About StreetSmart

StreetSmart is an organization run by law students that teach street-involved and marginalized youth, between the ages of 12 and 29, their legal rights through accessible, creative workshops.

At StreetSmart, we believe in the power of creativity to transform our communities. By engaging youth in this way, we cultivate safe spaces for self-expression, rich spaces for (un)learning, and creative spaces that challenge youth to re-imagine their relationship with the law. We believe that our uniquely creative process allows us to imagine stronger communities, while simultaneously working to make them a reality.

What We Do

At the core of what we do is delivering creative, rights-based workshops to street-involved and marginalized youth. We do this by training passionate law students to facilitate StreetSmart workshops with not for profits, community centres, schools, shelters, and any other spaces where youth gather in their communities.

At StreetSmart, we don’t just train law students to deliver a script. Instead, we teach them an effective, creative educational strategy that they can adapt to best meet their communities’ needs. This allows us to ensure that our programming is tailored to each community, while also ensuring that across the board, youth are learning their relevant legal rights, self-advocacy skills, and where to get help locally.

Note: StreetSmart cannot offer direct legal advice, or provide legal representation.

How We Do It

StreetSmart workshops are entirely activity and discussion-based. By taking an interactive approach, we avoid the typical lecture format that isn't always the most engaging way to learn.

Our workshops allow youth to reflect and express themselves through visual art or writing. The art that youth create is then a useful conversation starter for participating in group discussions.

We support

Youth Agency.

Workshop participants are in control of how they identify in a judgment-free, safe-space. Youth control their own narrative, free from sterotypes and bias.

We encourage authentic

Youth Expression.

Workshop participants are given space to provide genuine responses to common scenarios where rights violations routinely occur. In doing so, youth are challenged to reflect on their underlying goals when advocating for their legal rights in the future.

We create space for youth to honestly express their

Feelings Towards the Law.

We acknowledge that youth have varied eperiences with, and feelings towards the legal system. Workshop participants will unpack their relationship with the law, and begin to break down any barriers that prevent them from accessing justice.

We teach youth

Legal Capability.

Workshop participants will learn their relevant legal rights in simple, plain language. Our goal is to ensure that youth have enough knowledge of the law to recognize when something is wrong, and to know when to reach out for support.

We encourage learning through

Creative Reflection and Expression.

StreetSmart takes an arts-based approach to legal education. From beginning to end, workshop participants are regularly challenged to reflect on various topics through creative activities, and given opportunities to share what they've created.

We facilitate

Group Learning.

StreetSmart does not ascribe to the traditional hierarchy between the teacher and students. Instead, we see facilitators and workshop participants as co-collaborators, where everyone is simultaneuously teaching and learning from one another. Workshop participants regularly discuss, share, and debrief activities to cultivate this rich environment for collective learning.

We create space for youth to practice

Self-Advocacy.

Knowing how and when to respond to rights violations is important. On top of making sure workshop participants know what their rights are, we also want young people to confidently know how to address their legal challenges, as well as the most appropriate time to do so.

We challnge youth to

Re-imagine their Relationship With the Law.

Workshop participants are challenged to re-imagine what they want their relationship with the law to look like moving forward. In doing so, we are collectively creating a blueprint for the social change we wish to see, and drawing upon what we've learned throughout the workshop to find ways to create this reality.

We ensure youth know

Where to Get Help.

Workshop participants learn where in their community they can go for support when navigating their legal challenges.

Youth Workshops

If you work with young people living on the margins, we would love to connect with you to bring our creative workshops to your youth.

StreetSmart offers a variety of workshops that cover different areas of the law. While the topic of each workshop varies, they all follow our unique approach described above.

This workshop covers the basics of housing law, outlining both the tenant and the landlord's legal obligations. Specifically, this workshop focuses on the laws related to landlord discrimination, leases, rent deposits, rent increases, pets, landlord obligations related to repairs, evictions, as well as the laws surrounding squatting and sleeping in public spaces.

This workshop covers the current laws regarding drug use and drug possession. Specifically, this workshop focuses on what constitutes the offences of drug possession and drug trafficking, what kind of legal protection is available when getting help for someone who is experiencing an overdose, and the current legal framework for cannabis in Canada.

This workshop focuses on the laws that are important while interacting with the police. Specifically, this workshop covers the topics of police stops, questioning, detention, searches, arrests, the confiscation of property, the laws surrounding private security guards, and the most appropriate time to make a complaint about an abuse of police power.

This workshop covers the current laws and rules regarding students’ rights while attending school. Specifically, this workshop focuses on the laws and rules related to discipline, suspension, and expulsion, and the rights related to gender and identity, religion, and disabilities. This workshop was created with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) in mind, although it is adaptable to other school districts.

This workshop covers the current laws in Ontario regarding workers’ rights while employed in unionized and non-unionized workplaces. Specifically, this workshop focuses on the laws and rules surrounding overtime pay, employer and employee relations, the right to refuse unsafe work, and overt abuse in the workplace.

This workshop covers the current laws and rules in Ontario regarding racial harassment and discrimination. Specifically, this workshop focuses on the laws and rules surrounding what to do when racism occurs in a school, work, or housing environment, or in the administration of community services. This presentation also covers the topics of hate crimes and how to be an effective ally and legal witness to incidents of racial discrimination.

Inquire about our workshops

Our Vision

StreetSmart envisions a Canada where street-involved and marginalized youth have greater access to the law to solve their legal problems. We see a future where vulnerable youth regularly exercise their legal rights to break the cycles of exploitation and oppression that adversely impacts them, thereby improving their overall quality of life.

We strive to place law students, the future of the legal profession, into the community at the beginning of their legal careers as advocates for youth justice. In doing so, we hope to build the foundations for a national network of life-long, social justice-driven lawyers that work in collaboration with their vibrant communities. By bringing legal professionals and the community closer together, we see a future where the law evolves to better reflect the rich diversity of our country.

Our Mission

StreetSmart’s mission is to use the transformative power of creativity to make the law more accessible for street-involved and marginalized youth. We take a unique and accessible approach to teach young people to recognize their legal rights, confidently advocate for themselves, and know where to go for community support when navigating their legal challenges.

StreetSmart also aims to build and support a national network of law students who provide legal education to youth living on the margins in their community. In doing so, we have the pleasure of training and supporting creative educators, humble learners, and fierce advocates for access to justice and community development.

Our Goals

At StreetSmart, we have 5 goals that guide our work.

Address the feelings of alienation from the law experienced by many street-involved and marginalized youth

Provide street-involved and marginalized youth with competent legal knowledge

Teach street-involved and marginalized youth self-advocacy skills

Connect street-involved and marginalized youth with community resources

Build and support a national network of community-driven law students

Our Values

Youth

We value and respect the agency, power, brilliance, and change-making capacity of youth.

Anti-Oppression

We are committeed to challenging racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, classism, islamophobia, homo/bi/transphobia, and oppression in all of its forms.

Anti-Colonialism

We acknowledge our presence on Turtle Island, unceded Indigenous Nations. We commit to recognizing the past and current violent impacts of colonization on Indigenous Peoples, Culture, and Land.

Community

We value the importance of connecting youth with support services within their community, and taking a comunity-centered, collaborative approach in all that we do.

Perserverance

We have a big vision where youth living at the margins have greater access to justice. We vigorously pursue this vision in the face of obstacles.

Diversity

We draw strength and knowledge from our diverse community.

Humility

We are both humble educators, and dedicated learners within our diverse communities. We are leaders who prioritize listening, and we always strive to improve our work.

Creativity

We believe in the power of creativity to imagine, work towards, and acheive our goals.

Joy

We make space for joy, laughter, and celebration in our pursuit for social change.