Curtailing the crisis of underfunded courts

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In a nutshell

Sustained under-investment has made access to courts a national crisis in Canada. Staffing shortages, deferred infrastructure investment, rising caseloads, and inadequate operational funding result in a justice system that fails to deliver timely, regional access for Canadians. Parliament must ensure that courts are adequately resourced to interpret and apply the laws it enacts. This joint submission from multiple CBA sections and committees urges the federal government to accept five key recommendations for its pre-budget consultations.

Key recommendations

The CBA recommends that Parliament: 

1. Provide sustained, targeted funding to address the Courts Administration Service’s (CAS) three critical operational pressures:
    
   1. Cybersecurity infrastructure: Unlike other federal departments, CAS lacks centralized cybersecurity support and bears sole responsibility for securing its digital infrastructure. Courts that handle highly sensitive information must ensure uninterrupted operations.
       
   2. Expired immigration caseload capacity: The Federal Court is experiencing a sharp rise in cases without additional funding, largely driven by immigration matters. Reduced Federal Court capacity undermines the integrity of Canada’s immigration and border system, a direct concern for the government’s sovereignty and security objectives.
       
   3. Translation services: Funding for court decision translation under the Official Languages Act is temporary, with only two years remaining. A backlog of 2,000 decisions was already awaiting translation as of November 2025. Without sustained, demand-adjusted funding, this backlog will grow, impeding access to justice in both official languages.
       
2. Work with the CBA to commission an independent review to identify and quantify the unintended pressures that departmental policies place on federal courts, with evidence-based recommendations for policy reform.
    
3. Establish a politically independent, evidence-based process for implementing stable, multi-year funding for CAS that recognizes the courts’ constitutional mandate and keeps pace with caseload growth. 
    
4. Provide sustained federal funding for new judicial appointments to expand unified family courts alongside long-term reinvestment in base funding for legal aid to all provinces and territories across Canada.
    
5. That the government remedy the unintended consequences of the 2022 anti-directed giving amendments to paragraph 168(1)(f) of the Income Tax Act, either by repealing those amendments or replacing them with a targeted rule applicable only to gifts that are not qualifying disbursements.

Why this matters

As Parliament legislates in increasingly complex areas like immigration, national security, and major project development, courts must be resourced to meet the moment. Courts occupy a unique role within Canada’s constitutional framework, and unlike other areas of government, their mandate is not discretionary. A justice system that cannot hear cases in a timely manner is not a functional justice system. Addressing the crisis of underfunding directly supports the government’s commitment to economic security, public trust in institutions, and a strong, rules-based Canada.

Read the full submission.