorate and IAID have instituted more regular meetings to increase communication and information sharing between the two groups which has helped to facilitate an efficient funding application review process.

Recommendations

Based on the findings described in this report, the following recommendations are made:

1. To ensure the broadest reach possible of individuals and communities who may benefit from the activities funded by the Initiative, including those who are more isolated or marginalized, the Programs Branch, in collaboration with the Official Languages Directorate, should facilitate the engagement of a broader range of organizations as part of its information pillar.
2. To maximize the contributions of the Advisory Committee and the FPT Working Group, the Official Languages Directorate should consider having each hold two meetings per year, including one in-person (when feasible), and to find opportunities for both entities to collaborate directly when appropriate.
3. To further include EDI considerations in the ongoing management of the Initiative, the Programs Branch, in collaboration with the Official Languages Directorate, should explore new data sources that can support its ongoing GBA+ efforts.

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