Victim Support Grant Program (Ontario)

Victim Support Grant Program (Ontario) is sponsored by Government of Ontario. This provincial program in Ontario provides funding to support victims and survivors of crime, including gender-based violence.

The following police services are receiving funding through this program for 2025-27. **Aylmer Police Service: $228,627 Funding will be used for specialized police officer training in Intimate Partner Violence/Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and for community outreach to improve support and reporting of serious crimes in Aylmer and eastern Elgin County.

Aylmer Police Service will also transform its lobby space into a welcoming, victim-centric environment that promotes healing and trust to help ensure every victim who enters the facility is met with respect and care from the moment they arrive.

**Barrie Police Service: $400,000 Project Early Response: Responding with Care Before Crisis** Barrie Police Service, in partnership with the Barrie Women and Children’s Shelter, will use funds to support a collaborative response model where, with consent and when deemed safe, trained shelter staff attend Intimate Partner Violence related calls alongside police.

Staff will provide immediate emotional support and assistance with accessing services and planning for safety – an innovative approach to help prevent escalation, reduce repeat calls for service and improve survivor trust.

**Brantford Police Service: $290,097 Enhancing Support for Victims and Survivors** Brantford Police Service will use funds to support a more robust relationship between police and Victim Services of Brant with the addition of new contract staff and innovative new tools to realize the ultimate goals of trust, education and the empowerment of victims and survivors.

**Chatham-Kent Police Service: $373,600 Through Project Safe Haven, Chatham-Kent Police Service will provide a trauma-informed, secure, and private virtual interview option for victims of crime. The virtual interview model supports a victim-centred approach by enhancing accessibility and increasing privacy and confidentiality.

It also facilitates coordination between police and partnering victim support services, allowing for timely and compassionate responses to reports of serious and sensitive crimes. The project will also ensure that victims are connected to counselling services that offer emotional support, crisis intervention and long-term therapeutic care.

**Cobourg Police Service (in partnership with Port Hope Police Service): $292,447 Partners in Prevention – A Collaborative IPV/DV Response for Northumberland County** A joint initiative of Cobourg Police Service, Port Hope Police Service and Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre, this project will strengthen Northumberland County's collective ability to identify, respond to and prevent incidents of Intimate Partner Violence and Domestic Violence through three integrated streams: Prevention, Education and Guidance.

By building on a proven model, addressing demonstrated gaps, and integrating innovative tools, Partners in Prevention will create a more effective and coordinated response that protects more victims, improves case outcomes and strengthens community safety.

**Deep River Police Service: $101,820 Having Victim Voices Heard** Funding will be used to create a local victim support resource group, with representation from Deep River Police Service, North Renfrew Family Service and Victim Services of Renfrew County.

The group will meet regularly with North Renfrew Family Services and Victim Services of Renfrew County to review cases involving victims in Deep River and determine what services, information or assistance they need. The project also includes officer training and funds for a soft interview room, food gift cards, taxi fare vouchers and personal care items to help support victims. **Durham Regional Police Service: $389,597 Project R.

I. S. E.

“Resilience, Intervention, Support and Engagement for Vulnerable Youth”** Led by Durham Regional Police Service in partnership with Victim Services of Durham Region, Bethesda House and Durham Children’s Aid Society, Project R. I. S.

E. addresses the increase in youth victimization by strengthening and sustaining three proven programs: the Missing Persons Project, the Human Trafficking Crisis Counsellor and the development of the Child and Youth Advocacy Centre.

**Greater Sudbury Police Service: $293,763 Building Trust, Preventing Harm: IPV Awareness and Safety for Newcomers** Funding will be used by the Greater Sudbury Police Service and its partner agencies to participate in presentations and outreach events on laws, consent, Intimate Partner Violence resources and the reporting process to build positive relationships with newcomer populations to give them the knowledge and courage to report crimes.

**Guelph Police Service: $400,000 Guelph Police Services will use funds to help prevent and respond to intimate partner violence (IPV), human trafficking (HT), and gender-based violence (GBV) by adding two dedicated roles and targeted training.

By combining early intervention, victim support and professional development, the Break the Silence project aims to improve outcomes for victims and strengthen Guelph’s systemic response to IPV, HT and GBV.

**London Police Service: $400,000 REACH (Responsive Engagement and Access for Everyone)** This project will expand the availability of virtual reporting to include hate-motivated incidents, intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual assault and human trafficking. It will deploy officers and civilians to facilitate both virtual reporting and victim outreach.

It includes partnerships with community and Indigenous organizations to address a critical gap in IPV response by proactively reaching out to families after IPV calls where no charges are laid, ensuring trauma-informed support and referrals are provided.

**Niagara Regional Police Service: $398,597 Collaboration to Identify and Support Victims of Human Trafficking** Funding will support the partnership of Victims Services Niagara and the Niagara Regional Police Service in continuing to provide educational and awareness-building activities, as well as updated training and survivor-centered care related to incidents of human trafficking.

Funding will be used for a full-time victim advocate and for additional initiatives to help identify potential victims and witnesses to decrease victimization/revictimization and build a safer community.

**Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) – East Algoma (Town of Blind River): $46,647 Access to Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Collection** Funding will be used to enhance access to trauma-informed care for victims of sexual violence across Algoma Manitoulin.

Initiatives include the enhancement of a dedicated examination room to ensure privacy and dignity during forensic examinations, specialized training for OPP officers and interdisciplinary healthcare workers. It also includes a sexual assault awareness campaign in English, French, and Anishinaabemowin.

**Peel Regional Police: $301,250 Funding will support the launch of Project SafeLink, a coordinated response to high-risk intimate partner violence (IPV) cases through a dedicated referral system linking two specialized crisis workers from Victim Services of Peel with Peel Regional Police Services’ IPV Unit.

This initiative will address a critical service gap by ensuring that victims facing the most severe forms of IPV receive immediate, specialized and intensive support.

**Peterborough Police Service: $398,597 Unified Approach: Victim-Centred Response Team** Funding will be used to address gender-based violence (GBV)/intimate partner violence (IPV) by integrating trauma-informed practices through a partnership between police officers and outreach workers.

Two outreach workers will be added to Peterborough Police Service’s GBV/IPV unit to attend GBV/IPV calls with frontline officers, providing immediate emotional support, conducting real-time risk assessments and ensuring that survivors and their families are connected to essential services such as safety planning, crisis intervention, housing or legal resources.

**Six Nations Police Service: $400,000 Restoring Safety and Healing: A Collaborative Approach to Intimate Partner Violence and Violent Crime in Six Nations** Six Nations Police Service and Ganohkwasra Family Assault Support Services will use funds to deliver trauma-informed, culturally grounded supports for victims of intimate partner violence and violent crime through healing events, training, outreach and coordinated victim navigation services.

This project will build on previous initiatives such as the High-Risk Referral Symposium and Days of Healing, and will introduce new trauma-informed, culturally grounded interventions within the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. **Smiths Falls Police Service: $346,36**2 **Making it Count 3.

1: Building our Community Collaborative Capacity to Support Victims of Intimate Partner Violence, Human Trafficking and Sexual Assault** Funding will be used for Smiths Falls Police Service (SFPS) and its partners to address the rise in victimization due to intimate partner violence, human trafficking and sexual assault.

Funding will assist the SFPS and its community partners to strengthen their capacity to address the dramatic increase in victimization from sex related crimes by providing enhanced direct victim services, officer training, agency capacity building and community youth outreach. **St. Thomas Police Service: $341,400 Pathways to Change: Breaking the Cycle of Harm** St.

Thomas Police Service will use funds to partner with Changing Ways, an organization that helps individuals wishing to end and take responsibility for their abusive behaviour, to provide early interventions in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) investigations.

These early intervention strategies are aimed at providing education, resources and techniques to prevent Domestic Violence incidents from recurring and escalating to the point of physical violence. The project reduces risk to victims of IPV while also reducing the need for police to repeatedly respond to frequent and ongoing domestic violence investigations.

**Treaty Three Police Service: $198,597 Empowering Survivors: A Unified Response for Victim Support in Treaty #3 Territory** Funds will help address the urgent and persistent gaps in victim support for Indigenous communities within Treaty Three territory through a partnership of the Treaty Three Police Service and Victim Services of Kenora and Area.

The project aims to strengthen collaboration between police and non-police service providers, streamline referral processes through a first virtual support worker (a role designed to provide direct, trauma-informed assistance, regardless of geographic location) and creating a digital lending library and online resources to empower survivors with information about their rights, available services and safety planning.

**York Regional Police: $398,597 Operation Outreach: Sharing and Caring Through Partnership** York Regional Police, in collaboration with the York Region Centre for Community Safety, Victim Services of York Region, Rose of Sharon, and welcome centres for new arrivals, will use funds to address intimate partner violence (IPV) by improving support and access for survivors, especially among vulnerable groups such as racialized women and young mothers.

The initiative focuses on educating the public about IPV and providing resources for survivors.