Program directory · Department of Justice Canada
Family Justice
- Department
- Department of Justice Canada
- Program code
- BNY07 (JUS)
- Core responsibility
- Justice System Support
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Department supports the Minister of Justice in their responsibilities for family law-related statutes including the Divorce Act and Civil Marriage Act, as well as related regulations such as the Federal Child Support Guidelines. The Department monitors developments in law, policy and procedure; administers enforcement programs and develops policy reforms through legislation; and develops and provides information and services to implement policies and laws. Since family law is an area of shared jurisdiction, the Department works in close collaboration with the provinces and territories to advance family justice priorities. The Department supports the Attorney General of Canada as the chief law officer of the Crown by providing legal advice in matters related to family law and children’s law. Legal professionals work with their departmental colleagues to ensure the integration and coherence of advisory, litigation, legislative, and policy advice in matters that relate to family and children’s law.
The Department, through grants and contributions funding, provides support to Canadians experiencing separation and divorce by facilitating effective delivery of programs and services, such as parent education, mediation, support enforcement and child support recalculation, and developing family law information and training resources. Funding assists the provinces and territories to develop and provide family justice services and programs that are aimed at enhancing the capacity of parents to reach appropriate parenting and support agreements and comply with them. Federal funding also assists non-government organizations in developing family law information and training resources, supports implementation of the Department’s legislative obligations and policy priorities in the area of family justice, and provides support for evidence-based decision -making by collecting and reporting on the funding data.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Justice | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $131M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Percentage of planned federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to facilitate access to the family justice system for families experiencing separation and divorce | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to deliver targeted services consistent with federal priorities. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned employees (FTEs) 36, against 1 in 2024-25 (+3500%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $28.2M, against $22.3M in 2024-25 (+26%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 100% | 2024 | 94% The variance is due to lower uptake by provinces and territories of funding to support supervision services for parenting time in cases of separation and divorce (funding to advance the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence announced in Budget 2021). In addition, there was lower uptake by recipients for former Bill C-78 (Divorce Act) funding and provinces not accessing their maximum f… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 100% | 2025 | 94.5% A $1.3 million surplus was used to address immigration and refugee legal aid pressure. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 100% | 2019 | 100% | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 100% | 2020 | 98% The result (98%) remains consistent with that of previous reporting periods, though slightly below the target. Only the Contraventions Act Fund is not fully committed. The Department continues to work diligently toward having provinces, territories, and municipalities sign Contraventions Act administration and enforcement agreements containing language rights provisions supported by the Fund. How… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 100% | 2021 | 98% The result above shows that the percentage of federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to deliver targeted services in support of federal priorities is consistent with that of previous reporting periods. Though slightly below the departmental target, the result remains consistent at 98% despite the COVID-19 pandemic. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 100% | 2022 | 97% The result shows that the percentage of federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to deliver targeted services in support of federal priorities. Though slightly below the departmental target, the result remains consistent at 97% despite the COVID-19 pandemic. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 100% | 2023 | 99% The result (99%) remains consistent with that of previous reporting periods, though slightly below the target. Some of the lapsed funds are attributable to historical programs lapses such as the State-Funded Counsel Program and the Special Advocates Program (demand driven by court orders) and Contraventions Act Fund (which is not fully committed). The Department continues to work diligently towar… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 100% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $16.2M | $16.3M |
| 2019-20 | $16.2M | $16.1M |
| 2020-21 | $16.2M | $15.9M |
| 2021-22 | $18.6M | $17.1M |
| 2022-23 | $25.9M | $21.3M |
| 2023-24 | $23.7M | $22.2M |
| 2024-25 | $23.7M | $22.3M |
| 2025-26 | $28.2M | — |
| 2026-27 | $23M | — |
| 2027-28 | $23M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $23M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 2 | 2 |
| 2019-20 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020-21 | 1 | 1 |
| 2021-22 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022-23 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023-24 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024-25 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025-26 | 36 | — |
| 2026-27 | 34 | — |
| 2027-28 | 34* | — |
| 2028-29 | 34* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $16,229,205 | $16,229,205 | $16,229,205 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $16,233,868 | $16,233,868 | $16,233,868 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $16,241,603 | $16,244,025 | $16,244,328 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $18,619,025 | $18,944,328 | $17,969,328 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $25,947,487 | $23,622,487 | $22,322,487 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $23,691,712 | $23,726,995 | $21,449,307 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $23,738,653 | $21,462,948 | $16,260,167 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $28,173,487 | $22,970,704 | $22,970,704 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $23,023,069 | $23,023,069 | $23,023,069 | ||||||||
| Actual | $16,250,560 | $16,134,230 | $15,942,165 | $17,116,391 | $21,346,122 | $22,217,192 | $22,305,689 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
