Grants and Contributions

The Self-Represented Survivors (SRS) of Gender-Based Violence project will help the Clinic to increase its capacity to support clients by offering practical and survivor-centered support in-house, through the Clinic’s central intake and wrap-around services model. The clinic will play a specialized intake role and offer direct support and informational resources to their clients and connect them with legal aid and trauma-informed lawyers. The project will also develop and deliver training for legal stakeholders on the unique needs of SRS clients. A self-directed online course will be made available to lawyers, family court support workers, and front-line service organizations to support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

The project will develop free online family law resources, including webinars, on topics such as separation, divorce, and parenting plans. Virtual information sessions will complement the webinars and will cover areas such as out-of-court options and protection orders. These resources will be available on their website, YouTube, and social media. Additionally, a Family Law Link network will be created to strengthen collaboration among service providers.

This project takes a three-pronged approach to support families through separation and divorce. It will enhance the existing “Putting Children First” program into an 8-week psycho-educational course, equipping parents with co-parenting strategies, communication skills, and emotional regulation tools. Children will be supported through the Rainbows grief and loss program to help them navigate emotional challenges. Additionally, two annual service fairs will connect community members with key resources before entering the separation process.

This project will develop and deliver accessible mediation preparation workshops, available both in-person and online, for parents navigating separation agreements. The goal is to improve participant experiences, ensure cultural safety, reduce the negative impact on children, and increase successful, sustainable agreements to ultimately decrease court involvement.

The project aims to enhance the well-being of Indigenous women, girls, bi-spiritual, transgender, gender diverse + (WG2STGD+) people in accessing culturally relevant and trauma-informed family justice services across Canada. Native Women Association of Canada (NWAC) will develop two toolkits for professional training, informed by virtual roundtables and surveys involving Indigenous WG2STGD+ individuals and service providers. In the first year, NWAC will host two virtual roundtables and conduct surveys to gather grassroots perspectives and identify training needs. The insights will inform the creation of training resources in the second and third years, fostering Indigenous practices within the Family Justice System. Elders will guide the discussions to ensure cultural safety, and continuous feedback will be collected to refine the toolkits and adapt to evolving community needs.

Project aims to support separated or divorced fathers, father figures, and male caregivers in fostering healthy parental relationships with their children and co-parents. Over a three-year term, a program facilitator will coordinate and deliver the program, which includes outreach to clients and community partners, regular group facilitation, and participant evaluations and follow-ups. The program will be provided free of charge, prioritizing historically marginalized groups, and will be supported by the New Start team as part of its commitment to accessible, community-based services.

The project aims to develop and implement an early resolution model to meaningfully involve children in Family Law Act disputes at the outset. The project will be introduced in two to three registries in British Columbia – Kamloops and/or Kelowna, and Victoria. The registries selected are early resolution registries. The model involves a court directing parties to arrange a meeting between the child and a CYLC lawyer. The lawyer will provide age-appropriate legal information, outlining the child’s rights and options for participation. With the child’s consent, the lawyer will report to the court on the child’s chosen method of involvement. This initiative will be free and accessible to all children, regardless of age.

A new Cultural Integration Specialist position will be created to engage with diverse communities, particularly those speaking non-official languages, to promote integration and improve access to justice for all. This will include researching the needs of newcomers, providing cultural sensitivity training for staff, and enhancing public awareness of court processes. The project will also leverage artificial intelligence technology to improve court efficiency by providing generated transcripts, automated data entry, and chat services to answer common legal questions in simple language.

This initiative proposes the creation of a new pilot service for the calculation of a child support which aims to reduce cost and stress to assist parents by determining the amount of child support administratively.

This initiative proposes the creation of a new pilot service for the calculation of a child support which aims to reduce cost and stress to assist parents by determining the amount of child support administratively.