Our Work
Our Work Centres Around Our Five Core Beliefs
Equality – which includes equity, diversity, and inclusion – recognizes that every person is equal in value and worth, and each is deserving of fairness, dignity and rights.
FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS
Fundamental Freedoms allow individuals and groups to express themselves, to believe and practice what they choose, and to exercise their right to vote.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
We work to ensure that constitutional rights are respected at every step of the criminal justice system, and that the extraordinary powers conferred to police and criminal courts are used proportionately, fairly, humanely, and only when absolutely necessary.
PRIVACY
We bring a principled and rights-focused approach to assessing the impact of new technologies and surveillance, in areas ranging from policing methods to people’s public and private lives.
EDUCATION
CCLA & CCLET provide free workshops, seminars, and in-class sessions in schools, educational institutions, and faculties of education, educating citizens about their rights and freedoms.
Our Recent Cases and Reports
View our latest work and activity.
Anti-Protest Bylaws
Vaughan's anti-protest bylaw makes people liable for fines of up to $100,000 for having participated in an offensive, yet peaceful, protest near some social infrastructure. We believe this is unconstitutional.
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Notwithstanding Clause: Save Our Charter
Governments across Canada are using the notwithstanding clause to undermine important fundamental rights and freedoms protected under the Charter.
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Bail and Pre-Trial Detention
The proportion of people denied bail is at a record level, the Charter right to a timely bail hearing is often violated, conditions in pre-trial detention are dangerous and inhumane, and vulnerable groups continue to be unfairly denied bail.
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Strip Searches in Ontario Prisons
Ontario's law gives provincial prisons carte blanche to strip search any prisoner, at any time, for no reason. We believe the law is unconstitutional.
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Bill 21
Bill 21 is a law which disproportionately impacts people who are already marginalized. New Quebec laws ban Canadians working as teachers, lawyers, police officers, and more from wearing religious symbols such as crosses, hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes. This not only affects people currently working in the public sector, but also the youth who aspire to those careers.
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Racial Profiling
Canadian police detain thousands of racialized persons in suspicionless roadside stops each year. These police powers enable racial profiling and we believe they are unconstitutional.
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Protecting Reproductive Rights
A New Brunswick regulation restricts access to abortion unless done in approved hospitals, even though this restriction is not medically necessary or justified. The New Brunswick law has createD a serious issue for New Brunswick women, girls and trans people who need access to abortion, a basic form of health care.
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