What to know
- The federal government has committed $136.3 million over four years to support Canada’s Black Justice Strategy, a 10-year initiative addressing anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination in the criminal justice system.
- The funding will support community-led diversion, rehabilitation and reintegration programs, victim services, employment initiatives and efforts to help people obtain record suspensions.
- Community advocates say the investment is a significant victory after years of organizing, particularly because it provides organizations with four years of funding rather than the shorter funding cycles they have historically relied on.
- Advocates say the strategy must also recognize the disproportionate experiences of Black women, Trans and Non-Binary people, including their experiences as victims and survivors of violence.
- While welcoming the investment, coalition members are calling for continued funding to ensure the full 10-year strategy is implemented without interruptions to community services.
The federal government is investing $136.3 million over four years into the Black Justice Strategy, a move advocates say will help strengthen community-led programs and tackle the systemic barriers contributing to the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system, including as victims of crime.
The funding, announced in the 2026 federal budget, will support the continued implementation of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy, a 10-year federal initiative launched in 2025 to address anti-Black racism, systemic discrimination, and the severe overrepresentation of Black people in the Canadian criminal justice system. Developed in consultation with Black community leaders and organizations, the strategy takes a cross-government approach to addressing the factors that contribute to Black people’s disproportionate involvement in the justice system, while investing in prevention, access to justice, victim support and rehabilitation.
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Tyler Boyce, board chair of national Black 2SLGBTQIA+ organization Black Queer Canada, explained that the investment includes $58.6 million for Justice Canada to support community-based diversion, rehabilitation and reintegration programs for Black youth, victim services and access-to-justice initiatives. Additionally, $41.1 million will go to Public Safety Canada to support reintegration services delivered by Black-led organizations, record suspension applications and research into repeat offending, and Employment and Social Development Canada will receive $20.8 million to support employment and skills development programming for Black youth. Meanwhile, Boyce explains that the remaining $15.8 million will be dedicated to Correctional Services Canada to continue their work on the strategy.
Confronting systemic racism
For Boyce, the strategy represents an opportunity to address the issue beyond individual experiences and confront the systemic conditions that contribute to overrepresentation.
“We know that Black folks are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and so this strategy is looking to correct that not only on an individual level, but really take a systematic approach,” he explained.
“[That’s] a systemic approach towards correcting the levers that are leading to that, correcting the societal issues that are also leading to that overrepresentation, and bringing it all together in a multi-year cross-government strategy.”
Boyce explained that what’s interesting about the Black Justice Strategy is that it’s not happening only within government, but that it’s also bringing in correctional services, provincial levers, and civil society organizations.
Boyce explained that the coalition asked for long-term funding dedicated to the community, and the government delivered.
“That means more Black youth kept out of the justice system, and more people supported when they come home,” Boyce added. “So, we are ecstatic.”
Advocates describe the allocation as a big win
Advocate Chris Evelyn calls the commitment a big win for Black communities.
“We thank the government for listening to the people and organizations who called for this. This new funding for the Strategy is going to the organizations on the ground doing the work: diverting young people out of the system, supporting victims and helping people come home after custody,” Evelyn told Now Toronto, adding that this was a key part of their coalition’s ask.
“For years these groups have been stuck on one- or two-year funding. Four-year funding changes that. A young person at risk, a victim looking for support or someone leaving custody can count on the help being there when they need it,” he continued. “That is how we start to bring down the overrepresentation of Black Canadians in the justice system.”
One of the organizations that pushed for the strategy to be funded is the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, LEAF, an organization focused on systemic equality for women, Trans and Non-Binary people. Ruth Goba, LEAF’s executive director, says the investment is an important step toward addressing the disproportionate impact of the justice system on Black communities, particularly women and gender-diverse people.
“A lot of our work is focused on restorative justice and on the issues that lead to criminalization and incarceration, particularly for women, Trans, and Non-Binary people who are disproportionately impacted,” she told Now Toronto.
“This investment is really about keeping communities safe and recognizing that a community response is necessary, not just a policing response.”
She explained that LEAF does a lot of work for survivors of assault and victims of crime, and emphasized the importance of recognizing Black women, trans and non-binary people in conversations about overrepresentation, noting that they are disproportionately impacted as well.
“I think there’s an understanding or an assumption that when you speak about criminalization, that it is really about Black men, but Black women, Trans and Non-Binary people are disproportionately impacted in the statistics as well. So, it’s very important for us as well for the work that we do.”
Boyce explained that one of the reasons Black Queeer Canada got involved with the coalition is that federal data revealed that Black folks experience the highest number of hate crimes, while Queer and Trans communities experience the most violent types of hate crimes.
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“There was a spike in both of those numbers,” Boyce explained.
“We’re particularly interested in the overrepresentation of Black folks in terms of [being] victims of violent crimes. I think about 37 per cent of violent crime is experienced by Black people, and so Black Queer people are part of that horrible statistic, and including us in this strategy, in terms of victim support and in terms of prevention, is incredibly important.”
Ensuring there is no lapse in funding
Previously, Canada made a two-year commitment to the strategy, with that funding running out in March 2027, and the new funding now set to come into effect on April 1, 2027. Boyce explained that while the $136.3 million is a welcome investment, the coalition that advocated for the commitment will now turn their attention to ensure that there are no lapses in service provision.
“We’re looking to ensure that there’s no lapse in funding for community organizations whose funding under this strategy ends in March of 2027,” he explained.
“This is a 10-year strategy. We [first] got two years, and now in this budget, we got four years. And so we are looking for the fully funded 10-year strategy, and that’s yet to be to be announced,” he continued, adding that they are hoping to see no lapse in services that civil society organizations are providing.
“Our coalition is ready to work with [the] government to ensure that there’s no lapse and to also make sure that the full strategy, the full 10 years, is funded to the scale that it needs to be.”
One of the organizations that received funding under the strategy is the CEE Center for Young Black Professionals. Executive Director Tiffany Gooch describes the government’s commitment as a generational moment after years of advocacy for meaningful changes to Canada’s justice system.
Gooch says the four-year funding commitment will give community organizations greater continuity and help build trust with the young people they serve, something she says shorter funding cycles often make difficult.
“Four years of funding really means that we are able to build trust and community and ensure that our programs are able to have continuity,” Gooch told Now Toronto. “They need to see and trust that it’s going to continue to be there for them. And so, one-year funding cycles don’t allow us to do that, but four years do.”
Now that the funding has been committed, Goba explained that as a result, they hope to see less criminalization.
“Black communities across the country [represent] four per cent [of the population], but nine per cent of those in federal custody,” she explained.
“We’re hoping to see that people are kept out of the system before they enter it. We are hoping to see reintegration services. We are hoping that people have records cleared so that they can keep working and find housing. And for women and gender diverse people in particular, housing, employment, and those supports are critical for equality.”
