We conducted a one-year study to examine the perspectives of Ontario staff and volunteers within the gender-based violence (GBV) sector about access to restorative justice for sexual harm. This study builds on the 2023 Avenues to Justice Report that concluded provincial and territorial policies limiting or prohibiting diversion under s.717 of
the Criminal Code should be reevaluated. Ontario Crown policy D.4 prohibits the use of s.717 for all sexual offences, which includes restorative justice. The key finding of this research is that there is support among the GBV sector in Ontario to revise the Crown policy. We call on the Province of Ontario to also allocate additional funding to restorative justice options for sexual harm. Ensuring survivors of sexual harm has an array of options that will enhance survivor-centered justice and contribute to overall community safety.
Read the report: https://cjiwr.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Bridging-Justices-Final-Report.pdf
As hosts, we provide a safe, calm place to land, while refugees get their feet under them. Dave and Rebecca Smith, Open Homes Hosts Open Hearts and Homes—Providing Safety […]
We are sharing with you today the news that Chris Cowie is stepping away from CJI after 15 years of stellar leadership. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we […]
You are invited to attend Community Justice Initiatives’ Annual General Meeting 7:00 pm, September 18, 2024 Walter Fedy , 675 Queen St. S. Suite 111 Kitchener, On Onsite parking available. […]
“I wasn’t in a rut, I was in a hole,” says Alice*, a local older adult who reached out to CJI for support in 2020. She found CJI’s Elder Mediation […]
Co-mediator Ben Chery volunteers with CJI so he can “do little things with big heart.” A lawyer by profession, Ben says, “When I started to volunteer at CJI, I learned about […]
50 years of service to Waterloo Region later, Community Justice Initiatives is thrilled to invite you to a celebration of our people and the launch of your Community Justice Centre. […]
Our Sulah program continues to help meet the needs of people who have experienced harm because of their identity. Sulah also impacts people who have harmed others by helping to […]
Pressure to address the affordable housing crisis in Ontario has only continued to build in our current pandemic context. Housing is considered affordable when less than 30% of household income […]
The vision of Community Justice Initiatives’ Caregiver Teen Services is to work alongside caregivers and teens to create conditions that support lasting behaviour change in the ways caregivers and teens […]
