Toronto

OJEN's GTA justice programming is comprehensive, including courtrooms and classrooms visits, mock trial tournaments at both elementary and secondary school levels, and Adopt-a-School programs.

All nine Toronto courthouses run courtroom visit programs. Two are particularly busy; the Superior Court of Justice at 361 University Avenue, which welcomed 14,000 students in 2006-07, and the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall, which saw 12,000 student visitors.

Partnerships with both the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), and Project 180° School have enabled the development of programming focusing on youth at risk. These programs provide youth the opportunity to interact positively with justice sector volunteers, in some cases working towards mock trials and sentencings.

OJEN's province wide judge shadowing program was developed in Toronto by Justice Lloyd Budzinski of the Ontario Court of Justice. Justice Budzinski began by inviting local teachers to experience the courtroom from his perspective, in some cases sitting on the bench beside him, and to engage him in discussions about the justice system following the court sessions.

Toronto's Take Your Kids To Work Day program is always well subscribed. Judges, Justices of the Peace, court staff, prosecutors, lawyers, law firms, and the Law Society of Upper Canada coordinate to provide grade 9 students with an interactive inside-view of the justice system, some of which include tours of courthouses and cells, mock trials, and question and answer sessions.

Toronto's regional judicial contacts are Justice Fran Kiteley of the Superior Court of Justice, and Justice Mavin Wong of the Ontario Court of Justice. The Toronto OJEN Committee meets approximately five times each year at Old City Hall. Committee members include teachers, lawyers, community groups, judges and justices of the peace and courts staff.