LAO releases Racialized Communities Strategy Action Plan progress report

Published: March 21, 2024

On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is releasing a new report highlighting the progress made on its Racialized Communities Strategy Action Plan.

“In 2020, LAO published its 10-year action plan committing to 17 specific objectives to be achieved by 2030,” says David Field, President & CEO of LAO. “While progress has been made in the last four years with various initiatives, LAO is aware that equity in the justice system can only be met by continuing to listen to our racialized clients, understanding their needs, and developing services that help to address the barriers they face.”

Highlights of the progress report include:

• Funding Impact of Race and Culture Assessment Reports.
• Providing special funding to support the Black Legal Action Centre respond to increased pressures following the murder of George Floyd.
• Providing special funding to the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic due to increased pressures resulting from rising anti-Asian racism during the pandemic.
• Studying the impact of Indigeneity and race in bail proceedings and case outcomes.
• Collecting race-based data and demographic information from clients to improve the delivery of services and create needed programs for racialized groups.  

LAO’s Racialized Communities Strategy aims to remove barriers to accessing LAO’s services, ensure the quality of legal services provided to racialized people, and address individual and systemic racism in the justice system.