Part 1: A snapshot of Programs

1.0 Approach and methodology

1.1 Selection of organizations and programs

In the project, an array of organizations across Canada that provide some form of community justice help in one or more of their projects or programs are identified and described. These organizations are set out in Appendix 1.

The organizations listed in the table are a small sample of organizations that, according to their websites, offer assistance with problems in which law or law-related processes are embedded. In fact, the sectors examined, and the organizations listed, are a very small subset of the thousands of community-based not-for-profits across Canada, and similar trusted intermediary organizations, at which people who are not legal professionals offer some form of law-related assistanceFootnote 1. This assistance ranges from referrals to legal services providers (lawyers, paralegals, legal aid, legal clinics), to basic information about the law, to accompaniment to meetings with lawyers or to courts or tribunals, to systems navigation or legal process navigation, to options and strategy discussions, to letter-writing and forms completion. In addition to the sectors discussed in this report, other sectors working in this space include:

The organizations that are included reflect the breadth and diversity of community justice help that is provided throughout the country. The range of organizations summarized in the table is intended to convey a sense of that range and diversity; it is not a fully comprehensive catalogue nor a formally representative sample.

It is worth noting at the outset that these organizations would not use the term “community justice help” to refer to their law-related support, nor would many describe it as legal assistance – and certainly not as legal advice or legal services, which may trigger the attention of legal regulators. They are more likely to describe it in terms of the services that their client community is seeking – for example, “support for victims of intimate partner violence”, “settlement support”, “housing support”, or employment support”.

But the law and legal processes are typically interwoven into these problems and needs for support. Victims of intimate partner violence often need safety planning and protection orders; settlement support often includes assistance with work permits, family reunification, visas and permanent resident applications, and other; housing support often addresses issues around rent increases, repairs and maintenance issues, and eviction; and employment support may involve assistance getting Employment Insurance (EI) or seeking appropriate compensation from employers.

The objective was to include 25 to 30 organizations, representing a wide range of organizations from a number of community sectors. It was clear from the outset, that the number of organizations working in these sectors across Canada made it necessary to identify organizations, at least initially, through a focussed research strategy.

The project began by looking at the Department of Justice Canada’s recent funding initiatives. These include support projects addressing sexual harassment in the workplace, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and the legal needs of racialized communities. The list of funded organizations and initiatives was reviewed in order to identify a number of community-based organizations.

Members of the Public Legal Education Association of Canada – organizations that often support and work with non-legal not-for-profit organizations in their province or territory – were approached for suggestions of organizations that may meet our criteria (set out below). Many suggestions were received and a number of those are included.

Those two methods generated a good number of organizations. The initial list was reviewed, taking note of gaps – by sector, audience, or region—and further online research was conducted to identify additional organizations that help address gaps. Organizations’ websites were reviewed to confirm they met the criteria (below) for inclusion in the table. If they did, their websites were used to provide information for the table.Footnote 4

1.2 Criteria

Four criteria were used to help guide the selection of organizations.

  1. Non-legal, community-based organizations
    • Not-for-profit, community-based organizations to whom people turn for help with problems or issues (for example, settlement, housing, employment). This would not include organizations that people specifically turn to for legal services (legal advice and representation from a licensed legal professional), or non-legal organizations that had an onsite legal clinic.
    • Community organizations that describe their services primarily as social or community services of some sort, even if those services may involve the law -- for example, settlement services or support for abused women.
    • Organizations where law-related support is provided by staff who are not licensed legal professionals, and who do not typically focus exclusively on the legal dimension of problems.
  2. Provision of front-line, one-on-one services
    • Programs that provide one-on-one support and assistance to people in their communities, in-person, by phone, or via email – or, in many instances, through more than one of these methods.
    • This did not include organizations that, according to their websites, do not provide one-on-one assistance, even if they provide education or training, community organizing, professional development, professional or networking support, or other types of group or collective support.
  3. Sufficient information on websites
    Organizations needed to have websites which present information about their services sufficient to give some understanding of the law-related services that they provide. (This was a judgment call.) This meant that resource-stretched organizations were not captured given their lack the capacity to maintain a site with some substantive content about their services, even though many of those small, grassroots organizations deliver the most-needed services to hard-to-reach communities.
  4. Diversity of organizations
    A key objective of this project is to give a sense of the breadth of assistance being offered in numerous community service sectors in Canada. Examples of organizations working in the following sectors were included:
    • community centres
    • health-related
    • housing help
    • Indigenous-serving
    • intimate partner violence
    • settlement
    • workers’ rights
    • other community-specific services

And also included were:

2.0 Community justice help across Canada: what we found

2.1 Summary

The table includes brief descriptions of 30 organizations from across Canada, with at least one organization from every province and territory.

Each of the 30 organizations has been placed in one of eight sectors. The eighth sector in the list below (“organizations serving these communities”) has six organizations that serve specific communities not otherwise listed. In fact, all organizations in the table serve a defined community or communities. It should be noted that many of the organizations should be in more than one category – for example, many provide housing help, intimate partner violence assistance, and settlement services.

Organizations have been allocated to the following sectors:

2.2 Range of services

People often turn to local not-for-profit organizations they know and trust for help to access income or employment support, to find housing or remain in their home, to work and live in Canada, and for other assistance. In the table, the area of need has been described in these terms – for example, “housing support” or “intimate partner violence support” – to reflect the way that a client or their community worker would describe the problem or type of service.

Organizations assisting community members to address their needs or problems do so by providing a range of services.Footnote 5 The services are not easily or consistently framed: they are described as community services, social services, health services, settlement services, and/ or information and referral services – but not as legal services, unless delivered by a licensed legal professional.Footnote 6

Regardless of the framing, many of the organizations’ websites state that they:

Each of these categories captures a range of support services, and many services fit in more than one category. For example, “helping people understand the court process and prepare for court” (v) above) can be seen as a subset of “navigating systems and processes” (ii) above). Despite this occasional overlap and blurring, these seven categories have been used to give some structure to the discussion below.

2.3 Services provided: examples

2.3.1 Information about rights and resources, and referrals

Many of the organizations’ sites state that they provide information, support or referrals on law-related issues affecting their communities, including housing and employment support, information for women experiencing intimate partner violence, and support accessing income support and other benefits. Almost all organizations provide information and support on a number of interrelated issues, even though they may specialize in one or two.

2.3.2 Support for navigating systems and processes

Many of the sites describe their services as providing support for system navigation or for navigating processes. System navigation can refer to many different types of systems and processes, such as walking clients through the process for applying for a benefit, or for a work or study permit, and ensuring that they understand it.

2.3.3 Counselling and/ or advocacy services

Some of the organizations’ sites include “advocacy” and/ or “counselling” as one of their services. In the context of organizations’ mandate and services, advocacy is interpreted to refer to efforts to support clients to achieve their objectives – for example, renting an apartment or developing a safety plan – rather than advocacy in a formal adjudicative setting.

2.3.4 Support to complete forms and documents

Many organizations’ sites state that they help people prepare or complete documents or forms. The sites often refer to application forms for income assistance and other benefits, as well as documents and forms that many newcomers need to complete (for example, applications for work permits or study permits, or applications for permanent residence or citizenship).

2.3.5 Support to understand the court process and prepare for court

Many of the organizations support people in understanding the court and preparing for court.

2.3.6 Accompany people to court or to legal appointments

The websites of several organizations in the table include accompaniment – to court or to legal appointments – as one of the services they provide.

2.3.7 Liaise with other community, government, or legal services

Many organizations’ websites indicate that they play a liaising role with other community, government, or legal organizations or institutions. This role is fairly standard for community-based organizations, but is an important aspect of the holistic services that they provide.

2.4 Staffing: examples

The staff person or team delivering these services varies from organization to organization. The websites at many of the organizations describe their staff as social workers, settlement workers, housing support workers, outreach workers, and employment counsellors. Some organizations’ websites give somewhat more specific job titles.

Although the websites of most organizations do not give details on the educational or accreditation qualifications they require of staff positions, we do note that universities and colleges offer degrees or diplomas in social work and settlement work, and the social work profession is regulated across Canada.

2.5 How service delivery is supported: examples

Most of the organizations’ websites lack detailed information about the training required or provided to their staff who assist clients, the existence of supervision or oversight (or availability of an outside expert with whom a staff member can check when needed), or the existence of standards or accreditation regimes that support good-quality services.

This does not indicate, of course, that organizations do not have appropriate training, supervision, expertise, or standards in place. Rather, it is likely that this sort of information is considered primarily internal in nature and not the type of information that members of the public and community members would seek from a website – and, thus, is not included in many organizations’ sites.Footnote 7

The table’s notes column gives some indication that there are support structures and accountabilities in place at many organizations that support the provision of good-quality services.Footnote 8

The receipt of funding from government departments and other funding agencies, such as law foundations, also imposes a level of accountability. Most organizations’ sites state that they receive funding from the municipal, provincial, or federal government – or two or three levels of government. Governments and their agencies, and other major funders of not-for-profits, require funding recipients to submit applications and regular financial and other reports. Funders want to support good-quality services that benefit members of the public and do not pose a risk of harm.

Finally, many organizations participate in systems of voluntary standards or accreditation that support good-quality services.Footnote 9 It should be noted that small organizations with limited capacity may be challenged to participate in even the most straightforward accreditation system without dedicated funding for this purpose.

2.6 Partnerships and collaborations: examples

For a few of the organizations, the table’s notes column mentions significant partnerships and collaborations in which they participate.

Indeed, community-based organizations, by their very nature, have relationships and work in various forms of partnerships (informal or formal) in their community – with other community-based organizations; other trusted intermediaries and service providers such as faith-based institutions and health care providers; and government agencies and offices. Among other benefits, these relationships enable them to connect their clients with other service providers and experts in their community.

2.7 Associations and networks: examples

Although not reflected on most of their websites, the work of organizations providing community justice help is also supported through their membership and participation in associations and networks. These networks can be local, regional or provincial/ territorial, or national. For example:

These associations and networks enable community organizations to connect with and learn from similar organizations or initiatives. The networks and associations play a capacity-building role for their member or supported organizations. They may offer training, convene learning events, play an advocacy role for members, collect and share best practices or identify service standards, and provide support in other ways. They often provide or support professional development and skills-building for staff in the sector. Many, if not most, community-based organizations participate in networks and associations.

Examples of associations and networks that support the type of work carried out by many of the organizations listed in the table are set out in Appendix 2.

2.8 Other supports for community-based organizations

Other initiatives are in place in parts of the country to support organizations providing community justice help.