LEAF is a well-established and dedicated advocate for gender equality, demonstrating tangible results, year after year.
LEAF focuses on litigation, law reform, and public education. In particular, we seek to advance gender equality by challenging laws, policies, and practices that discriminate against equality guarantees enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, most notably sections 15 and 28.
Since 1985, LEAF has intervened in over 100 cases that have advanced equality in Canada. Our cases have resulted in landmark victories preventing violence against women and gender diverse people, eliminating discrimination in the workplace, allowing access to reproductive freedoms, and providing better maternity benefits, better spousal support, and the right to pay equity. Charter rights, in general, and section 15, in particular, have been tested, and strengthened, through the advocacy work of LEAF.
We thank all our pro bono lawyers who have helped us in our cause, as well as the dedicated individuals who have participated in our case committees and helped to develop the arguments we make. Our involvement in these cases has not only shaped the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – it has shaped our national conversations.
We welcome you to learn more about our work. You can also visit our resource library, where you will find summaries of LEAF’s cases and links to our law reform submissions. As LEAF looks to its future advocacy, we will strive to centre the voices of those who are marginalized and face intersecting grounds of discrimination.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
