Release of Canada's Black Justice Strategy's Implementation Plan: an important step toward transformational change in the criminal justice system in Canada

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Department of Justice Canada

Feb 25, 2025, 13:22 ET

OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 25, 2025 /CNW/ - Black people in Canada continue to live with the lingering effects of colonialism and slavery, including prejudice, discrimination, and hatred—from unconscious bias to anti-Black hate crimes and violence. These systemic inequalities have resulted in the overrepresentation of Black people in Canada's criminal justice system, including as victims of crime.

To address these systemic issues, the Government of Canada is working with Black communities to develop Canada's Black Justice Strategy and will work with provinces and territories to identify areas where further collaborative action could contribute to reducing overrepresentation.

Today, the Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, released Canada's Black Justice Strategy's Implementation Plan, Toward Transformative Change: an Implementation Plan for Canada's Black Justice Strategy. The Plan establishes a 10-year framework to reduce the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system. It is part of the federal government response to the Report of the external Steering Group, A Roadmap for Transformative Change: Canada's Black Justice Strategy publicly released in June 2024.

The 2024 Fall Economic Statement proposes investments to support Canada's first ever Black Justice Strategy through initiatives across nine departments and agencies. These investments include $23.6 million over 2 years starting in 2025-26 for the Department of Justice Canada to:

  • develop Black-specific court worker/navigation services
  • expand the use of Impact of Race and Culture Assessment reports at decision points in the criminal justice system other than sentencing
  • develop supports for Black victims and survivors of crime
  • extend the External Steering Group to provide expert advice on implementing the Black Justice Strategy
  • develop Black-specific diversion, conferencing, and bail supervision projects for youth

The 2024 Fall Economic Statement also proposes investments, starting in 2025-26, to eight other government departments and agencies, including:

  • $1 million over two years for Statistics Canada to fill in key data gaps and better understand outcome disparities for Black people in Canada
  • $8.8 million over two years for Health Canada to expand culturally appropriate mental health supports and substance use and addictions programming for Black Canadians
  • $9.5 million over two years for Employment and Social Development Canada to help Black youth overcome employment barriers through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program
  • $189 million over 5 years to Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada for the Black Entrepreneurship Program to help Black entrepreneurs and business owners thrive
  • $16.7 over two years for Public Safety Canada to work with Black-led and Black-serving community organizations to develop responsive services and assist with applications for record suspensions
  • $18.2 million over two years to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for an Anti-Racism Unit and evidence-based improvements of national standards, policies, and practices to address the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system
  • $7.9 million over two years for Correctional Service Canada's Black Offender Strategy, that is intended to help support successful rehabilitation during incarceration
  • $1.8 million over two years for the Canada School of Public Service to develop anti-Black racism education and training for the federal public service

In addition, the 2024 Fall Economic Statement proposes:

  • $36 million in 2025-26 for the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative, which empowers Black-led, Black-focused and Black-serving community organizations

The Implementation Plan for Canada's Black Justice Strategy will be supported by these investments.

The release of the Implementation Plan is an important step toward the needed transformative change for the criminal justice system in Canada. The Government of Canada will continue to provide updates on progress and outcomes on the implementation of Canada's Black Justice Strategy.

Quotes

"We are privileged to live in a country that values human rights and places equality at its core. However, despite these values, anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination exist in Canadian society. Canada's first ever Black Justice Strategy is a significant first step towards transformative action, including addressing the underlying socioeconomic factors that contribute to inequality. This plan is a ten-year commitment to reduce the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system, including as victims of crime."

The Honourable Arif Virani P.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Quick facts

  • Available data demonstrates that Black people are more likely to experience negative outcomes in a range of social systems, such as education, health and mental health, housing, employment and income (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020). Statistics Canada has indicated that more research is needed to determine the cause of these disparate negative outcomes that are not accounted for by socioeconomic factors (Statistic Canada 2020; Public Health Agency of Canada 2020). These higher levels of negative outcomes can result in increased risk of contact with and involvement in the criminal justice system. (Justice Canada, 2022). For example, studies show that the unemployment rate amongst young Black males between the ages of 15 to 24 years old is 19% compared to almost 11% for non-racialized youth of the same age (Labour Market Information Council, 2024). Systemic barriers to the labour market lead to poverty, which in turn can shape the environments that youth find themselves in and increase the risks of leading to crime as a survival strategy (Engagement Findings – Black Youth and the Criminal Justice System: Summary Report of an Engagement Process in Canada).
  • Black people have overall lower rates of reoffending and lower returns to custody than any other group of Canadians. The majority of Black offenders (85.8%) are not re-admitted to federal custody within 5 years following the expiration of their sentence. (Correctional Service Canada, 2022)
  • Despite the lower rates of reoffending and returning to custody, Black people are more likely to be assessed as higher risk, low motivation, and low reintegration potential. (Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2022).
  • After a 2016 visit to Canada, the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent issued a report recommending that Canada develop a strategy to address the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system. The UN Working Group report also highlighted the continuing challenges experienced by Black people due to the historical entrenchment of anti-Black racism in Canadian institutions and policies, so that it is "functionally normalized or rendered invisible, especially to the dominant group".
  • In February 2023, Justice Canada established an external Steering Group comprised of nine experts and leaders from Black communities across Canada.
  • In support of the work of the Steering Group and the development of Canada's Black Justice Strategy, in the Fall of 2023, 12 Black-led community-based organizations held community engagements and consultations across Canada.
  • In June 2024, Justice Canada released the external Steering Group's Report: A Roadmap for Transformative Change: Canada's Black Justice Strategy. The report sets out 114 recommendations to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination in the criminal justice and other related systems that has led to the overrepresentation of Black people in Canada's criminal justice system, including as victims of crime.
  • The development of Canada's Black Justice Strategy is aligned with the Justice Pillar of the second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025 to 2034), with a focus on the right to equality and non-discrimination and measures to improve access to justice and to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination in the criminal justice system.

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SOURCE Department of Justice Canada

Contacts: For more information, media may contact: Anna Lisa Lowenstein, Director, Parliamentary Affairs, Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, 343-575-8501, [email protected]; Media Relations, Department of Justice Canada, 613-957-4207, [email protected]

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