What’s Working and What Isn’t: Best Practices and Gaps in Youth Criminal Justice Act Practice and Administration Across Canadian Jurisdictions

On October 20, 2023, the Canadian Bar Association Child and Youth Law Section held a Child and Youth Law & the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) Online Symposium. The overarching theme was Best Practices in Youth Criminal Justice Practice and Administration: National, International and Indigenous Perspectives. The first panel of the day was entitled What’s Working and What Isn’t: Best Practices and Gaps in YCJA Practice and Administration Across Canadian Jurisdictions.

At the outset, the panel moderator, Mary Birdsell, Executive Director of Justice for Children and Youth, briefly discussed the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), which revolutionized criminal justice in Canada, a jurisdiction previously known for having one of the highest rates of youth incarceration. She observed that while we now have an Act that reflects the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice ("The Beijing Rules") and incarceration rates have dropped significantly, several problematic issues persist. For instance, some groups such as Indigenous, Black and other racialized young people, continue to be overrepresented in the youth justice system. Canada is also severely lacking in children’s mental health resources, and struggling to provide culturally appropriate and race-based responses.

Mary then led a panel of nine professionals from across Canada on an exploration of the topic of what is and isn’t working in the youth justice system.