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Ontario Victim Services works to ensure that victims of crime are treated with respect and receive the information and services they need.
No one is prepared to become a victim of crime. It is a traumatic and difficult experience. Ontario Victim Services recognizes these hardships and is committed to providing victims with the support and services they need in the communities where they live.
What We Do
Ontario Victim Services provides direct services to victims of crime across Ontario and funds community organizations that deliver support services to victims.
We provide leadership for victims of crime in:
- Policy development
- Program design
- Frontline service delivery
Ontario Victim Services supports the expansion of provincial victim services in communities across Ontario to ensure proper planning and implementation at the community, regional and provincial levels.
The Victims' Justice Fund
The Victims' Justice Fund (VJF) is an important source of funding for key victims' services programming throughout the province.
The VJF was established in 1996 under the Victims' Bill of Rights as a special purpose account within the government's Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Under Ontario's Victims' Bill of Rights, money paid into the VJF is to be used to assist victims of Criminal Code offences either by supporting programs that provide services to victims or by making grants to community agencies that help victims. VJF funding cannot be used to provide direct compensation to victims in the absence of a pre-existing program or to support initiatives designed to prevent persons from becoming victims of crime (although it can be used to assist persons who have been victims of crime from being re-victimized).
The money in the VJF is collected from victim fine surcharges imposed on fines under the Provincial Offences Act as well as the federal victim surcharges imposed on Criminal Code, Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and Cannabis Act offences.
Approximately $44-$50M is collected annually in the VJF. Victim fine surcharge revenues from provincial offences fines represent approximately 90% of annual revenue into the VJF. The below chart shows the victim fine surcharge and federal victim surcharge revenues (including interest and recoveries) remitted into the VJF by each fiscal year since 2012/13:
| Fiscal Year | VJF Revenue (includes interest and recoveries) |
|---|---|
| 2012/13 | $46,971,411 |
| 2013/14 | $45,956,168 |
| 2014/15 | $47,549,939 |
| 2015/16 | $57,342,111 |
| 2016/17 | $47,560,481 |
| 2017/18 | $54,453,426 |
| 2018/19 | $49,661,639 |
The ministry has invested VJF money in a broad range of programs and services to support the needs of victims of crime, including sexual assault victims, child victims, male survivors of sexual abuse, and victims of domestic violence. The VJF is also used for initiatives that respond to diverse communities, including Aboriginal communities, so that support services respond effectively to the unique needs of victims of crime.
Since 2012/13, the VJF has provided more than $350 million to government funded and community-led programs. In the 2018/19 fiscal year, approximately $50 million of the VJF went to support victim services programming. Click here for information about programs and services for victims of crime.
A graph showing actual VJF expenditures since 2012/13 is presented below:
- 2012/13 – $52.3 Million ($43.7M annualized, $8.6M time-limited)
- 2013/14 – $50.5 Million ($43.4M annualized, $7.1M time-limited)
- 2014/15 – $49.0 Million ($42.4M annualized, $6.6M time-limited)
- 2015/16 - $53.2 Million ($43.7M annualized, $9.5M time-limited)
- 2016/17 - $49.0 Million ($44.1M annualized, $4.9M time-limited)
- 2017/18 - $48.5 Million ($43.8M annualized, $4.7M time-limited)
- 2018/19 - $50.3 Million ($44.5M annualized, $5.8M time-limited)