On Oct. 28, the The Law Foundation of Ontario announced the selection of 25 nonprofit organizations participating in the second cycle of Catalyst, the Foundation's highly competitive core funding program.
According to the Foundation's news release, "Catalyst grantees receive a one-year grant, which is renewable for another two years. The Catalyst program provides organizations working to advance access to justice in Ontario a unique opportunity to secure multi-year core funding. Catalyst supports organizations with a proven track record of high-quality services to improve their ability to adapt, innovate, and respond to emerging needs."
The Foundation's Catalyst program first launched in 2018.
2022-2024 Catalyst grantees include:
Law in Action Within Schools
$150,000
Law in Action Within Schools is a partnership between the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, and Toronto District School Board. It is a law and justice-themed academic and extra-curricular high school program that teaches students about law and justice and supports them to graduate and consider post-secondary education and a justice sector or legal profession career.
Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC)
$595,550
Through its chapters at law schools, PBSC provides free legal support to low-income individuals and nonprofit organizations, and experiential learning opportunities to law students. It also operates national programs with legal and community partners, such as the Ontario Family Justice Centre, Indigenous Human Rights Program, and Trans ID clinics.
Pro Bono Students Canada's national office is headquartered at U of T Law where the first chapter was founded in 1996.
Affiliated community partners, including U of T Law's clinical education partners, Aboriginal Legal Services Inc. and the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, also received Catalyst support.
Catalyst funds were also awarded to the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, an independent charitable educational organization that brings together the bench, bar, legal academy and general public. The President of the Osgoode Society is alumnus and Dean Emeritus Robert Sharpe (LLB 1970), a former judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal. The Editor-in-Chief of the Osgoode Society is Professor Jim Phillips, and the Society's Oral History Co-Ordinator is alumna Patricia McMahon (LLB 2002).
Read The Law Foundation of Ontario announcement
