Grants totaling $45.5 million announced by Law Foundation of Ontario

The foundation launched its Catalyst program in 2018. Since then, it has provided multi-year core funding to organizations seeking to promote access to justice in the province and has helped these entities better adapt, innovate, and respond to their needs. The foundation has plans to accept new applicants into the program next year.

Grantees approved

The Catalyst program approved grants for the following organizations this year, as per the foundation’s news release:

• Pro Bono Ontario ($7,957,000): develops and manages programs connecting volunteer lawyers with Ontarians unable to afford one
• Ontario Justice Education Network ($3,954,000): develops and grows innovative educational tools introducing the youth to the justice system
• Pro Bono Students Canada ($3,232,000): provides free legal help to low-income individuals and experiential learning opportunities to law students
• Community Legal Education Ontario ($2,897,000): develops legal education and information helping Ontarians understand and exercise their rights
• Law Commission of Ontario ($2,739,000): conducts research offering multidisciplinary analysis and reports on emerging legal policy issues
• Innocence Canada ($2,579,000): aims to advocate for the exoneration of wrongly convicted individuals and to prevent future wrongful convictions
• Justice for Children and Youth’s Childhood Arrivals Support and Advocacy Program ($2,101,000): works to support undocumented childhood arrivals
• Law in Action Within Schools ($1,813,000): helps teach young people about law and justice and assists them in graduating high school
• Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario ($1,539,000): offers free 30-minute consultations with a lawyer to Ontarians with legal problems
• Connecting Ottawa, Community Legal Services of Ottawa ($1,539,000): gives legal information and referrals to those with language and communication challenges
• Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust ($1,467,000): holds workshops to educate Ontario students, teachers, newcomers, and the public about democracy
• The 519 Church Street Community Centre’s Access to Justice Program ($1,359,000): responds to the legal needs of BIPOC 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Ontario
• FCJ Refugee Centre ($1,313,000): helps refugees through the steps of the refugee determination and refugee appeals processes
• Canadian Centre for Housing Rights’ Pro Bono and Public Education Program ($1,261,000): offers legal support tailored to the needs of low-income tenants
• Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children ($1,207,000): supports women in Durham region with experience of intimate partner violence
• Muslim Legal Support Centre ($1,198,000): connects Muslim communities across the Greater Toronto Area to volunteer lawyers providing free summary advice
• Métis Nation of Ontario’s Advocacy Program ($1,144,000): boosts the understanding of rights and the legal system in relation to the lives of Métis people
• The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History ($1,015,000): studies and promotes public interest in the history of the law, legal profession, and judiciary
• Level ($928,000): has three youth programs, namely the Indigenous Youth Outreach Program, Environmental Justice Program, and Black Youth Justice Program
• Workers’ Action Centre ($869,000): aims to expand its reach to benefit temporary, low-wage, and precarious workers across southern Ontario
• Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic’s Criminalization of Women Pro-Bono Project ($811,000): offers trauma-informed legal advice to women and non-binary people
• National Self-Represented Litigants Project ($766,000): seeks to better understand the needs of self-represented litigants in civil and family courts
• Probono Inmate Appeal Program ($677,000): coordinates and supports criminal appellate counsel who act as duty counsel
• Canadian Forum on Civil Justice ($583,000): has a mandate to promote civil and family justice reform
• Aboriginal Legal Services Inc. ($562,000): supports Indigenous community members across Ontario with legal issues