Grants and Contributions

Support the travel costs for 6 Indigenous Courtworkers from Aboriginal Legal Services to attend the Indigenous Courtworker Program National Gathering 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia, February, 2026.

The grant is in support of costs associated with gathering and validating client data from the program for the Indigenous Justice Program’s (IJP) recidivism study.

The Ministry of the Attorney General, Indigenous Justice Division will hire Aboriginal Legal Services to develop a comprehensive culture-based training manual for family court workers to be used by existing and new programs across Ontario. the manual will be shared with all ICW programs in Ontario to promote consistency of service delivery.

The project will provide the services of a Victims Rights Advocate to assist families attending Court and Circle processes, especially families dealing with the Child Protection System. The Victims Rights Advocate will work with Victim Services, the Giiwedin Anang Council (an Indigenous Family Dispute Resolution Program) and a Legal Clinic Child Protection Lawyer to support victims through the Giiwedin Anang Council and Talking Circle process either through the child welfare or the civil stream. A dedicated Victims Rights Advocate will increase access to justice and a sense of community for Indigenous victims and survivors of crime.

Hold a one-day conference, in conjunction with our Indigenous Knowledge Keeper program, on Indigenous Legal Traditions.

To bring together restorative justice programs and Gladue caseworkers from all Indigenous communities in Ontario for two days in Toronto to learn, discuss best practices, celebrate sucesses and network.

Organizations include: Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS), Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centers (OFIFC), Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO), and Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA).

|This project will support the facilitation of a gathering in Toronto between March 27-29, 2023 which will create a forum for knowledge sharing between survivors, Indigenous community members, experts, academics and Indigenous organizations in the context of the identification of unmarked graves and burial sites of Indigenous children at former Indian residential schools. The project will support communities and surivors to attend the gathering and provide input into the recommendations being developed by the Independent Special Interlocutor for the investigation and protection of unmarked burials and the identification of the missing children of former Indian Residential schools.

Through this 59-month project, Aboriginal Legal Services will increase its ability to prevent and address gender-based violence (GBV) against Indigenous women, girls, or 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in the Toronto area. This will be achieved by orienting Aboriginal Legal Services staff to new ways of combining traditional Indigenous healing methods with music therapy designed for trauma survivors; conducting workshops with staff to deepen their knowledge and ability to share and adapt new healing models; conducting outreach to local Indigenous stakeholders; and holding community workshops to test new healing strategies.

These projects will support an Elders Gathering on the land to develop the future direction of ALS, and the Strategic plan which will provide a clear path and roadmap for a broader journey of continued growth, innovation and service excellence.