Grants and Contributions

Mitacs powers innovation by building partnerships with academia, industry, government and other organizations that benefit Canada and its economy.

Over the next five fiscal years, British Columbia will advance victim services and enhance access to justice for victims and their families by providing training and wellness supports for Community Safety and Victim Services staff; enhancing training for frontline service providers through updates to training courses and materials related to victim services and gender-based violence; strengthening the work of Child Advocacy Centres and promoting ongoing coordination among the multi-disciplinary partners; supporting and developing the Restitution Program and broader restitution processes; delivering Trauma Informed Practice training to police, Crown counsel, victim service and anti-violence programs, corrections, and lawyers; enhancing and expanding access to independent legal advice and representation for victims of sexual assault navigating disclosure processes; and exploring, piloting, and evaluating a centralized Information Gatherer service to provide court-related information to community-based victim and sexual assault support programs across BC.

Planned activities include: strengthening risk assessment and safety supports for victims of violent crime; Continuing to implement Yukon's Child Advocacy Centre Initiative with a multi-disciplinary team; supporting the continuation of the Yukon Victims of Crime Emergency Fund, which provides emergency assistance and support for immediate practical needs of victims of crime; ensuring that victims of intimate partner and sexualized violence have access to independent legal advice and representation through trained counsel, coordinated partnerships, and trauma informed, multidisciplinary services across Yukon; and supporting the promotion and implementation of victims’ rights across Yukon through outreach, training, and strengthened partnerships.

The “Scarborough Youth ReStart Initiative (SYRI)” is a trauma-informed, culturally responsive, rehabilitation and restorative justice program that aims to support Black and racialized youth aged 12–17 in Scarborough who are involved with the criminal justice system, gang-involved and/or currently being dealt with under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). Over three years, the program will directly engage 180 youth (60 per year) through structured restorative justice activities that provide meaningful alternatives to detention, foster accountability, and support long-term reintegration into the community. Additionally, it utilizes evidence-informed alternatives to detention and incarceration, focusing on personal responsibility, addressing systemic issues and community integration for youth violent offenders.

The program focuses on rehabilitation, reintegration, and accountability. It seeks to address the underlying social and systemic factors faced by racialized youth, such as poverty, racism, trauma, and community violence, that contribute to youth offending, while helping participants develop the skills, confidence, and support necessary to build positive, crime-free futures. Participants will be empowered to take responsibility for their actions, repair harm, and develop pro-social attitudes and life skills that promote lasting change.

Juralingo will provide legal language training sessions in the other official language to provincially and territorially appointed judges in Canada. These training courses focus on the development of comprehension and expression skills, both oral and written.

The New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety proposes to undertake several activities over five fiscal years to advance victim services and access to justice for victims and witnesses, while giving victims a more effective voice in the criminal justice system in New Brunswick. Activities will include enhancing services available to victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), support groups for vulnerable victims and families, training for victim service coordinators and other initiatives to support the implementation of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.

Activities will include: an initiative with the Ontario Native Women's Association; an initiative with the Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation; the Ontario Independent Legal Advice program and independent legal representation for victims of sexual violence; training to increase the knowledge of justice personnel about the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and other legislation and best practices to support victims; and enhancing access to testimonial aids.

Over the next five fiscal years, Prince Edward Island will deliver direct services to victims of crime to support the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, the provincial Victims of Crime Act and the Victims of Family Violence Act. The project will support a Deputy Sheriff position to produce greater results in the area of restitution enforcement for victims of crime.

Over the next five fiscal years, the project will support direct services to victims of crime in three regions of Prince Edward Island, contributing to increasing the province's capacity to implement victim-related legislation; increasing access and delivery of victim services; increasing victims participation in the criminal justice system; and, increasing awareness and understanding among criminal justice personnel, service providers and victims on issues, legislation and available services to victims.

Provide financial assistance to an individual Canadian victim of a specified serious violent crime in a foreign jurisdiction for emergency situations of undue hardship where no other source of financial assistance is available (specified categories of crimes are homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault or assault with serious personal violence, or threat of serious violence, including against a child) or to an individual support person to accompany, attend with or support a Canadian victimized in a foreign jurisdiction. A total of 21 individuals were approved to receive financial assistance in this regard.