Law for the Future Fund 2020 awards grants of over $200,000 to eight projects

The Canadian Bar Association has announced the initiatives that will receive grants from its Law for the Future Fund.

This year, the eight projects that have received funding totaling more than $200,000 are:

• The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy will get $44,525 for “The Right to Decent Work: Envisioning Supply Chain Transparency Legislation in Canada”;
• The University of Manitoba Faculty of Law will receive $32,038 for “Common Law Police Powers in Canada – Judicial Creation in the Charter Era”;
• The Canadian Civil Liberties Association will be awarded $29,550 for “Pretrial Detention and the Right to Reasonable Bail”;
• Sexual Violence New Brunswick will get $25,280 for “Establishing a Victim Advocate Program for Survivors of Sexual Violence”;
• Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund will receive $25,000 for “Assessing the Utility of a Universal Basic Income in Addressing the Feminization of Poverty”;
• The University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Indigenous Studies will be awarded $20,620.48 for “Assessing Legal Issues and Challenges Faced in Indigenous Legal Advocacy During the COVID-19 Pandemic”;
• The University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law will receive $15,300 for “Inequality, Health Determinants, and the Limits of Pandemic Law and Policy: Reimagining the future of British Columbia’s Pandemic law after COVID-19”;
• The Canadian Bar Foundation – Women Lawyers Forum will receive $10,000 for “Roundtable on Pay Equity in the Legal Profession.”

The CBA’s Law for the Future Fund, which was established in 1984, seeks to financially support innovative research projects in Canada in the areas of legal research, legal education, legislation and law reform and the administration of justice. The projects receiving grants should be of national interest or beneficial to the general public. The fund does not permanently commit to a particular project or provide financial assistance that would result in gain to a specific individual or organization.

The fund grants a total of around $200,000 annually, and since its founding it has given over $3.9 million in financial assistance to more than 185 law-related initiatives. The deadline for applications to the fund is May 1 each year.