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Online harms to be added to definition of sexual exploitation: Alberta legislation
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-10-29 18:05:37.0
Tags: [Alberta, Justice, Public Safety, Social Services]Alberta Children and Family Services Minister Searle Turton introduced Bill 36, the Supporting Alberta Families Statutes Amendment Act 2026, to modernize the province's Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act. The legislation updates the definition of 'sexual exploitation' to encompass online grooming, cyber luring, coercion, trading sexual acts, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), human trafficking, and electronic abuse regardless of whether a child appears to consent. Additionally, the bill amends the definition of 'child harm' to include exposure to violence online or via electronic means, moving past older language focused strictly on prostitution and physical or emotional injury.
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Saskatchewan Expands Ewikīwiyāhn Program to Improve Community Safety
Source: Saskatchewan - Government News
Date: 2026-10-15 23:00:00.0
Tags: [Saskatchewan, Justice, Public Safety, Indigenous, Social Services]The Government of Saskatchewan is investing nearly $50,000 in the 2026-27 fiscal year to fund Phase Two of the Ewikīwiyāhn Indigenous Teachings and Healing Program across provincial adult correctional facilities. Created with guidance from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, the 15-session Indigenous-led curriculum combines traditional teachings like the Medicine Wheel and Seven Grandfather Teachings with practical life skills to support rehabilitation and reintegration. Phase Two focuses on training cultural coordinators to establish consistent, sustainable delivery across the adult correctional system following a successful pilot phase launched in March 2026 at the Whitespruce Provincial Training Centre and the Prince Albert Correctional Centre.
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Ottawa to indefinitely extend MAID exclusion for people solely suffering from mental illness
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-07 16:45:05.0
Tags: [National, Healthcare, Justice, Social Services]Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced that the Government of Canada will introduce legislation this fall to indefinitely extend the Criminal Code exclusion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness. The upcoming government bill will also introduce provisions allowing for advance consent for MAID in cases where an incurable illness will eventually eliminate a person's decision-making capacity, while the government simultaneously opposes Conservative private member's bill C-218 for failing to address advance consent and using overly broad terminology regarding mental disorders.
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New federal petition calls for permanent health funding for residential school survivors
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-01 21:42:25.0
Tags: [National, Indigenous, Social Services, Healthcare, Justice]Winnipeg Centre Member of Parliament Leah Gazan submitted a House of Commons petition containing 930 signatures calling on the federal government to make health resource funding permanent for Indian Residential School survivors. The petition specifically targets the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program—established in 2006 under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement—which provides cultural, emotional, and mental health counseling and is currently scheduled to sunset in March 2028. Additionally, the petition demands permanent federal funding for the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, which assists Indigenous communities in conducting archival research and locating unmarked graves. The initiative also renews legislative calls to criminalize residential school denialism via a private member's bill initially re-tabled in October 2025.
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Advocates plea for feds to call inquiry into Alberta, Sask. trans laws
Source: Global News Politics
Date: 2026-09-28 21:01:30.0
Tags: [Alberta, Saskatchewan, National, Education, Healthcare, Social Services, Justice]LGBTQ+ advocates are petitioning the federal government in Ottawa to call a formal national inquiry into provincial legislation enacted in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The contested laws include parental consent mandates for students under 16 altering their names or pronouns at school, bans on transgender athletes aged 12 and older participating in competitive female sports, and restrictions on gender-affirming medical care for youth. Both Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe utilized the notwithstanding clause to protect these legislative measures from judicial review.
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New EPS integrated stabilization centre already saving lives
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-28 11:15:28.0
Tags: [Alberta, Healthcare, Public Safety, Social Services, Justice]The Edmonton Police Service opened a new 18-bed integrated stabilization centre inside its downtown headquarters, recording 98 admissions over its first three and a half weeks, with 12 individuals transferred directly to the Addiction Recovery Centre at Alberta Hospital Edmonton. The initiative forms part of the Alberta provincial government's broader Mental Health and Addiction portfolio, which has expanded its budget from approximately $80 million in direct funding in 2019 to $2.3 billion. Operating in partnership with Recovery Alberta, the facility aims to provide frontline police and health workers an immediate destination for individuals experiencing substance use crises and connect them with voluntary opioid agonist therapy programs.
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Communities share feedback on Yukon’s MMIWG2S+ strategy
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-27 13:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Indigenous, Social Services, Justice, Public Safety]The Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle visited 14 communities across the Yukon and northern British Columbia earlier this year to gather feedback on the territory's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit strategy, which was released in 2020 with an implementation plan following in 2023. The findings will be compiled into a 'What We Heard' report to guide the implementation phase of the broader strategy led by partners including the Yukon's Women and Gender Equity Directorate. Key issues identified include a disconnect between colonial infrastructure and Indigenous oral traditions, resource disparities across northern British Columbia and Yukon communities, and a widespread public misconception regarding reporting a missing person to the RCMP.
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'Father of Nunavut' has one more fight left: to live in the territory he helped create
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-22 08:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Healthcare, Seniors, Social Services, Indigenous, Justice]Supporters of John Amagoalik, known as the 'Father of Nunavut,' filed two notices of application for judicial review in the Nunavut Court of Justice against the territorial government after it declined a request for $16,000 per month to cover his accessible housing and daily personal support worker care in Iqaluit. Amagoalik, who requires complex medical care following a partial leg amputation, was previously sent by the Department of Health to Embassy West Senior Living in Ottawa, where 73 Nunavut elders are currently housed due to a lack of territorial facilities. Friends and supporters formed the John A. Committee, raising $30,000 to temporarily bring him home, and are now seeking a court order to compel the government to adequately fund his long-term care needs within the territory.
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Most human rights complaints in N.W.T. based on disability, commission says
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-18 11:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Social Services, Justice, Governance]The Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission announced in its 2025-2026 annual report that 51 per cent of all new discrimination complaints were based on disability, prompting commission chair Charles Dent to urge the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories to enact dedicated accessibility legislation. The commission highlighted that the territory currently relies on National Building Code standards rather than proactive laws, while the Department of Infrastructure lacks a mandate to set rules for private or municipal buildings. Additionally, a commission study of 88 residents in the North Slave region revealed systemic barriers, with 90 per cent of Indigenous respondents and 78 per cent of newcomers reporting discrimination over a five-year period, alongside widespread public distrust of government and fear of immigration status retaliation. The commission is also pressing to expand the N.W.T. Human Rights Act to include protections against discrimination based on unrelated criminal convictions and genetic information.
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Three Nova Scotia communities to launch crime prevention projects
Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
Date: 2026-09-17 18:29:37.0
Tags: [Nova Scotia, Municipal, Public Safety, Justice, Social Services]The Nova Scotia government announced it will allocate $550,000 in federal funding from Public Safety Canada to three municipalities to establish tailored crime prevention projects. Provincial Justice Minister Scott Armstrong confirmed the initiative will help communities address complex local challenges such as mental health, addiction, housing instability, and poverty. In New Glasgow, Mayor Nancy Dicks noted the funding arrives as the town addresses escalating public safety issues and debates the future of a local 20-bed emergency homeless shelter.
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City calls for 'provincial reintegration co-ordination framework' after video surfaces showing inmates dropped off in Chinatown late Friday
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-14 22:02:14.0
Tags: [Alberta, Municipal, Justice, Public Safety, Social Services]Following a viral video showing correctional officers dropping off five men and three women from a shuttle in Edmonton's Chinatown area at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Friday, September 11, 2026, the City of Edmonton is calling for a provincial reintegration co-ordination framework. Mayor Andrew Knack noted that Edmonton houses 3,405 inmates across its eight prisons—representing 72 per cent of the provincial inmate population and 306 per cent more than Calgary—and urged the provincial and federal governments to implement a proper "warm handoff" to social services. O-day'min Councillor Anne Stevenson emphasized that leaving vulnerable individuals in parking lots without services immediately prior to the weekend sets them up to re-offend, while Ministry of Public Safety Director of Communications Sheena Campbell stated that corrections works with community shelters and individuals upon release, though approximately 80 per cent are on remand status with unpredictable release dates.
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Ottawa invests $2.2 million to give Edmonton youths a literal fighting chance
Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
Date: 2026-09-09 23:22:54.0
Tags: [National, Alberta, Municipal, Justice, Public Safety, Social Services]The federal government, through Justice Minister Sean Fraser, announced a $2.2 million investment from the Crime Prevention Action Fund to support the Empire Fighting Chance program in Edmonton. Administered locally through REACH Edmonton and operated out of Brave MMA and Fitness, the program adapts a model from Bristol, England, utilizing non-contact boxing, martial arts discipline, and psychologically informed mentoring to redirect at-risk youth away from crime and gang activity. Local municipal leaders, including Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack, alongside organizations like Native Counselling Services of Alberta, collaborated on the initiative to provide barrier-free early intervention and mental health resources.
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N.S. mother vows to finish late son’s fight for improved income support for tent residents
Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
Date: 2026-09-09 20:16:42.0
Tags: [Nova Scotia, Housing, Social Services, Justice, Governance]Following an August 5, 2026 Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling establishing that a tent qualifies as accommodation for income assistance, the Nova Scotia provincial government updated its legislation and disability supplement regulations to exclude people living in tents from accessing enhanced financial support. In response, the provincial NDP introduced a private member's bill titled Bradley’s Law—named after Bradley Lowe, a 30-year-old who died at a Halifax encampment in 2023 during a legal challenge over income assistance rates—to mandate that financial support be provided regardless of housing status. Human rights lawyer Vince Calderhead has petitioned the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission to investigate the provincial policy change as a human rights violation.
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Denying EI to women laid off after maternity leave a Charter violation: Court of Appeal
Source: Global News Politics
Date: 2026-09-04 20:06:59.0
Tags: [National, Quebec, Labour, Justice, Social Services]The Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favour of six Quebec women, represented by the advocacy group Mouvement Action Chômage, finding that denying employment insurance (EI) benefits to women laid off shortly before, during, or after maternity leave violates Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court determined that withholding benefits and limiting the ability to stack EI with maternal or parental benefits constitutes sex-based discrimination under the law, which disproportionately impacts women. The three-judge panel struck down the discriminatory provisions of the Employment Insurance Act but suspended the declaration for 12 months, giving the federal government one year to rewrite the legislation.
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Strengthening supports for survivors of intimate-partner violence
Source: British Columbia - Government News
Date: 2026-09-03 18:00:00.0
Tags: [British Columbia, National, Justice, Social Services, Indigenous, Public Safety]The British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General is receiving more than $3 million in funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year under the federal National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence to advance recommendations from the 2025 Stanton Report. The funding will expand the Safe Supports Project in rural and northern communities, add up to three family court support workers, develop public-awareness strategies, review behaviour-change programs for men and boys, and advance the B.C. First Nations Justice Strategy by funding the Indigenous Justice Centres' Aunties Program. These investments complement B.C.'s broader Safe and Supported Gender-Based Violence Action Plan, which includes over $60 million annually provided by the Province to support approximately 475 victim-service and violence-against-women programs.
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Denmark passes compensation bill for thousands of Inuit in Greenland forced to get IUDs
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-03 14:28:17.0
Tags: [National, Indigenous, Justice, Healthcare, Social Services]Following a 2025 joint Greenlandic-Danish inquiry revealing that approximately 4,000 Greenlandic women and girls were subjected to forced intrauterine device (IUD) implantations and sterilizations between 1966 and 1991, the Danish government passed a bill awarding eligible victims a one-time compensation of roughly $64,000 CAD. This legislative action has prompted Inuit women and advocates in Canada—where historical and ongoing forced and coerced sterilizations of Indigenous women have been documented into the 2010s, including 22 documented cases in Quebec between 1980 and 2019—to renew calls for a formal federal apology and financial restitution. While the Canadian federal government has not issued an apology or compensation program, it recently amended the Criminal Code in June to criminalize forced and coerced sterilization, alongside facing at least four active class-action lawsuits.
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‘Cruel’: Legal community questions N.S. move to exclude tents from higher income assistance
Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
Date: 2026-09-01 21:51:03.0
Tags: [Nova Scotia, Housing, Social Services, Justice]Following a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling on August 5, 2026, which established that tents count as legal accommodations for unhoused individuals to access higher income assistance, the provincial government revised its income assistance regulations on August 25, 2026. The regulatory amendments repealed the definition of a "home" and limited it to residential units with a kitchen and bathroom or municipally-approved rooming houses, effectively excluding tents from enhanced support rates. Human rights lawyer Vince Calderhead and Dalhousie Legal Aid criticized the change as discriminatory and harmful to unhoused individuals, while the province stated the amendments provide clearer and more consistent eligibility criteria.
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Task Force Prepares for Community Engagement With Discussions on Key Violence Prevention Initiatives
Source: Newfoundland & Labrador - Government Releases
Date: 2026-08-31 12:00:36.0
Tags: [Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice, Public Safety, Social Services, Healthcare]The Task Force to End Gender-Based Violence in Newfoundland and Labrador met on August 25 and 26, 2026, to advance community engagement plans targeting diverse populations, including survivors, Indigenous communities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. Co-chaired by Stacey Hoffe and overseen by Minister of Women and Gender Equity Lela Evans, the 12-member task force discussed policy areas such as electronic monitoring, emergency protection orders, and post-release supports for incarcerated individuals in Labrador. The task force also received updates from various provincial bodies—including the Department of Social Supports and Well-Being, the Department of Health and Community Services regarding the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, and the Department of Justice and Public Safety regarding the Policing Transformation Working Group report—ahead of delivering its first public report in fall 2026.
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Ontario Safer and Vital Communities Grant
Source: Ontario - Ministry of the Solicitor General
Date: 2026-08-25 17:00:00.0
Tags: [Ontario, Public Safety, Justice, Social Services]The Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General is investing more than $1.7 million through the Safer and Vital Communities Grant over a two-year period to help 18 community-based, not-for-profit organizations protect communities from hate and violence. The funding recipients include Beth Ezekiel Synagogue ($92,806), The Regional Diversity Roundtable ($98,975), Malton Women Council ($75,807), Victim Services Toronto ($101,750), Lanark County Community Justice Program ($85,815), Building Multicultural Communities ($95,113), Reena Inc. ($101,750), STEPS Public Art ($101,230), Victim Services of Waterloo Region ($101,750), New Canadians Centre Peterborough ($100,936), Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto ($96,668), Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration ($100,733), Canadian Mental Health Association - North Bay ($101,750), Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region ($97,754), Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre ($96,525), Family Service Kent ($101,750), Camp Northland ($60,230), and the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Greater Toronto ($97,850). These grants are specifically targeted toward preventing hate-motivated crimes across the province.
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