Department of Justice Canada

The Report is divided into two parts: the first part of the report addresses the issue of cyberbullying and includes information relating to the scope of the problem, the impact of cyberbullying on victims, existing legislative and policy responses and options for Criminal Code reform to address...

Please note that the Departmental Plans, Reports on Plans and Priorities from 2001-2006 have been archived by the Library and Archives on their website, and are no longer updated. Departmental Plans from 2006-2012 have also been archived by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and will...

Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS) became law in Canada on December 18, 2018. This amendment to the Criminal Code allowed police to demand a breath test of any driver even in the absence of suspicion or cause. MAS introduced a fundamental change in the approach used by police officers to enforce...

In 2018, Parliament enacted former Bill C-46, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (offences relating to conveyances) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, S.C. 2018, c. 21 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) to create new and stronger laws to combat impaired driving. The Act...

The Emergencies Act, which became law in 1988, is a federal law that can be used by the federal government in the event of a national emergency.

Between August 2020 and April 2021, the Department of Justice Canada (JUS), in collaboration with the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat at the Department of Canadian Heritage, conducted an engagement process to better understand the challenges facing Black youth who have been in contact with and...

Legal clinics in Canada may provide a variety of services, the most usual being free legal information, summary advice, coaching, and representation to low-income clients who meet certain eligibility criteria. Although one or more of these core services may exist in any given clinic, there is no...

This report provides national level statistics on revenues, expenditures, personnel, and caseloads from legal aid plans across Canada. Justice Canada has been producing the Legal Aid in Canada report since 2016-17, and this is the fifth annual edition. This year’s report includes data from the...

The Survey of Family Courts (SFC) is a long-standing online survey that documents detailed information about the contents of court orders and separation agreements. This snapshot of data collected between 2018 and 2019 focuses on custody and access, legal representation, and the relationship...

This research study was undertaken with a view to fulfilling two goals. The first is to take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of the SST Navigator Service with a view to sharing knowledge about this novel service more broadly among administrative tribunals at the federal level, and in the...

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) came into force on April 1, 2003 to assist in reducing the notably high Canadian youth custody rate. The YCJA promotes youth rehabilitation and reintegration into society through diversion from the formal justice system and greater community involvement in...

This report provides a review of recent developments in regulatory action and program activity aimed at improving access to justice through assistance provided by non-lawyers in community-based not-for-profit settings. We call this type of assistance “community justice help”. The purpose of this...

The virtual panel explored how Indigenous justice, RJ or customary law approaches are used in two First Nations and one Inuit context. The panel helped to highlight that while RJ principles may have strong parallels to Indigenous legal principles and traditions, they are not the same thing....

This fact sheet presents information on Canadian federal offenders who were admitted to federal custody between fiscal years 2010/11 and 2019/20 for an offence punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) as the most serious offence on sentence. Data were obtained from the Correctional Service...

The Department of Justice Canada Research and Statistics Division, in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee of Senior Officials - Family Justice Research Sub-committee, reviewed research and evaluation studies on the use of technology in the family justice system. The purpose of the...

This study uses data from the Measures to Address Prostitution Initiative (MAPI) to present some of the socio-demographic characteristics and experiences of people who provide or have provided sexual services in Canada’s sex trade and received support services through organizations funded by the...

This report examines the impact of the lack of access to legal aid in family law cases in Canada. The objective is to identify challenges that people face in accessing justice for family law disputes in the absence of legal aid, and to analyze the impacts of the lack of access to family legal aid...

Surveys about legal problems and needs are undertaken in countries around the world. In 2021, the Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS) was conducted to identify the kinds of serious legal problems people face, how they attempted to resolve them, and how these experiences have impacted their...

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada released 94 Calls to Action (CTA) to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. In CTA 40, the Commission focussed on victims’ programs and services by calling on all levels of...

In recent academic, professional and media conversations regarding pre-trial detention in Canada, a new expression has been taking shape. Specifically, an increasing number of people have claimed that “Bail is Broken” in this country. It is likely safe to assume that the generic reference to...