ARCH Disability Law Centre

Annual Report 2015—2016

55 University Avenue
15th Floor
Toronto, ON
M5J 2H7

Phone: 416-482-8255 1-866-482-2724
TTY: 416-482-1254 1-866-482-2728
www.archdisabilitylaw.ca

ARCH Disability Law Centre
Vision and Mission Statement

VISION
A world in which all people with disabilities enjoy social justice and equal participation in society and our communities 
MISSION STATEMENT
ARCH Disability Law Centre, as a specialty legal clinic with a provincial mandate, undertakes to achieve this Vision by: 

•	Ensuring our work has Ontario wide impact 
•	Focusing on, identifying and removing systemic barriers 
•	Addressing issues that have an impact on low income people with disabilities, including the root causes of poverty 
•	Empowering people with disabilities 
•	Being recognized as experts in the law as it affects people with disabilities 
•	Addressing the heightened disadvantage, marginalization and exclusion faced by people with disabilities by reason of factors such as gender, race, age, language, economic status and sexual orientation.
VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

ARCH is guided by the following set of core values:

•	The dignity and worth of all persons with disabilities must be respected;
•	Persons with disabilities have the right to life, self-determination, and full participation in a society free from barriers to their inclusion and integration;
•	Persons with disabilities themselves are in the best position to determine their own priorities;
•	All persons have a common responsibility to create communities accessible to all persons with disabilities.

Additionally, ARCH is guided by the following set of core organizational principles:

•	ARCH operates in accordance with the above core values;
•	ARCH is a community-based organization, governed by a Board of Directors composed of a majority of persons with disabilities;
•	ARCH is accountable to persons with disabilities in Ontario, its members and its funders.
Adopted by the Board of Directors, November 23, 2010

Table of Contents  
 	Page
ARCH’s Vision, Mission Statement, and Values and Principles  	2
Table of Contents	3
Message from the President 	4
Message from the Executive Director 	6
Client Case Work 	8
Law Reform Policy and Initiatives 	12
Public Legal Education Activities	13
Highlights of ARCH Projects and Partnerships	15
Financial Overview	20
Contributors to ARCH’s work 	21
ARCH Thanks our Supporters and Partners 	23
 
A Message from the President

One of the common aspects of human experience is that change is inevitable. What matters is what we make of change. For ARCH, the 2015-16 year has been one of large and small changes, changes which position us well to further develop and strengthen responsive, effective legal services and community development work for the individuals and communities we are mandated to serve.

At the outset of the fiscal year in April 2015, long time staff lawyer Robert Lattanzio became the Executive Director at ARCH. From the outset, Robert recognized that changing the way ARCH’s work is managed generally would positively impact the specific work that is undertaken. He has proficiently led change in areas such as the organization of work, workplace culture, staff management and stakeholder engagement. Staff have welcomed Robert’s leadership and in turn have excelled in their work. 

When Robert took on the role of Executive Director, he assumed the responsibilities for the co-location of the clinic. He has worked with great effect to ensure that the interests of ARCH staff and clients are protected to the greatest extent possible and to plan for the best possible use of the new space and the opportunities offered by co-locating with other specialty clinics. Although the move occurred after the end of the fiscal year, the board would nonetheless take this opportunity to commend Robert for his outstanding work and to recognize the many small and large ways he facilitated the transition to the new space and the working environment.

I also want to recognize ARCH staff for their positive attitudes and resilience in the midst of such significant change and to thank Doreen Way and Theresa Sciberras for their dedicated work on various committees related to co-location. ARCH’s mandated work never flagged; the professionalism and commitment of staff shone through this past year in their briefs and arguments before Ontario and Canada’s judicial bodies and governments, and in projects such as Respecting Rights and Making Rights Real, the re-vamped ARCH Alert, the St. Michael’s Hospital Legal Services Project, and the support of class action claims for people who were previously institutionalized. Thank you to all staff.

I would be remiss if I did not recognize the contributions of the students of the Disability Law Intensive at ARCH. This year, the work of 11 students, two days a week for eight months, along with 2 summer students, 5 students from the University of Ottawa, and 1 social work student from York University enabled ARCH to provide more services to individuals and the community. The training of law students in client service delivery, policy work and law reform also nurtures the seeds of change in the policies, legislation and delivery of legal services to people with disabilities in the future. The Board thanks both the students and Osgoode Hall Law School at York University for partnering with ARCH to further this visionary change.

The 2015-16 fiscal year also entailed change for the ARCH Board. Our work focused on reviewing and expanding our policies and governance processes to strengthen the foundation supporting the work of ARCH. We integrated 4 new Board members and 1 Board member who returned after an absence. During this year, professional and personal obligations resulted in the resignation of five Board members including our previous President and Board Chair, Gary Malkowski. I extend my deepest appreciation for the service freely given to ARCH by Gary and by Marian MacGregor, John Rae, Tara Brinston and Adele Furrie. While their absence will be felt, the Board welcomes new voices, new vision and new commitment at the table.

The work of ARCH could not happen without the financial support of Legal Aid Ontario. LAO has been a partner in change during the co-location process and, with the expansion of financial eligibility guidelines, more low-income Ontarians with disabilities can benefit from ARCH’s legal services. We thank LAO for their ongoing support and rewarding of flexible, innovative and impactful legal aid services.  The Board also thanks our additional funders: the City of Toronto; the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario through their Provincial Break Open Ticket Program; and, Service Canada. 

We extend our gratitude to all those who have been part of the changes at ARCH this year: management, staff, board, volunteers, funders, donors, community partners and you, our community. As we look to envision the future in a new round of strategic planning, the gift of change is the opportunity for transformative renewal. 

Teresa Daw
President and Chair
ARCH Disability Law Centre

A Message from the Executive Director

On behalf of all our staff and Board, I am very pleased to report to our membership on the work of ARCH Disability Law Centre during this past year. As highlighted in this Report, ARCH continues to provide legal services with commitment and excellence for, and with, the communities of persons with disabilities across Ontario. 

As evidenced in this Report, this year has been a tremendously busy one for ARCH. The number of Ontarians that we assist continues to rise, and there is never a shortage of important work that we must address. There have been a number of cases that have reached the courts this year that have significant impact on our communities, as well as numerous opportunities for legislative reform.  ARCH made numerous law reform submissions this year, including those in regards to the Medical Assistance in Dying law. ARCH’s student programs continue to thrive and evolve, and we continue to enhance and strengthen our partnerships with provincial and national disability organizations through various projects, initiatives and coalitions. 

During this time of competing pressures and strains on our resources, ARCH staff continued to demonstrate an unyielding dedication and commitment. Internally, ARCH continues to transition and evolve. We began this reporting period significantly understaffed, and have since added three lawyers and a part-time community legal worker. I wish to thank ARCH’s committed and dedicated staff who have risen to the challenge over the last year. I remain grateful for their continued support throughout my first year in my new position. They are truly a talented team that I am proud to work alongside.

Moreover, ARCH has moved into a new co-located space at 55 University Avenue as part of a Co-Operative with seven of Ontario’s Speciality Legal Clinics and the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario.  This project was funded by Legal Aid Ontario as part of a transformation initiative. While ARCH is sharing some common space with these clinics, ARCH is still a fully independent organization and will continue to provide the same services to the communities of persons with disabilities in Ontario, including offering to the public our accessible Resource Centre.  
ARCH’s Board of Directors continues to provide the leadership, governance and vision that maintain our organizational health and stability. Most importantly, our Board keeps us rooted and responsive to the communities we are mandated to serve.  I am grateful to each of them for this guidance and for their unwavering commitment to the mission of ARCH. We have seen the departure of some longstanding members and the Board filled that void. In particular, I wish to recognize the contributions that Gary Malkowski made during his time as President and I am grateful to Teresa Daw for stepping in after Gary’s resignation.  Teresa has proven herself to be a diligent and thoughtful leader and I appreciate her time and commitment to our organization. 

Lastly, I wish to thank our funders without whom we would be unable to take on this important work. I wish to begin by acknowledging Legal Aid Ontario, not only for being our primary funder but for their significant contributions to ARCH through additional funding which allowed us to fund a new full-time, permanent position and a part-time temporary position, as well as for funding our new co-located offices. ARCH also wishes to thank our additional funders, the City of Toronto, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Service Canada and private donors.  I wish to acknowledge the contributions of all of our partners and stakeholders and extend my gratitude to all those who have contributed this year including staff, board, students, volunteers, funders, donors, our membership, and community partners. 

Robert Lattanzio
Executive Director
ARCH Disability Law Centre

ARCH Staff

Mary Hanson 	Librarian
Sue Hutton	Community Legal Worker
Kerri Joffe	Staff Lawyer
Robert Lattanzio 	Executive Director
Johanna MacDonald	Staff Lawyer – St. Michael’s Legal Project
Ed Montigny 	Staff Lawyer
Luke Reid	Staff Layer
Theresa Sciberras	Program and Litigation Assistant
Mariam Shanouda	Staff Lawyer
Tess Sheldon	Staff Lawyer
Karen Spector	Staff Lawyer
Yangtzee Tamang	Operations and Litigation Assistant
Rosa Tavares	Admin Assistant – St. Michael’s Legal Project
Amanda Ward 	Information/Referral Worker
Doreen Way 	Office Manager
Dianne Wintermute 	Staff Lawyer
Yedida Zalik 	Staff Lawyer

Client Case Work
 
ARCH continues to provide direct legal services to persons with disabilities across the province of Ontario. During this reporting period of September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016, ARCH provided a range of legal services to over 2,000 persons with disabilities who contacted us for legal help. ARCH is mandated to pursue systemic change; advancing precedent setting test cases is one important way that we fulfill this mandate. We also provide legal assistance in a range of areas of law through other services such as our Summary Advice and Referral program. 

Types of Files Opened  Aug. 31, 2015 to Sept. 1, 2016

SAR/Brief Services	 74%
Cases	10%
Law Reform	 5%
Public Legal Education	 8% 
Community Development	 3% 

Test Case Litigation 
ARCH engages in test case litigation on behalf of groups and individuals with disabilities in cases with potential positive outcomes that have broad impact for persons with disabilities. In pursuing these cases, ARCH strives to provide decision makers with a disability rights perspective with the goal of changing existing laws, regulations and practices in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Additionally, ARCH takes on a larger role representing individuals in our current practice areas. The following are highlights of ARCH’s litigation activities:
Thompson v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2016 ONCA 676 (Court of Appeal for Ontario) 
This case involved a constitutional challenge to the expanded involuntary detention and Community Treatment Order (“CTO”) provisions of Ontario’s Mental Health Act.  These provisions permit persons with mental health disabilities to be involuntarily detained and treated in a psychiatric hospital in certain circumstances.  They also permit the forced administration of psychiatric treatment for certain persons with mental health disabilities who live in the community.
 
ARCH intervened at the Court of Appeal for Ontario as a friend of the Court.  ARCH argued that the expanded involuntary detention and CTO provisions violate sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because they subject persons with mental health disabilities to detainment and forced treatment where the use of this type of coercion is not necessary.  These provisions create disadvantage by perpetuating prejudice or stereotypes that persons with mental health disabilities are in need of coercive psychiatric treatment.  ARCH emphasized that the liberty interest, protected by section 7 of the Charter, and the equality interest, protected by section 15 of the Charter, intersect in the context of psychiatric detention.  As such, an equality lens should inform the Court’s analysis of section 7 of the Charter.  ARCH also raised the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a relevant source of law to assist the Court’s Charter analysis. Article 14 of the Convention prohibits detention because of disability.  
Brent Bish on Behalf of Ian Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corporation, Cardinal River Operations, Supreme Court File No.: 36636 (Supreme Court of Canada) 
ARCH was granted leave to intervene in this case by the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of our clients, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and the Empowerment Council. This appeal is yet to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.  
This case involves an employee who was terminated from his employment after a minor accident when he failed to disclose his addiction disability in a safety sensitive workplace.  This appeal is about interpretation and application of the prima facie test for discrimination, and the scope and content of an employer’s duty to accommodate, including in circumstances where an employee’s failure to disclose is disability-related or due to stigma.  The Court’s determination of these issues will be of great significance to the disability communities and may have far-reaching effects.
 
Dhanota v. York University (Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario) 
ARCH Disability Law Centre represented Ms. Navi Dhanota, a PhD student at York University, and filed an application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario alleging that she had been discriminated against on the basis of her disability by York University.
	
ARCH’s client did not want to disclose her mental health diagnosis in order to obtain needed disability related academic accommodations.  York University required that a medical practitioner complete a form asking for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) diagnosis of her mental health disability, when the disability began, symptoms and other personal questions.  
With the positive involvement of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, this matter was settled and the registration forms were changed.  Students are now being asked to provide a letter from a medical practitioner that confirms that the student has a mental health diagnosis, and requires accommodations for their mental health disability in order to access education on an equal basis as their peers. As a result of this case, Ms. Dhanota, ARCH and the Commission were invited to speak at Ryerson University’s Annual Activist Lecture.
Summary Advice and Referral Services 
A cornerstone of ARCH’s legal services is the Summary Advice and Referral program available to all Ontarians with disabilities, regardless of financial eligibility. ARCH’s Summary Advice and Referral service is provided directly by our lawyers and Disability Law Intensive (DLI) law students.
 
Through this program, our staff provides summary legal advice, legal information, referrals, and limited legal services across the province of Ontario. The service is provided primarily by telephone but other methods of communication, including in-person meetings and email correspondence are provided to accommodate disability-related needs. This work may include providing a legal opinion on a specific matter, negotiating with service providers or opposing parties on behalf of the individual to resolve the matter and, investigating the legal merits of a matter.
 
ARCH provides assistance on a breadth of areas of law including: abuse, accessibility laws, attendant services, capacity and the right to make one’s own decisions, discrimination and human rights, constitutional law, primary, secondary and post-secondary education, accommodations and discrimination in employment, home care, and disability services and related funding. 
Schedule 1 Class Action Settlement
ARCH is providing a variety of supports for claimants in Clegg v. Ontario, the Schedule 1 class action settlement. The class action is about 12 facilities or institutions where many people with disabilities were neglected and abused. The government of Ontario was in charge of these places.
 
ARCH has developed clear language information about the claims process, and publicized this information through a variety of communication channels. We also developed and delivered three webinars about the process: one for legal clinic staff, the other for the general public in English and another in French.
 
ARCH is also offering direct assistance to claimants throughout the province who wish to make claims. We have focused on areas with a high concentration of former residents and where the local legal clinic is unable to provide representation to claimants. ARCH clinic days have been held in Hamilton, Brampton, Kingston, Kitchener, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, and Thunder Bay, and we are representing claimants residing in all of these areas.  

Law Reform and Policy Initiatives
 
ARCH staff participated in numerous law reform initiatives that included working with coalitions, the Law Commission of Ontario, making written and oral submissions to government committees and government officials. In many instances, we see the suggestions made in the ARCH submissions reflected in the changes to legislation and policy. Some of the initiatives undertaken this year include:
Medical Assistance in Dying – Vulnerable Persons Standard 
ARCH continues to be a partner of the Vulnerable Persons Standard Secretariat. This multi-faceted initiative bridged the division on physician assisted suicide by developing a proposed Standard that government should adopt to ensure any new legislation protected persons who are vulnerable. The new law did adopt many of the recommendations of the Vulnerable Persons Standard, and ARCH continues to partner and work with this group to continue ensuring that Canada maintains and enhances safeguards in its medically assisted dying framework. ARCH also made submissions on Bill C-14 (Medical Assistance in Dying) to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. 
CRPD Shadow Report  
ARCH is a member of the working group struck to develop a shadow report to Canada’s first Report to the United Nations Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ARCH will assist the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, and numerous national disability organizations, to develop this Report to be submitted to the United Nations Committee.  
Ministry of Community and Social Services Working Group  
ARCH was invited to be a member of a working group established by the Ministry of Community and Social Services in response to the recommendations from the July 2015 Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Guy Mitchell. The working group developed recommendations to the Ministry for change to its current systems to prevent and support persons who are vulnerable to abuse and neglect.
 
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Reforms 
ARCH co-drafted written submissions with the AODA Alliance to the Ministry of Community and Social Services regarding reforms to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the amending of the Customer Services Standard.
 
Law Commission of Ontario’s ongoing work on Legal Capacity 
Following a substantial paper written by ARCH regarding decision-making and capacity, ARCH submitted a brief to the Law Commission of Ontario regarding its interim report. 

Public Legal Education Activities

ARCH delivered many educational sessions to further our goal of ensuring that people with disabilities, and those who represent them, are aware of their rights and are enabled in their enforcement. The following are some examples of the sessions delivered during this past year:

Access Awareness Event
On Tuesday May 31st, 2016, ARCH and The Law Society of Upper Canada hosted the annual Access Awareness event at Osgoode Hall, Law Society of Upper Canada. This year’s event was called: “Celebrating Action: Developmental Services and Legal Rights”. It highlighted the history of activism by persons labelled with intellectual disabilities and discussed present day concerns, including issues related to reproductive rights. Community leaders spoke about their current advocacy efforts and how this work should inform law and policy.  
Surviving Huronia Conference
ARCH co-sponsored, co-organized and co-presented an event called Surviving Huronia. In partnership with McGill University and the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, the event explored the legacy of Ontario’s institutional history, and the impact of class action litigation. A panel presentation featuring the lead plaintiffs recounted some of the horrific conditions that many people endured within Huronia Regional Centre. 

Education Rights 
ARCH co-hosted a full day training on education advocacy on March 23rd, in partnership with Community Living Ontario and Inclusive Education Canada/Canadian Association for Community Living. Given the success of the event, a second event was organized several months later. These sessions will continue, and will include numerous sessions in Northern Ontario. As well, ARCH is embarking on a fulsome research project with its partners, exploring Inclusive Education, barriers to accommodations, and access to neighborhood schools in Ontario. In addition to this partnership, ARCH provided rights workshops to students of primary, secondary and post-secondary education.

Exclusions from Public School
ARCH drafted and presented a paper examining the exclusion provision in Ontario’s Education Act to the Conference of the Canadian Association for the Practical Study of Law in Education. 

Connecting Ottawa Conference
ARCH presented at this year’s Connecting Ottawa Conference, entitled “Sounds Traumatic: Rethinking what Trauma means for Legal and Social Work.”  We discussed ARCH’s work with survivors of trauma and disability accommodations within this context. 

Guest Lectures
ARCH delivered guest lectures at law schools and faculties at various Universities including: Lakehead University, McGill University, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Western University, University of Windsor, and York University/Osgoode Hall Law School.
Osgoode Certificate in Human Rights
ARCH presented on Disability and Accommodation for the third year in this certificate course hosted by Osgoode Hall Law School. This year, ARCH co-presented with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre on intersectionality and accommodations. 

ARCH ALERT
ARCH Alert is ARCH’s quarterly newsletter. It provides timely information on proposed legislation, significant court and tribunal decisions, government consultations, community initiatives, and other disability-related legal developments.  ARCH Alert has a circulation of almost 4,000 readers. Our readership includes people with disabilities, government officials, disability organizations, the media, ARCH’s community partners, community legal clinics in Ontario, lawyers and legal organizations throughout the province and beyond. In addition, our newsletter is widely circulated by other community organizations. 

In December 2015, a special issue of the ARCH Alert was released celebrating the United Nation’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This issue featured five powerful accounts from survivors of Ontario’s institutions. 

ARCH Alert articles can be read on line at: http://www.archdisabilitylaw.ca/arch-alerts.

Highlights of Select ARCH Projects and Partnerships

Respecting Rights Initiative

After identifying gaps in the developmental services sector in accessible legal education and rights enforcement for people labeled with an intellectual disability, ARCH co-founded Respecting Rights. Respecting Rights is a grassroots community-driven initiative that puts people labelled with intellectual disabilities in a lead role, partnering with ARCH staff lawyers and developmental services advocacy staff. Due to the diversity of cognitive, communication and learning needs of this community, more creative and non-traditional formats of legal education are necessary. Respecting Rights provides this legal education in a format much more tailored to the needs of this community than what was previously available. A peer-based component is used in delivering accessible trainings including role-plays and engaging arts-based rights education. 

Respecting Rights has released the first two of a series of rights education films that are being utilized in workshops and in agency settings. These films cover rights issues and are made for people labelled with intellectual disabilities in an accessible manner.

Staff and families also receive rights education workshops, with the aim to have the entire support network around the person labelled with an intellectual disability receiving education about the person’s rights. Decision-making and capacity and consent issues are covered in the workshops for staff and family. 

This past year has been a year of tremendous growth for the committee. We are grateful to our funder, Legal Aid Ontario, for providing additional funding through the Financial Eligibility Guidelines increase to hire a part-time coordinator (community legal worker) to get Respecting Rights established, work on recruitment across the province, and the launching of the rights education workshops for people labelled with intellectual disabilities and their support networks. 

2016 has seen Respecting Rights delivering these workshops consistently across the province at agencies and conferences. Each workshop has a 3 person panel of Respecting Rights members: an ARCH staff lawyer, a volunteer self advocate, and advocacy staff from developmental services. 

ARCH and Respecting Rights are pleased to have partnered with People First of Ontario in June 2016 and we look forward to pursuing further projects collaboratively.

Student Programs 

Disability Law Intensive 
ARCH Disability Law Centre continues its exciting partnership with Osgoode Hall Law School at York University called the Disability Law Intensive. The purpose of this program is to introduce second and third year law students to the complex issues faced by persons with disabilities and to help them learn the most effective ways of delivering legal services to our community, through law reform and policy work, and direct client centred work.  This program is the first of its kind in Canada. Now in its fourth year, eleven students were selected to participate in the 2016-17 Disability Law Intensive at ARCH. The 2015 – 2016 was a very successful academic year and we look forward to enhancing our services yet again this year. 

Student Proposed Internships - University of Ottawa 
ARCH continues to provide placements to law students of the University of Ottawa through the Student Proposed Internship course. This year, ARCH offered five placements.  This has become a fantastic opportunity for ARCH to work with an excellent cohort of law students. 

Social Work Student program
ARCH continues to develop its social work student program. In our second year of the program we hosted an MSW student placement. Our student was involved in a variety of work at ARCH including research and writing, designing public legal education, community development, outreach and direct client services. 

iSchool
This year, we were fortunate to provide a placement to a student from the ischool (University of Toronto Faculty of Information) to review all of our online content and help us develop accessible information architecture as part of our process to develop a new website. 

Health Justice Initiative – St. Michael’s Legal Services Project
ARCH, St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team, St. Michael’s Hospital, Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) and Neighbourhood Legal Services continued into our third year of partnership operating the first medical legal partnership between community legal clinics and an inner city hospital. 
Together, the partnership works to achieve an integrated, holistic wrap-around service delivery model for the provision of health and justice services.  The partnership aims to improve social determinants of health indicators and access to justice for low income and vulnerable clients through onsite direct services and interdisciplinary collaboration on education and systemic advocacy.
ARCH plays a key leadership role in the Initiative by providing all human resources support for the project staff, and provides oversight and guidance to the five project areas: direct services, legal education, law reform, community development and evaluation. 
Since December 2014, the project has provided legal information, advice, limited and full retainer representation to 344 clients on 581 different legal issues.  The project’s aim is holistic, without boundaries on the areas of law for legal services.  The most frequent issues the project provided advice on included: accessibility and accommodation in rental housing; legal options after experiencing abuse, employment rights including human rights accommodation; and income maintenance.
The project engaged in legal education with health care providers at the health team, as well as with low-income patient and community members.  In January, the Onsite lawyer presented on human rights and health care at a Department of Family and Community Medicine’s Grand Round. She also led clinical rounds and community workshops on human rights in employment law, consent and capacity, human rights in housing, and legal services for survivors of abuse.  She was on a panel about the legal and ethical issues related to medical assistance in dying, and engaged 1:1 with health care providers about their increased knowledge of community legal resources. 

In the community, the Health Justice project conducted community outreach and started recruiting for the membership in Advisory Group that will help guide the Project’s legal education and systemic advocacy activities.
Law reform activities included the successful implementation of recommendations made to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration for amendment of the Citizenship Act to explicitly recognize an applicant’s right to accommodation. The project engaged in research on the right to accessible housing, with special focus on Toronto Community Housing Corporation tenants. Alongside another ARCH lawyer, the project continues to provide our input and monitor the development of assisted injections protocol at supervised safe injection sites.
ARCH’s role as an expert in disability rights has greatly benefited the health justice project by providing leadership in maintaining a social model of disability lens of analysis to the project’s work on health and anti-poverty social justice activities. ARCH’s role has elevated the attention to national and international human rights instruments and Constitutional rights as the overarching focus of project work aiming to improve access to justice and our community’s social determinants of health. 

Legal Aid Ontario has provided financial support for this Initiative.  We continue to dialogue at key intervals with leadership at St. Michael’s to monitor the project through governance and evaluation, and to plan for potential growth.

Lawyer to Lawyer Consults 
Lawyers representing people with disabilities continue to contact ARCH to discuss disability issues that arise with their clients.  ARCH provides this service to all lawyers across Ontario offering a one-on-one consultation on disability-related cases. 

Association of Human Rights Lawyers
ARCH continues to host monthly meetings of the Association of Human Rights Lawyers. Lawyers in private practice, the Human Rights Legal Support Centre and our colleagues in various legal clinics attend the meetings to discuss important decisions, Human Rights Tribunal procedures and to consult on ongoing cases. In between meetings, members share information and dialogue through email. The discussion is always very informative and the group is a great source of support and guidance for those who practice human rights law.

ARCH Public Library and Resource Centre 
The ARCH Public Library contains current and historical resources on many disability-related issues important to people with disabilities and their families. The resources, available in print, video, DVD or web formats, may also interest ARCH community partners and researchers. The resources cover topics such as: disability law and policy; programs and services for persons with disabilities; history of the disability rights movement; inclusion and equality rights in education, employment and society at large; community and independent living; advocacy and empowerment; safety and abuse prevention; accessibility and assistive technologies; practical guides for home, school, workplace and community; memoirs and experiences of persons with disabilities and their families.
Everyone is welcome to come to our new location to browse not only our library but the libraries of several other specialty clinics.  ARCH operates two fully accessible computer stations, equipped with access to the internet, screen magnification software, screen reader software and alternative keyboard and mouse.  Our print and video resources are for use in the Library only. Our catalogue can be viewed from home or office by going to our website.  Members of the public can search by subject, title, keyword or author. 

Website and Social Media
ARCH has added social media to the way the public can contact and interact with us.  Our website is a key communications tool for persons who have limited access to libraries and other forms of information.  Our website aims to provide timely and accurate information to the general public and receives hits from all over the province.

ARCH’s Social Media:

Website Hits	34,984
Facebook Sessions	 1,401
Tweets:	 1,419

Committee Work and Community Development
ARCH staff collaborate on various committees with other community legal clinics, Legal Aid Ontario, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario, government, the private bar, the judiciary, community organizations and stakeholders on an ongoing basis throughout the year.  The work of all of these collaborations is to advance access to justice for low-income residents of Ontario and to ensure their voices are heard by government, policy and decision makers. Examples of the committees on which ARCH staff participated during the year include:

Law Society of Upper Canada – Equity Advisory Group (EAG)
Ontario Bar Association’s Equality Committee
Ontario Disability Support Plan Action Coalition
Clinic Human Rights Working Group
Toronto Legal Clinic Management Group
Toronto Support Staff Association
Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy – Community Partner
Various Co-Operative of Specialty Community Legal Clinics Groups

Financial Overview

ARCH receives funding from various sources.  The Board of Directors wishes to acknowledge the on-going support of Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), ARCH’s primary funder.  ARCH is grateful to LAO for its agreement to fund the St. Michael’s Legal Services Project until March 31, 2017. 

Additional Funders

The City of Toronto has once again provided ARCH with a Community Service Partnership Grant that supports our education, information and referral program.  These funds enable ARCH to employ administrative staff not funded by Legal Aid Ontario. 

ARCH is licensed by the Ontario Lottery Corporation to participate in the Break Open Ticket program.  Receipts from this initiative support our information and referral services, library purchases, disability accommodations, website and staff training. 

We received funds from Service Canada’s Summer Career Placement Program to hire two summer law students. 

ARCH would like to thank the above funders for their continued support.
We also thank members of the public for on-going support of ARCH through their generous donations.

For a copy of the full report please contact our office.

Contributors to Arch’s Work
 
Clinics, Community Organizations, Students, Lawyers and Volunteers 
During 2015 and 2016 law students have expressed a great deal of interest in working with ARCH in various capacities. Pro bono law students, summer students and articling students have greatly enhanced our work. They bring talent, energy and commitment to the work of ARCH, as well as humour and fun to the office.  
Additionally, ARCH is very appreciative of the support of other legal clinics, the private bar and the pro bono assistance of lawyers and law students provided to ARCH itself, and to our clients.  ARCH thanks the many volunteers who have provided ongoing general support or offered us specific insight and information that has advanced our work. 
ARCH gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following students, lawyers and volunteers:
· Alyssa Lane, Disability Law Intensive student
· Catherine Musekamp, Disability Law Intensive student
· Erin Elias, Disability Law Intensive student
· Joshua Patlik, Disability Law Intensive student
· Judith Hemming, Disability Law Intensive student
· Julia Munk, Disability Law Intensive student
· Melanie Molina, Disability Law Intensive student
· RuoXi Cai, Disability Law Intensive student
· Sarah Mackenzie, Disability Law Intensive student
· Sheau Lih Vong, Disability Law Intensive student
· Irena Djukic, Master of Social Work Practicum student, York University
· Jake Miller, Master of Information Practicum student, University of Toronto
· Julia Munk, Summer Law student (DLI), Osgoode Hall Law School
· Emily Mau, Summer Law student, University of Ottawa
· Paul Chudnovsky, Summer Law student, Dalhousie University
· Emily Mau, Student Proposed Internship program, University of Ottawa 
· Stephanie Moutsatsos, Student Proposed Internship program, University of Ottawa 
· Julia Chalkley, Student Proposed Internship program, University of Ottawa 
· Gregory Allan, Student Proposed Internship program, University of Ottawa student
· Megan Fultz, University of Ottawa student (volunteer law student)
· Hermione Shou, University of Ottawa, summer law student with the Health Justice Initiative
· Mounia el Assati, law graduate and international intern with the Health Justice Initiative
· Courtland Morrice, pro bono law student with the Health Justice Initiative
· Melissa and Alanah Way, students
· Giuliana and Nathan Barrow Lattanzio, students
· Angelo Ouellette, student
· Jody Carr, University of New Brunswick
· Ena Chadha, lawyer
· David Lepofsky, lawyer
· Sabrina Lightstone, volunteer

Many people and agencies have helped ARCH in our Schedule 1 work. We are very grateful to the following agencies for assisting with hosting and organizing our clinic days:
 · Brampton Caledon Community Living
· Community Living Hamilton
· Community Living Kingston and District 
· Community Living Mississauga
· Community Living Thunder Bay
· Community Living Toronto
· Durham Family Respite
· KW Habilitation (Kitchener)
· Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County, Guelph Community Health Centre and Minto Rural Health Centre
· Rygiel Supports for Community Living (Hamilton)
 
ARCH especially wants to thank Gordon Kyle of Community Living Ontario for all his work to support the appointment days and get local agencies involved.
 
Connecting Ottawa hosted an ARCH workshop on the settlement at their May conference. 

The Provincial Learning Action Committee (PLAC) hosted a webinar for Legal Aid clinic staff.
 
ARCH also sends a big thank you to Your Legal Rights for facilitating and hosting of English and French language webinars on the claims process. 
We also say “Merci beaucoup!”  to the Réseau Francophone and René Guitard of la Clinique juridique francophone de l'Est d'Ottawa and Amy Lavoie of la Clinique juridique bilingue de Windsor-Essex/ Windsor-Essex Bilingual Legal Clinic. René translated and Amy presented the French version of the webinar.
 
For more information about our ongoing work, please visit our website at www.archdisabilitylaw.ca and subscribe to the ARCH Alert newsletter. 
ARCH Thanks our Funders, Supporters, and Partners!
 
Legal Aid Ontario
City of Toronto - Community Services Grants Program
The Law Society of Upper Canada, Equity Department
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (through Break Open Ticket Sales)
Service Canada
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Community Living Ontario
St. Michael’s 
Pro Bono Students Canada
Ontario Bar Association
York University
University of Toronto
University of Ottawa
Community Living Toronto
Neeson & Associates
Inclusive Education Canada
Centre for Individual Living Toronto (CILT)
People First of Ontario

A special thank you to Amanda Ward for designing this Annual Report