The Criminal Justice System
This section presents literature and evidence on anti-Black racism within the Canadian criminal justice system, highlighting its impact on Black youth and families.
Research articles
Akuoko-Barfi, C., Escobar Olivo, V., Rampersaud, M., Parada, H., & Shuster, R. (2025). “I Feel Like I Was Targeted:” Black Youth Navigating Policing in Ontario, Canada. Child & Youth Services, 46(1), 103-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2023.2243436
Boatswain-Kyte, A. (2019). Overrepresentation and disparity of Black children reported under the child protection system: The need for effective cross-system collaborations. https://hdl.handle.net/1866/21784
Boatswain-Kyte, A., Hélie, S., & Royer, M.-N. (2024). A critical examination of youth service trajectories: Black children’s transition from child welfare to youth justice. Children and Youth Services Review, 157, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107411
Cénat, J. M., Noorishad, P. G., Czechowski, K., Mukunzi, J. N., Hajizadeh, S., McIntee, S. E., & Dalexis, R. D. (2021). The seven reasons why Black children are overrepresented in the child welfare system in Ontario (Canada): A qualitative study from the perspectives of caseworkers and community facilitators. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-021-00793-6
Gorman, W. K. (2022). The Impact of Anti-Black Racism on the Sentencing of” Black Offenders” in Canada: What Is the Correct Approach? Ct. Rev., 58, 42. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/ctrev58&id=39&men_tab=srchresults
Hayle, S., Wortley, S., & Tanner, J. (2016). Race, Street Life, and Policing: Implications for Racial Profiling. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 58(3), 322-353. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/627227.
Kakembo, M. (2020). Name it, then change it: Addressing anti-black racism in the Canadian criminal justice system. Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, 1-31. https://nsbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AntiBlackCJSPaperMK2020.pdf
Knight, S., Jarvis, G.E., Ryder, A.G., Lashley, M., & Rousseau, C. Ethnoracial Differences in Coercive Referral and Intervention Among Patients With First-Episode Psychosis. (2022). Psychiatric Services, 73(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000715
Kubiliene, N., Yan, M. C., Kumsa, M. K., & Burman, K. (2014). The response of youth to racial discrimination: implications for resilience theory. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(3), 338–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.963535
Lafreniere, B., Audet, É. C., Kachanoff, F., Christophe, N. K., Holding, A. C., Janusauskas, L., & Koestner, R. (2023). Gender differences in perceived racism threat and activism during the Black Lives Matter social justice movement for Black young adults. Journal of Community Psychology, 51, 2741–2757. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.23043
Manzo, J.F. and Bailey, M.M. (2005), On the Assimilation of Racial Stereotypes among Black Canadian Young Offenders*. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 42: 283-300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-618X.2005.tb00841.x
Mensah, J., Firang, D., J. Williams, C., & Afrifah, M. (2021). Racial discrimination in the Canadian criminal justice system: how anti-black racism by the toronto police harms us all. Canadian Social Work Review, 38(2), 63-86. https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1086120arCopiedAn error has occurred
Noble, A., Owens, B., Thulian, N., & Suleiman, A. (2022). “I feel like I’m in a revolving door, and COVID has made it spin a lot faster”: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada. PLoS ONE 17(8). doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273502
Noorishad, P. G., Darius, W. P., Czechowski, K., McIntee, S. E., Mukunzi, J. N., & Cénat, J. M. (2023). Racism as a vehicle for the overrepresentation of Black youth in child protection services in Ontario, Canada: caseworkers’ and community facilitators’ perspectives. Children and Youth Services Review, 149, 106963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.106963
Owusu-Bempah, A. (2020). Criminal Justice and Black Life in Canada. Canadian Review of Sociology, 57(4), 717-721. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA669232774&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=17556171&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=alberta_envlib&aty=ip
Owusu-Bempah, A., & Wortley, S. (2014). Race, crime, and criminal justice in Canada. The Oxford handbook of ethnicity, crime, and immigration, 1. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sVRuDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA281&dq=Owusu-Bempah,+A.,+%26+Wortley,+S.+(2014).+Race,+crime,+and+criminal+justice+in+Canada.+The+Oxford+handbook+of+ethnicity,+crime,+and+immigration,+1.&ots=aQwmBGx7EP&sig=tO836XzKawMsr_56SV8H6nAfh90#v=onepage&q&f=false
Owusu-Bempah, A., Jung, M., Sbaï, F., Wilton, A. S., & Kouyoumdjian, F. (2023). Race and incarceration: the representation and characteristics of Black people in provincial correctional facilities in Ontario, Canada. Race and Justice, 13(4), 530-542. https://doi.org/10.1177/21533687211006461
Peirone, A., Maticka-Tyndale, E., Gbadebo, K., & Kerr, J. (2017). The social environment of daily life and perceptions of police and/or court discrimination among African, Caribbean, and Black youth. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 59(3), 346-372. https://utppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3138/cjccj.2017.0003
Sibblis, C., Deckard, N.D., & Anazodo, K.S. The colour of system avoidance in Canada: Investigating the importance of immigrant generation among African Canadians. (2022) Canadian Review of Sociology/ La Société canadienne de sociologie 59, 470-489. doi: 10.1111/cars.12407
Sibblis, C., Delia Deckard, N., & Salawu Anazodo, K. (2022) The colour of system avoidance in Canada: Investigating the importance of immigrant generation among African Canadians. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 59, 470–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12407
Stirling-Cameron E, Hickens N, Watson C, Hamilton-Hinch B, Pimentel M, McIsaac JLD. Anti-Black racism in the early years: the experiences of Black families and early childhood educators in Nova Scotia. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2023;43(8):355-64. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.43.8.01
Syed, I., Wilson, C., Mckie, R., Marcotte, A., Travers, R. (2019). More Threatened Than Safe: What African, Caribbean, and Black Youth Living In Southern Ontario Say About Their Interactions with Law Enforcement. Community Psychology in Global Perspective. 4. 101-118. | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335893128_More_Threatened_Than_Safe_What_African_Caribbean_and_Black_Youth_Living_In_Southern_Ontario_Say_About_Their_Interactions_with_Law_Enforcement
Syed, I.M., Wilson, C.L., McKie, R., Marcotte, A., & Travers, R. (2018). More threatened than safe: What African, Caribbean and Black youth living in southern Ontario say about their interactions with law enforcement. Community Psychology in Global Perspective 4(2), p.101-118. doi: 10.1285/i24212113v4i2p101
Warde, B. (2013). Black male disproportionality in the criminal justice systems of the USA, Canada, and England: A comparative analysis of incarceration. Journal of African American Studies, 17, 461-479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-012-9235-0
Wortley, S., & Owusu-Bempah, A. (2012). Race, ethnicity, crime and criminal justice in Canada. In Race, ethnicity, crime and criminal justice in the Americas (pp. 11-40). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230355866_2
Wortley, S., & Owusu-Bempah, A. (2022). Race, police stops, and perceptions of anti-Black police discrimination in Toronto, Canada over a quarter century. Policing: An International Journal, 45(4), 570-585. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2021-0157
Reports
Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2020). Racial profiling and its impact on Black youth in Canada’s criminal justice system. Canadian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved from https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
Canadian Race Relations Foundation. (2019). Anti-Black racism in the Canadian criminal justice system: A report on the over-representation of Black youth in the criminal justice system. Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca
Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2019). The school-to-prison pipeline: Addressing the overrepresentation of Black youth in the criminal justice system. Ontario Human Rights Commission. Retrieved from https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en
The Assembly of First Nations & Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates. (2020). Black youth and the Canadian justice system: Identifying barriers to equity and access. Assembly of First Nations & Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates. Retrieved from https://www.afn.ca
The Black Youth Project. (2020). Youth justice and systemic racism: The experiences of Black youth in Canada’s criminal justice system. The Black Youth Project. Retrieved from https://www.byp.org
The Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. (2021). Barriers to justice for Black youth in Canada: A report on the criminal justice system. The Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. Retrieved from https://www.cabl.ca
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. (2018). Disrupted futures: The experiences of Black youth in the Canadian justice system. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Retrieved from https://www.policyalternatives.ca
The John Howard Society of Canada. (2019). Youth in the justice system: The over-representation of Black children in Canada’s juvenile justice system. John Howard Society of Canada. Retrieved from https://johnhoward.ca
The Ontario Justice Education Network. (2018). Educational disparities and criminal justice outcomes for Black youth in Ontario. Ontario Justice Education Network. Retrieved from https://www.ojen.ca
The Urban Alliance on Race Relations. (2019). Policing Black youth: Examining the role of police in the criminalization of Black children and youth in Canada. The Urban Alliance on Race Relations. Retrieved from https://www.uarr.org
Videos
A Forum on Black Youth and the Justice System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFqPAWmNysI
Policing Black and Indigenous Lives in Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo1JC04wHFQ
Documentaries
The School to Prison Pipeline in Ontario: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7drX91z0tGg
