Deadline: August 29, 2025

Reminder: Although proposals are accepted on a rolling basis, they will only be reviewed on a quarterly basis. The next deadline for review is August 29, 2025.

Announcement:
2025 signals the start of the second quarter of the 21st century. Meaningful participation in law and the collective pursuit of justice are crucial elements in ensuring a strong and promising future for Canada. In recognition of this, the Law Commission of Canada initiated the Beyond Tomorrow Reports, dedicated to exploring directions in law for Canada’s coming generations. The Law Commission, an independent and non-partisan agency, is committed to engaging the people of Canada in the ongoing and dynamic evolution of law. Since its restart in 2023, the Commission has held “Listen and Learn” sessions throughout the country. The resulting “What We Heard” documents provide an overview of the preoccupations and projects of individuals and institutions as they imagine and construct responses to future challenges. We have learned from participants the importance of embracing complicated conversations, addressing breakdown of trust, contributing to common endeavours, and fostering constructive change. The Beyond Tomorrow Reports initiative extends our “listen and learn” approach by issuing an open invitation to scholars and experts across Canada to submit proposals within the Commission’s framework for engaging with law and shaping law reform. Commissioned and published on a periodic basis, Beyond Tomorrow Reports will identify and address challenges and issues in law for Canada’s next generation and beyond. Authors will contribute to imagining, facilitating, and guiding the implementation of reform with lasting impact. Each report will draw on critical informed research to articulate constructive pathways and possibilities for law in the future. Collaborative engagement with community-based actors will be incorporated into the production of the reports. This signature combination of research, outreach and transformation underscores the Law Commission’s accountability to the people of Canada. We look forward to supporting and sharing these reports on law for Canada’s next generations.

Call for Proposals:
The Law Commission of Canada seeks proposals to contribute to the Beyond Tomorrow Reports. Potential authors should be established scholars at Canadian universities either at a Faculty of Law or in a related academic Department and Faculty. Each Beyond Tomorrow Report will consist of substantial research-based text (15,000–17,000 words) complemented by public engagement in the form of a partnership or outreach activity including at least one community-based actor. $20,000 per report will support the work. The next deadline to receive proposals is August 29, 2025. Proposals may be submitted on an ongoing basis, with a rolling review (see process details below). We expect to commission and publish at least one Beyond Tomorrow Report in the calendar year 2025.

Parameters:
Evaluation of proposals and the commissioning of Beyond Tomorrow Reports will be guided by the Law Commission’s framework, notably:

• the Law Commission’s three-part raison d’être – living law, pursuing justice, renewing hope;
• the four-point compass of the Law Commission’s work – “Dream, Repair, Build, Share”; and
• the Law Commission’s “Intersections” framework for law and law reform, shaped by coexisting and interacting substantive domains, structures, systems and jurisdictions.

To be considered, a proposal to contribute a Beyond Tomorrow Report should demonstrate:

• Ambition and capacity to explore underexamined issues and sites in law.
• Embrace of complexity of the issues at stake and an ability to explain and work with that complexity (including dimensions along a spectrum from global to local).
• Research methodology that integrates multiple disciplines, sectors and/or legal traditions.
• Commitment to articulating reform pathways in the ongoing evolution of law.
• A plan for public engagement in the form of a partnership or outreach activity including at least one community-based actor

For further context and guidance, potential contributors are directed to Part II (Rebuild, Resituate, Reimagine) of the Law Commission Reflection Paper: Recall to Reimagine: (Re)Creating the Law Commission of Canada – Se souvenir pour réinventer : la (ré)création de la Commission du droit du Canada (Ottawa: Law Commission of Canada, 2024).

Report Format:
Beyond Tomorrow Reports will consist of:

• a research-based text of 15,000–17,000 words in length (excluding notes)
• a related outreach module (e.g., workshop, public presentation, community engagement) that includes at least one community-based actor or partner
• a brief written description (approximately 1,000 further words) of the complementary public engagement component
  Authors of commissioned reports will usually be established scholars with appointments at Canadian universities. $20,000 to support research and writing for each Report will be paid to the author(s). The payment will be incrementally disbursed as follows:
• $7,500 upon initial submission of a complete draft of the text component of the report
• $2,500 submission of the written description of the public engagement component following realization of the related outreach module
• $10,000 upon final submission of the completed report

Selection Process:
Proposals consisting of the following elements should be submitted for consideration by the Law Commission of Canada at projects-projets@lcc-cdc.gc.ca:

• A tentative title and 300-word abstract for the proposed Beyond Tomorrow Report;
• A 1,000-word outline and summary of the proposed report;
• A 250-word description of the complementary community outreach module;
• A preliminary bibliography of between 5 and 10 pertinent sources;
• A current CV for the author (or for each co-author);
• A list of up to 5 of the author’s (or of each co-author’s) publications relevant to this work.

Proposals will be evaluated by a project-specific advisory panel of the Law Commission of Canada. Review will take place on a rolling basis, with the aim of undertaking a process once every three months and of commissioning Beyond Tomorrow Reports at least twice a year. Proposals received by August 29, 2025 will be reviewed by the end of September 2025. Proposals submitted after that date will be considered in the following round of review and commissioning (tentatively November 2025). Deadlines will be publicized on a regular basis. If selected and invited to contribute, an author will submit a complete draft of the report within six months of notification. The Law Commission of Canada will aim to review and respond to the papers promptly. Questions and comments provided to authors should be considered and incorporated within one month of receipt, following which reports will be sent for translation. Authors will have approximately one week to review translations and any copyediting corrections or suggestions, resulting in final submission of the completed report. All published Beyond Tomorrow Reports will be publications of the Law Commission of Canada in which the Law Commission of Canada will hold copyright. Questions may be addressed to: projects-projets@lcc-cdc.gc.ca.

Posted: June 16, 2025