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 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.
