About Us

The Access to Justice in English project is a community-based initiative of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). The project is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Justice.

The project looks at justice through the lens of accessibility, enabling Quebec’s English-speaking community to access their rights, with a strong focus on community access to public services. It leverages information as a strategic resource to understand and improve access to justice in English in Quebec.

The QCGN considers access to justice in English in Quebec as foundational to strengthening community vitality. The project aligns with the QCGN’s efforts to improve understanding of the English-speaking community of Quebec, the respect of its rights, and the development of optimal responses to its needs and aspirations.

The project’s main goal for 2020-2023 is to generate relevant information and use it as a powerful tool to drive issue-specific improvements to access to justice in English in Quebec.

Specific objectives for the project are to:
 

Understand the dynamics of the justice system in Quebec.

Generate relevant information to execute strategies that improve access to justice in English in Quebec in specific areas. 

Expand public awareness about access to justice in English as a foundational part of respecting the rights of Quebec’s official language minority community and responding to its needs and aspirations.

Enhance the experiences of those seeking access to justice in English in Quebec.

In sum, the project aims to develop deep knowledge of how English-speaking Quebecers access services in targeted areas, collaborate with community organizations, experts, and stakeholders, and develop strategic interventions that will make a positive difference for English-speaking Quebecers.

At its core, the Access to Justice in English project operates according to six ideas:

 

People-first: The rights and needs of people are positioned at the heart of the project.

Population-based: Specific population groups are studied to generate solutions for Quebec’s English-speaking community.

Partnerships: Lasting partnerships are built to pool existing resources and strengthen the call for institutional change.

Institutionalizing change: Improvements in access to justice are rooted in changes to policies, programs, service infrastructures and practices.

Information as Strategic Resource: The project drives institutional, system-wide change through policy, program, service and structural improvements.

Developmental & Continuous Learning: The project develops knowledge, skills, and experience of volunteers and staff to drive positive change in a complex system.
 

The Access to Justice in English project evolved from a QCGN Community Forum held in April 2018 to discuss the idea of access to justice in English in Quebec: specifically, what mattered most to the community and what areas the QCGN should focus on for research and collaborative action. This first meeting laid the groundwork for the creation of the Access to Justice in English in Quebec project, which would be formally launched two years later in September 2020.

From its three initial areas of focus (administrative justice, youth and family matters, and seniors’ rights), the project has gone on to explore access to service in English in such disparate areas as federal correctional services, senior care, and online services provided by the government of Quebec.

See the graphic on the left for a visual overview the project’s work on access to justice issues over the years.