Black Youth and the Criminal Justice System: Summary Report of an Engagement Process in Canada

Between August 2020 and April 2021, the Department of Justice Canada (JUS), in collaboration with the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat at the Department of Canadian Heritage, conducted an engagement process to better understand the challenges facing Black youth who have been in contact with and involved in the Canadian youth CJS. This process supports the federal government’s broader efforts under Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy to address access to justice issues. It is also part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to the International Decade for People of African Descent, which has prioritized justice as one of three overarching pillars. The initiative also supports JUS’s 2021 Mandate Letter commitment to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Black people in the CJS.

A community-based approach was taken for this engagement process. The work was led by seven community liaisons who organized and guided focused virtual engagement sessions and meetings in six cities across Canada: Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. A total of 224 individuals with diverse intersectional backgrounds and experiences participated in these discussions. Participants included Black youth aged 18 to 29, who have had experiences with the CJS under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) when they were 12 to 17 years old, as well as family members and other key stakeholders who could also speak to the experiences of Black youth who have come into contact with the CJS. Each community liaison provided a site-specific summary of key findings and suggested priority areas for action based on their sessions. The following report summarizes the content of the seven site-specific summaries.