Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

The Department of Justice Canada provides legal advisory services to federal government departments and agencies and contributes to the advancement of the overall outcomes included in the Departmental Results Framework.

While relevant data on gender and diversity impacts are collected by the departments and agencies leading the development and implementation of the specific initiative, direct program impacts are measured through the Department of Justice Canada Legal Services Client Feedback Survey (CFS). This internal Government of Canada survey collects feedback from client organizations that received legal services, including legal advisory services, from the Department. To improve the quality of the data being collected, the Department is currently reviewing the survey questionnaire and will explore the possibility of including more questions regarding diversity, such as those providing additional information on official languages and accessibility. This will expand the program’s capacity to monitor and report on the program’s GBA Plus impact for the next planned cycle of the CFS (2023–25).

In 2023–24, legal professionals will continue to provide high-quality bilingual and bijural legal services to federal government officials in support of the implementation of government priorities. The program will continue to provide accessible legal learning opportunities for legal professionals to improve their knowledge related to new developments, modifications, and trends in the legal field.

The program supports the implementation of GBA Plus across the public service by integrating GBA Plus considerations, as relevant, into legal advice provided to its Government of Canada client departments and agencies. The efforts of legal professionals will be further supported by the GBA Plus Guide for Canada’s Legal Team, which will strengthen their knowledge about how to better integrate an intersectional GBA Plus lens into their work.

In 2023–24, by providing timely and responsive advisory legal services, the program will continue to support the advancement of multiple government priorities, including initiatives that promote GBA Plus priorities. For example, the Department will continue to provide legal advice and support to the 2SLGBTQI+ Secretariat within the Department of Women and Gender Equality to support the Secretariat in its work to develop policies and programs to protect the dignity and equality of 2SLGBTQI+ communities in Canada. In addition, legal and strategic advice to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will support the development of a plan for the long-term implementation of the Atlantic First Nations’ treaty right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.

To help advance diversity and inclusion, the Department will support Public Services and Procurement Canada in advancing government-wide Supplier Diversity Action Plan initiatives aiming to increase the diversity of bidders on government contracts, including small businesses and businesses led by Indigenous peoples, Black and racialized Canadians, women, 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians and other under-represented groups.

Furthermore, the Department will support the Government of Canada’s commitment towards equity and inclusion in the Public Service by providing integrated legal advisory, as well as drafting services on the following initiatives:

• the development of policies and regulatory changes;
• the implementation of the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities; and,
• the recruitment strategies to hire at least 5,000 people with disabilities over five years, as per the Strategy for an Accessible Government of Canada launched in May 2019.

The Department of Justice Canada provides legislative and regulatory drafting services to federal government departments and agencies and contributes to the advancement of the overall outcomes included in the Departmental Results Framework.

While relevant data on gender and diversity impacts are collected by the departments and agencies leading the development and implementation of the specific initiative, the Department of Justice Canada Legal Services Client Feedback Survey (CFS) collects data to measure the quality of the services and the impacts of the program. The CFS collects feedback from client organizations that received legal services, including legislative services, from the Department. To improve the quality of the data being collected, the Department is currently reviewing the survey questionnaire and will explore the possibility of including more questions regarding diversity, such as those providing additional information on official languages and accessibility. This will expand the program’s capacity to monitor and report on the program’s GBA Plus impact for the next planned cycle of the CFS (2023–25).

In 2023–24, legal professionals will continue to provide high-quality bilingual and bijural legislative services to the government, including the drafting of government bills, government motions to amend bills before Parliament and proposed regulations and other statutory instruments. Accessible legal learning opportunities will continue to be provided to legal professionals to ensure they have a sound understanding of the new developments, modifications, and trends in their specialized legal field.

The program supports the implementation of GBA Plus across the public service by integrating GBA Plus considerations, as relevant, into legislative and regulatory services provided to its Government of Canada client departments and agencies. This work will be further promoted and supported by the use of the GBA Plus Guide for Canada’s Legal Team, which is intended to help practitioners improve the integration of an intersectional GBA Plus lens into their advisory, legislative, and litigation work.

In 2023–24, the Legislative Service Branch’s Inclusive Legislative Drafting Committee will continue its work on inclusive legislative drafting that is free of discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability or any other identity factors. The role of the committee includes examining issues related to inclusive drafting, anticipating difficulties in legislative drafting related to this matter, and suggesting solutions.

The Department of Justice Canada provides litigation services to federal government departments and agencies and contributes to the advancement of the overall outcomes included in the Departmental Results Framework.

While relevant data on gender and diversity impacts are collected by the departments and agencies leading the development and implementation of the specific initiative, the advancement of program’s outcomes, as well as impacts are measured through the Department of Justice Canada Legal Services Client Feedback Survey (CFS). The CFS collects feedback from client organizations that received legal services, including litigation services, from the Department. To improve the quality of the data being collected, the Department is currently reviewing the survey questionnaire and will explore the possibility of including more questions regarding diversity, such as those providing additional information on official languages and accessibility. This will expand the program’s capacity to monitor and report on the program’s GBA Plus impact for the next planned cycle of the CFS (2023–25).

In 2023–24, under the Litigation Services program, legal professionals will continue to provide high-quality bilingual and bijural litigation services to the federal government. Litigation services assist the Government in achieving its objectives in accordance with the law and in ensuring that it meets its obligations under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter), and other constitutional and international obligations. The Department will continue to provide learning activities that address specific litigation needs and adhere to accessibility requirements.

The program supports the advancement of GBA Plus priorities across the public service by integrating GBA Plus considerations, as relevant, into litigation services provided to its Government of Canada client departments and agencies. These efforts will be supported by the GBA Plus Guide for Canada’s Legal Team, which provides advice and best practices about how to better integrate an intersectional GBA Plus lens into legal work.

In 2023–24, the Litigation Services program will continue to support the advancement of multiple government priorities, including initiatives that promote GBA Plus priorities.

For example, the Department will continue to advance approaches to litigation strategies, ensuring consistency with the Charter and the Principles guiding the Attorney General of Canada in Charter litigation. As well, the approaches used will be aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, the Principles respecting the Government of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples, and the Attorney General of Canada’s Directive on Civil Litigation Involving Indigenous Peoples.

The Department will support improving the accessibility of court services, including the modernization of the courts by implementing procedures and technologies to enable remote hearings and the electronic transfer of documentation in a more environmentally conscious manner.

The Department of Justice Canada will continue to develop and coordinate all federal justice legislative reforms, policy options and initiatives to promote a fair, accessible and relevant justice system for the benefit of all Canadians. This includes the areas of judicial affairs, criminal justice, victims of crime, youth justice, family law, access to justice, official languages, contraventions, bijuralism, Indigenous justice, human rights, privacy, access to information, security, terrorism as well as legislative and regulatory processes.

The development of high-quality legal policies and laws enables the delivery of programs and services that advance Government of Canada priorities and contribute to achieving increased access to justice and improved accountability and responsiveness of the justice system.

In 2023–24, Justice Canada will continue to provide legal advice, policy development and support to ensure that our criminal justice system keeps communities safe, supports victims, and holds offenders to account, while respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Department will continue to provide support for the implementation of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which received Royal Assent on November 17, 2022. This new law repeals all the mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act as well as MMPs for certain offences under the Criminal Code. It provides the courts with greater judicial discretion to impose sentences and allows for greater use of early diversion programs. It also provides that past and future convictions for simple possession are to be kept separate and apart from other criminal convictions after a certain period of time.

The Department will continue working on efforts to modernize the Privacy Act to ensure it better reflects modern expectations of privacy in Canada, including from the perspective of Indigenous partners, and supports horizontal and innovative initiatives within government. In support of this initiative, Department officials have undertaken various interdepartmental consultations and external engagement activities, including past and ongoing engagement with Indigenous partners who comprise of a broad range of participants, including an organization representing Indigenous women. An intended result of this work is to obtain a greater understanding of Indigenous partners’ perspectives and experiences with the Privacy Act and ultimately seek to better reflect their needs and expectations in a modernized Act.

Justice Canada will continue its engagement process with Indigenous peoples, their representative organizations and other Indigenous groups on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act), including the development of an action plan by June 2023. The engagement approach is broad, inclusive and distinctions-based to ensure that the diverse views of Indigenous partners across the country are considered. Throughout the planning and implementation of the engagement process, an intersectional GBA Plus lens has been applied to encourage a diverse representation of Indigenous voices and perspectives at each stage of the process. This approach includes ensuring representation from Indigenous women, Two-spirit and gender-diverse individuals, Elders and youth and Indigenous people with disabilities. This initiative supports distinctions-based and Indigenous-led measures. In addition, an intersectional GBA Plus approach was applied during design and delivery, to ensure the initiatives are meaningful, inclusive and accessible for diverse participants, as well as culturally safe and respectful of key Indigenous protocols, principles and traditions. In 2023–24, the engagement process will focus on seeking input on priority areas for the development of the action plan, potential measures to ensure consistency of federal laws with the UN Declaration Act, and the preparation of annual reports on progress. By statute, the action plan is expected to be completed by June 2023.

The Department will continue to strive to develop innovative approaches to support Indigenous justice systems, guided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice. This includes leading negotiations on administration-of-justice agreements with Indigenous partners. This work will provide a foundation for the development of a new conceptual framework for Indigenous groups to assume a greater role in the administration of justice within their communities, which will advance self-determination, promote community development, and increase public safety.

The Department is committed to ensuring the participation and including the perspectives, experiences, and voices of diverse groups within Indigenous communities, specifically Elders, youth, women and 2SLGBTQI+ persons, throughout the various phases of the process. Administration of justice arrangements are expected to provide a unique opportunity to help reduce the victimization of Indigenous women, youth, gender-diverse and 2SLGBTQI+ persons by facilitating the development of a community-led community-focused justice agreement. The Department intends to increase emphasis of GBA Plus considerations in discussions with Indigenous communities at administration of justice tables.

Given that all Indigenous laws and legal systems have been affected by colonization in some way, each Nation’s laws are in a different state of revitalization, including in relation to GBA Plus. Taking into account that the respect for self-determination of Indigenous peoples includes respecting that each Indigenous community has, and will, develop unique responses to GBA Plus within their laws, the Department will nevertheless continue to raise GBA Plus considerations in discussions with Indigenous communities at administration of justice tables. For example, the Department will include a GBA Plus section as part of the negotiation table work plans to ensure that negotiations include discussions of the inclusion of GBA Plus considerations and views as well as any GBA Plus impacts of any agreements that the parties enter into. This could lead to the inclusion of provisions within agreements to prevent gender discrimination or to the adoption of protocols to ensure the safety of women, girls and gender diverse individuals in the community’s justice system. Given the early stage of the process, program officials are exploring different options for measuring and reporting on GBA Plus impacts of the agreements.

The Department will continue to provide legal advice and support in relation to the development of an Indigenous Justice Strategy. A three-year consultation and engagement process is underway to include consideration of diverse Indigenous voices and perspectives at each stage of the initiative. The inclusion of intersectional Indigenous perspectives will help to better identify and reflect, to the extent possible, shared Indigenous justice priorities. In addition to the Indigenous Justice Strategy, Indigenous-led community engagement on actions in the areas of crime prevention, policing and diversion, courts, corrections, and reintegration, as well as collaboration between Indigenous groups and the government will continue in 2023–24. The Department is collecting data on the engagement and consultations process and program officials are collaborating with data experts to explore the most efficient methods of data analysis.

Furthermore, the Department will continue to lead the work on the development of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy in collaboration with Black communities and partner departments. The recently established Steering Group will develop a framework for consultations led by Black community organizations, and will work with other experts and community leaders to identify ways in which to reform and modernize the criminal justice system to ensure that all people have access to fair and just treatment before the law.

The Department will continue to support the Minister in working with relevant stakeholders, including the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, by offering advice on policies or initiatives that align with the Government’s commitment to increase diversity on the federally-appointed bench, along with collecting relevant diversity data relating to appointees.

In addition, the Department will continue to work with Canadian Heritage to develop and introduce legislation to combat serious forms of harmful online content in order to protect Canadians and hold social media platforms and other online services accountable for the content they host. Measures will strengthen the Canadian Human Rights Act to more effectively combat online hate and reintroduce measures to strengthen hate speech provisions in the Criminal Code.

Finally, the Department will continue to provide support to the Minister of Official Languages in the modernization of the Official Languages Act, to reflect a changing society and ensure that government measures in support of official languages effectively respond to the challenges faced in various regions of Canada.

The Department’s legal policies are developed to support departmental programs and services. The impacts are measured by the indicators included in the Departmental Results Framework, as well as other program indicators included in individual Performance Information Profiles (PIPs)3. In 2023–24, the Department will continue updating the PIPs to include plans to collect more disaggregated data regarding gender and diversity. The programs collect relevant data related to grants and contributions, including on gender and diversity, and report on impacts. For measuring and reporting on medium and long-term impacts related to increased access to justice, the programs rely on relevant data collected by Statistics Canada and other partner organizations.

Furthermore, the Department will continue to conduct the National Justice Survey (NJS), an annual national public opinion survey to inform policy development, departmental reporting, communications and public engagement on a variety of justice-related issues. The NJS collects information on confidence in the justice system and topical justice issues. Data are collected in a way that allows for disaggregation by gender as well as other intersecting identity factors such as age, region, Indigenous identity, ethno-cultural group, education, income, and labour force characteristics. In the upcoming year, the Department will publish the results of the 2023 National Justice Survey.

Finally, the Justice Data Modernization Initiative will produce new data and analysis to support the application of GBA Plus to the development of evidence-based programs, policies and legislation. The initiative will allow for the examination of how government interventions can reduce criminal justice system involvement, with a focus on reducing overrepresentation of Indigenous and racialized people in the system. The Department will conduct and commission research examining the impact of social programs, policies and legislation on criminal justice system involvement for different groups of people.

This program includes Legal Aid (Criminal, and Immigration and Refugee), State-Funded Counsel, Access to Justice Services Agreements in the Territories, Integrated Market Enforcement Teams Reserve Fund, and the Special Advocates Program.

Men and young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. In addition, Indigenous peoples, individuals from racialized communities, and individuals suffering from mental health and addiction issues are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, with Indigenous women and youth being particularly overrepresented.

Furthermore, recipients of immigration and refugee legal aid include newcomers from a wide range of ethno-cultural origins. Men and women are equally represented.

Justice Canada will continue to collect data on legal aid services disaggregated by relevant identity factors such as gender, age, geographic location, and others. Annual reports are shared with the public on the departmental website.

In 2023–24, the Department will provide funding for the implementation of Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs) across Canada. IRCAs are pre-sentencing reports that take into account the impacts of discrimination for Black and racialized offenders. They inform sentencing judges of the disadvantages and systemic racism faced by Black and other racialized Canadians and may recommend alternatives to incarceration and/or culturally appropriate accountability measures within a sentence of incarceration. Following the implementation of IRCAs, data will be collected on the number of Black and other racialized minorities that have benefited from an IRCA report. This data will be further disaggregated by geographic location and age to support an intersectional analysis of the impact of the reports.

Funding will be provided to specialized organizations for IRCA assessor training and mentorship, and for awareness programs and continuing professional development for lawyers, judges and other justice system actors. Additionally, funding is available to all provincial and territorial governments or their legal aid service providers, for the reimbursement of the preparation of IRCAs, with the goal of making this important tool a part of the criminal justice system across the country.

Through its Legal Advice for Complainants of Workplace Sexual Harassment component, the program supports organizations that provide legal information and advice to persons who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, regardless of their economic status. Workplace sexual harassment disproportionately impacts women, especially those in male-dominated occupations, 2SLGBTQI+ persons, workers in low-wage, precarious or casual employment, and those providing personal services or reliant on tips. Women, especially racialized women, and youth are overrepresented in these types of employment.

In 2023–24, the Department will continue to provide funding through the Legal Aid Program for legal advice for those who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. To date, projects have reported reaching diverse population groups, including Indigenous persons, racialized persons, 2SLGBTQI+, disabled people and women. Projects are covering both urban and rural communities across Canada, as well as remote communities in the North. In addition to project reporting, the Legal Aid Program will also rely on the Statistics Canada’s Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces. This survey, developed as part of Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, collects information on Canadians' experiences related to their safety in public and private spaces, including workplace sexual harassment.

Currently, most jurisdictions provide information on the gender and adult/youth breakdown among clients. In addition, some jurisdictions collect data on Indigenous identity. The Legal Aid Program has been working with provincial and territorial governments and legal aid service providers to obtain more specific demographic information. Projects under the workplace sexual harassment component are required to report on vulnerable populations targeted and the extent to which they have been successful in reaching them.

The Drug Treatment Court Funding Program offers eligible non-violent offenders with problematic substance use the opportunity to complete a court monitored drug treatment program as an alternative to incarceration.

The programs offered by the federally funded drug treatment courts are available to all Canadians who meet the selection criteria. However, program data shows that they have a more significant beneficial impact for males between the ages of 20 and 49 with a serious dependence on opioids, who form the majority of participants. The general public and community members are expected to benefit indirectly as the program contributes to making communities healthier and safer, as a result of a reduction of crime committed in relation to a substance use disorder.

As part of the application process, funding recipients are expected to apply a GBA Plus lens and funded projects are required to integrate an intersectional GBA Plus approach into the design and delivery of their programs and services. Reporting on GBA Plus outcomes is also part of the process.

The Drug Treatment Court Funding Program will continue working with provincial and territorial partners currently participating in the program to improve the quality of data collected. Agreements covering fiscal years 2023–28, and containing data reporting requirements to enable monitoring impacts from a gender and diversity perspective, should be offered to provinces and territories by the end of fiscal year 2022–23. In addition, the application process for the renewal of the 2023–28 agreements includes questions about how GBA Plus considerations will be integrated into the implementation of the new funding to ensure programs are tailored to the needs of diverse populations.

This program includes the Contraventions Act Fund for the implementation in provinces of official languages measures as required within the context of proceedings commenced under the Contraventions Act. The Contraventions Act provides an alternative to the summary conviction procedure of the Criminal Code for the prosecution of certain federal offences designated as contraventions and allows for these offences to be prosecuted using existing provincial ticketing regimes. While the provinces where the regime is implemented act on behalf of the federal government, they must fulfil federal official languages rights obligations – those involving the language rights of the accused and language rights in public communications. As such, the federal government established the Contraventions Act Fund to ensure the implementation of the Contraventions Act ticketing regime in a manner consistent with all applicable constitutional and legislative language rights and obligations. The Fund aims to provide provinces and territories with the ability to deliver judicial activities and extra-judicial services in both official languages.

The Fund will continue to collect data and report annually on the percentage of alleged offenders requesting and receiving proceedings in their official language of choice. This will contribute to monitoring and assessment of the impacts on official language minority groups. The program works in close collaboration with funding partners to identify possible barriers to accessing services in official languages and addresses them proactively, as needed.

This program includes the Victims Fund. A GBA Plus analysis of all activities is required as part of the funding application process for all project funding provided under the Victims Fund. Approved projects are required to use an intersectional lens in developing their interventions and activities and when selecting their target audience. In addition, funding recipients are asked to report the outcomes of that analysis as part of their reporting requirements.

In 2023–24, in support of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and the objectives of the Department’s Federal Victims Strategy, the Victims Fund and the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program, the Department will continue to support projects that provide access to free legal advice and representation for victims and survivors of sexual assault and of intimate partner violence.

To monitor the results of the program and improve the reporting on impacts related to gender and diversity, the Department will collect disaggregated data on identity characteristics, such as age, gender identity, racialized identity and ethno-cultural group, Indigenous identity, and location. Data collected will be reported annuallyas part of the Federal Victims Strategy evaluation cycle as well as the Federal Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence.

Under Youth Justice, the Department of Justice Canada administers three grant and contribution programs: the Youth Justice Services Funding Program (YJSFP), the Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) Program, and the Youth Justice Fund (YJF).

Together, these three programs support a wide range of youth justice programming, including extrajudicial/diversion programming, youth restorative justice programs, custodial and/or community-based rehabilitative and reintegration programming, as well as specialized programming for youth struggling with complex mental health issues, trauma, and addictions. In addition, they support gender and culturally informed programming by :

• increasing the capacity of provinces and territories to deliver youth justice programs that address gender, ethnic and cultural differences and respond to the needs of Indigenous young persons and of young persons with special requirements; and,
• improving the responsiveness of the youth justice system to better respond to the specific needs of Indigenous youth and racialized youth, thus contributing to addressing their overrepresentation in the youth criminal justice system and making our communities safer.

The general youth justice population, between the ages of 12 and 17 at the time of the offence, is the primary target for this programming. However, the youth justice subpopulations that benefit the most from the programming are the subpopulations that are overrepresented in the criminal justice system (i.e. males, Indigenous youth, and Black youth).

In 2023, to mark twenty years since the Youth Criminal Justice Act came into force, the Department will undertake an internal review of Canada’s youth criminal justice system. The legislation and broader youth justice renewal have been extremely successful in terms of meeting the policy objectives that were set out in the late nineties with regard to youth criminal justice. This includes reducing the number of cases going into the courts, the number of youth going into custody, and increasing the use of front-end measures to divert less serious cases out of the system. Despite the successes, ongoing challenges remain, including the continued overrepresentation of Indigenous and Black youth, as well as the challenges that face youth transitioning out of the youth justice system.

The Department will continue to work on improving data collection and programming information provided by provinces and territories and non-governmental organisations. For example, as part of the reporting requirements, YJF recipients are now expected to collect disaggregated data on the participants into a number of GBA Plus categories.

The Department will also continue to support Statistics Canada’s work to fill national data gaps with respect to Indigenous and racialized youth in the criminal justice system. The Department’s actions include collaboration on a national framework of indicators of overrepresentation.

Under Family Justice, the Canadian Family Justice Fund (CFJF) facilitates access to the family justice system for families experiencing separation and divorce.

The CFJF continues to place a particular emphasis on extending the reach of family justice programs, services and information to meet the needs of diverse and underserved populations. In 2023–24, the Department will continue to provide funding to provinces and territories for supervised parenting services, which are intended to support access to justice for all families experiencing separation and divorce, and promote safe outcomes for children and families experiencing family violence.

All applicants for funding are expected to apply a GBA Plus lens. Furthermore, approved projects are required to integrate an intersectional GBA Plus approach into the design and delivery of their programs and services. They are also required to report on GBA Plus outcomes as part of the process.

In 2023–24, the Department will continue to work on the implementation of the language rights provision in the Divorce Act, which is intended to ensure that Canadians in every part of the country can obtain a divorce in the official language of their choice. Former Bill C-78 provides provinces and territories with the flexibility needed to implement the new language rights provision at different times, in light of their readiness to implement the language rights provision. Currently, Manitoba, Yukon, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Ontario have implemented the new language rights. In 2023–24, the Department will continue to provide funding for additional family justice supports for victims of family violence in the family justice system under the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program.

The Family Justice program relies on partner organizations, such as Statistics Canada, for data collection, including disaggregation of the data by different identity characteristics. For example, the data related to family law cases in Canada is disaggregated by gender, geographic location and other relevant factors. In addition, the program uses exit surveys for some family justice services, such as parenting education programs and maintenance enforcement programs. These surveys have been under review and the updates reflect the new priorities of the Fund, including collecting more demographic data on age, gender identity, racialized identity and ethno-cultural group and other characteristics. The updated surveys will be launched in 2023–24 and will improve the capacity of the program to report on gender and diversity impacts.

Under Indigenous Justice, there are three grant and contribution programs: the Indigenous Justice Program (IJP); the Indigenous Courtwork Program (ICW); and the Indigenous Partnership Fund (IPF).

Both the IJP and the ICW have direct positive benefits for Indigenous victims as well as Indigenous persons in contact with the criminal justice system. Together these programs contribute to improving access to justice for Indigenous peoples, increasing safety and security for Indigenous communities as well as improving community health and well-being.

Client and participant information collected under the Indigenous Justice program inventory (IJP and ICW) includes various identity factors, such as age, gender, Indigenous identity, type of legal matter and programming or assistance provided to clients. In addition, data collected by IJP is disaggregated by Indigenous identity, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis. This information is used for program reporting and evaluation.

IJP has provided additional training to improve the capacity of funding recipients to report disaggregated data on a broader range of program activities. IJP piloted a new online data collection tool, expected to further improve the quality of the data collected in 2022–23. This online referral application will be launched and fully implemented in early 2023–24.

IJP is currently funding projects focussed on systemic change informed by Gladue Principles. As part of the reporting process, funding recipients will be asked questions on how they integrated gender and other GBA Plus considerations into the project and what differential impacts they observed on beneficiaries during the lifecycle of the project. In 2025–26, after all final project reports have been received; this information will be reviewed and included in the reporting.

The Indigenous Courtwork Program will also continue to work with provincial and territorial partners to implement the funding announced in Fall 2020 to support the writing of Gladue reports.

Funding provided through the Indigenous Partnership Fund (IPF) will facilitate consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples in implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. It will also support core capacity in terms of ongoing mechanisms for Indigenous governments, organizations and groups to continue to contribute meaningfully to the implementation of an action plan, with a view to continuous improvement and refining of the measures and whole-of-government implementation.

There are two IPF funding streams. Stream 1 recipients will include First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments and representative institutions, including modern treaty partners, self-governing nations and historic treaty partners; and, National and regional Indigenous representative organizations of First Nations, Inuit and Métis rights holders and Indigenous women’s organizations. This will include targeted funding for national Indigenous Women’s Organizations to help address the need for a gendered, intersectional approach to UN Declaration Act implementation in which Inuit, First Nations and Métis women, as distinctions-based, gender-specific rights-holders, are consulted and cooperated with, upholding their collective and individual rights under the UN Declaration. Stream 2 recipients will include First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups or organizations; organizations representing Indigenous women, youth, Elders, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ persons; and, urban Indigenous organizations and other Indigenous-led sectorial groups.

IPF will support engagement with all of the above diverse groups by actively seeking out their participation in this process. This will be done through advising organizations representing diverse groups of this call for proposals for funding; asking funding applicants to identify how they will engage with diverse individuals should they receive funding; and monitoring engagement to assess whether there are any unintended impacts or barriers that are preventing the participation of diverse groups and addressing them where possible. Further, the Department will collect data on the number and types of Indigenous governments and organizations funded, disaggregated by types of Indigenous governments and organizations funded (e.g. distinctions-based; regional; representing diverse interest-based communities).

Under Justice System Partnerships, there are two grant and contribution programs: Justice Partnership and Innovation Program (JPIP) and the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund.

The JPIP responds to the changing conditions affecting Canadian justice policy and emerging priority issues, including supporting the revitalization of Indigenous laws and legal traditions and addressing workplace sexual harassment, family violence and access to justice.

To support increased access to the justice system for racialized communities, the Department of Justice, through the JPIP, will provide contribution funding to projects that will develop culturally appropriate and accessible legal education and information and access to free independent legal advice for diverse racialized communities, including Indigenous communities. In order to monitor the impact of the initiative on diverse groups, the Department will continue to collect data disaggregated by relevant factors, including by location, gender identity, racialized identity and ethnocultural group, age, and language. A GBA Plus assessment will continue to be a requirement for all funding applications, and successful funding recipients are required as part of the funding agreement to apply an intersectional GBA Plus lens to the development and implementation of project activities. Recipient annual reports will capture the progress and the successful advancement of GBA Plus outcomes.

Furthermore, the Department will continue to provide contribution funding for public legal education and information and legal advice for those who have experienced workplace sexual harassment. This initiative is increasing public awareness, knowledge and understanding of legal rights in regards to sexual harassment in the workplace, improving access to justice for complainants and increasing self-reports. The projects under this initiative are implementing a gender-based approach and collecting disaggregated data that considers intersectional factors, such as racialized identity, class, sexuality, age, disability, language, and/or immigration status, amongst others, to address the experiences of diverse complainants of sexual harassment in the workplace.

The activities and projects undertaken pursuant to the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund (Fund) enhance the development and vitality of official language minority communities and are positive measures within the meaning of the Official Languages Act.

The Fund supports projects and activities that foster the recognition and use of both English and French in the Canadian justice system, and that enhance the vitality of official language minority communities subgroups such as (but not limited to) elders, women, immigrant and racialized populations. In 2023–24, the Department will continue funding a wide variety of activities providing legal information to the public, specialized training for legal professionals and operational/core funding to non-governmental organizations.

Among its activities, the Fund provides support to projects related to legal linguistic training and tools for bilingual justice professionals and students. The Support Fund targets individuals living in official language minority communities, whether they are Francophone or Anglophone. These communities are very diverse in their makeup. The proposed activities illustrate the strengthening of the GBA Plus approach, which takes into account additional intersecting identity factors such as age, sexual orientation, disability, education, language, geography, culture and income. The new funds will be used to promote access to justice projects with these groups, who may currently be underserved by the Support Fund.

In addition, the Fund provides support to provinces and territories for the implementation of the official languages provision under the Divorce Act, which benefits official language minority communities. For example, in 2023–24 the Support Fund, in conjunction with the Canadian Family Justice Fund, will provide funding to the provinces and territories for the implementation of the official language provision included in the 2019 amendments to the Divorce Act.

Funding recipients are required to report on their activities, including training, services, and public legal education and information materials provided to and outcomes for diverse groups/official language minority communities. Information will be collected as to the population groups targeted by the projects, communities, number of individuals reached, and specific information on vulnerable populations reached through the project activities. This disaggregated data will be analyzed annually following the submission of annual reports and reported on in future Departmental Results Reports as available.

The Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) works with stakeholders and clients to inform its recommendations to the federal government on steps to address intimate-partner and domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and femicide. A number of initiatives by the OFOVC support this goal, including:

• continued work with the Indigenous Advisory Circle to support recommendations calling for the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action, and to support the implementation of the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls;
• recommendations for the recognition of coercive control in intimate-partner relationships as an offence under the Criminal Code; and
• the Ombudsperson’s Progress Report on the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which analyzes the effectiveness of the legislation and provides recommendations regarding efforts to strengthen victims’ rights as well as increase transparency and accountability across the criminal justice system for victims of crime and violence.

In 2023–24, the OFOVC will conduct exploratory work to review systemic issues related to:

1. access to Justice for Indigenous and racialized boys and men; and
2. implications of the Accessible Canada Act on federal victim services and the right to information.

The OFOVC tracks the implementation of its recommendations to decision makers as it recognizes the importance of collecting data related to upholding victims’ rights across the criminal justice system. The OFOVC is exploring enhancement tools to expand the capacity to report on impacts by gender and other diversity factors. The OFOVC will continue working on the development of a new client management system and online complaint form that will improve program’s capacity to report on impacts by gender and diversity. The online complaint form and the new system are expected to be launched by March 2024.

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that support the Department's programs and/or are required to meet the organization’s corporate obligations. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the following ten distinct services:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

Internal Services influence the:

• Representation of members of equity groups in management;
• Proportion of employees who belong to equity groups;
• Gender wage gap;
• Proportion of employees who self-report being harassed in the workplace;
• Creation and provision of better opportunities, services, and experiences for persons with disabilities; and
• Language used and tone of discourse surrounding accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion within the Department.

In addition to ongoing data collection based on employment equity factors, Internal Services houses Justice Canada’s Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Secretariat (ARADS). The Secretariat is implementing new measures, and making improvements to existing measures, to better report on impacts by gender, racial identity and ability in the future.

For example, a results map and indicators have been developed to support the monitoring and evaluation of initiatives within the Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Results Framework. The data collected is used to determine the efficacy of current initiatives in increasing representation and career development opportunities for Indigenous, Black and other racialized employees, and 2SLGBTQI+ employees, and employees with disabilities. In 2023–24, the department will conduct a Departmental Employment Systems Review to identify and address systemic barriers within hiring processes.

The new Employment Equity Plan includes goals regarding representation, hiring, promotion and retention of employees from employment equity groups and includes reporting on a semi-annual basis. As part of the Employment Equity Plan, the ARADS implemented a disaggregated Employment Equity data initiative, which complements the regular Workforce Representation and Availability Estimates dashboard. In 2023–24, the Department will start using Statistics Canada’s advanced dynamic population projection model to project active labour force data and put in place future-oriented hiring targets.

The Human Resources Management System now allows employees to self-declare and determine how their information can be used (e.g. mentorship opportunities, assessment boards). This information will help supplement existing demographic data that informs measurement, reporting, representation, and career development strategies. To assist hiring managers in obtaining up-to-date employee data, the Human Resources Analytics and Reporting unit, in collaboration with the Business Analytics Centre, has made employment equity data easily accessible through Explore, a departmental integrated platform bringing together various data sources to support business and people analytics. This information will be used in the future to create dashboards based on users’ requirements to display this data.

The Department’s Accessibility Plan sets out actions the Department is taking to identify, remove, and prevent barriers for persons with disabilities. The actions in the Accessibility Plan reflect the results of consultations regarding the impacts of barriers on persons with disabilities. Participants in the consultations often have intersecting identity factors of diverse groups including women, Indigenous people, racialized persons and the 2SLGBTQI+ community. The Accessibility Plan Team will continue to monitor implementation status against the planned actions on a quarterly basis. Feedback gathering takes place continuously, and open communication occurs within the Accessibility Network regarding the feedback received. Feedback can be provided to the Accessibility team here. The Department will continue to publish annual reports against the Accessibility Plan for transparent tracking of effectiveness in identifying, removing, and preventing both existing and emerging barriers.

The Change Management and Business Transformation Division (CMBT) provides support and guidance in the design and implementation of disability-friendly programs and services. In addition, to better respond to the needs of employees, CMBT will continue to apply an accessibility, gender and diversity lens to all change initiatives and activities related to business transformation, which includes communication products, training sessions, consultations and service management initiatives.