In 1969, the Ouimet Commission on Corrections,Toward Unity: Criminal Justice and Corrections, called for a rehabilitative, not punitive, approach to corrections in Canada. Not too long thereafter, the Sauvé Report of the Task Force on the Role of the Private Sector in Criminal Justice, “Community involvement in criminal justice” published in 1977 further recommended the increased role of citizen involvement and formalized organizations within criminal justice and corrections across federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions. Under this backdrop, the Executive Director of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association (CCJA), William (Bill) T. McGrath, led the development of an “experiment” in 1975 that would bring together private sector agencies working in social justice and corrections to share information and provide support.

Under the auspices of CCJA, Mr. McGrath, who was aptly deemed the “Godfather of criminal justice interest groups” in Canada, co-ordinated what would become the NAACJ network: the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice. Now, approximately 50 years later, many of the following 21 founding agencies remain a member of the Association, although they may operate under a different name:

Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies
Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Inc.
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
Canadian Association of Professional Criminologists
Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges
Canadian Association of Social Workers
Canadian Correctional Chaplains’ Association
Canadian Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian Criminology and Corrections Association
Canadian Foundation on Alcohol and Drug Dependencies
Canadian Mental Health Association
Canadian Section, International Association of Penal Law
Canadian Psychiatric Association
Canadian Psychological Association
Church Council on Justice and Corrections
John Howard Society of Canada
National Association of Friendship Centres
National Institute on Mental Retardation
St. Leonard’s Society of Canada
The Salvation Army

NAACJ was born. Other “visionaries and reformers” involved at the time included Bonnie Diamond, Pat Graham, Hans Mohr, Ken Hatt, Lucien Morin, Dr. Reverend David McCord, Brian Crane and Frank Miller. With instrumental support from community builder and mediator Dr. Ben Hoffman, and then Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Canada Jim McLatchie, NAACJ grew in members, partners and autonomy over the 1980s, thanks in part to the inception of the Solicitor General for Canada’s sustaining funding grant for NVOs.

In 1990, NAACJ published a discussion paper Making Justice Real: A Socially Responsible Approach to Justice, which explored the philosophical elements of a social responsibility approach to justice; the principles of criminal justice; and, proposed guidelines for practice, all in an effort to stimulate more just and effective measures. This socially responsible approach to criminal justice inspired a vision for NAACJ for many years to come.

In 2000, then President of NAACJ and Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) Kim Pate led NAACJ’s incorporation by Letters Patent as a not-for-profit (NFP) corporation. By 2004, NAACJ’s membership policy articulated membership criteria for member organizations based on the federal government’s Voluntary Sector Accord (2001). Later in 2013, owing in part to the new Canada Corporations Act, then President Allen Benson led the continuance NAACJ as a federal NFP corporation.