Restorative Engagement Program

On this page

• About the Restorative Engagement Program
• Class members
• Defence representatives
• Restorative practitioners
• Support services and resources
• Information sessions
• Send us your feedback
• Contact Us

About the Restorative Engagement Program

The Restorative Engagement (RE) Program was mandated through the Canadian Armed Forces-Department of National Defence Sexual Misconduct Class Action Final Settlement.

Mandate

Provide supportive and facilitated restorative opportunities for Canadian Armed Forces and National Defence Sexual Misconduct Class Action Members to be heard and acknowledged, and for Defence Representatives to learn, understand, plan, act and lead as catalysts for change supporting the Institution to end sexual misconduct.

Program development and implementation

A dedicated RE Program team within the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre (SMSRC) designed and developed the program in collaboration with:

• subject matter experts in restorative approaches, trauma, sexual misconduct, military norms, culture and conflict resolution;
• stakeholders including individuals who experienced sexual misconduct in the Defence workplace.

We began by consulting with the community we serve, on what they needed in a restorative engagement program. We officially launched the RE Program in its initial operating capability (IOC) on November 15, 2021. The program contacted a small group of class members to participate. In January 2022, the first groups of Defence representatives began working in cohorts with restorative practitioners to develop the knowledge and skills needed to engage with class members and translate what they learned into meaningful action for culture change. The program has continued to bring together Defence representatives to meet the CMs needs for engagements and to learn from them, and the activities are expected to continue into 2026.

Program team

The RE Program team is composed of the following:

• Director of RE: reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer of the SMSRC
  
  • Deputy Director: responsible for integrated human resources, business and financial planning, research, program support, evaluation, and strategic support to the RE Director.
  • Managers of Operations (three): responsible for implementing the program by region (East, Central, West/North)
    • Restorative practitioners: responsible for facilitating participation of Defence representatives and class members in the program. Learn more about their role.

Each region has a positional mailbox:

• East (NL, NB, NS, PEI, QC, French and International):  REeast-DRest@forces.gc.ca
• Central (ON and NCR):  REcentral-DRcentrale@forces.gc.ca
• West/North (BC, YK, MB, SK, AB, NT, NU):  REwest-DRouest@forces.gc.ca

A restorative approach to justice

The RE Program applies a restorative approach to help CAF/DND contribute to culture change.

Principles of a restorative approach

Focused on relations

Puts people and their relationships to one another, between groups and with institutions, at the centre. A restorative approach places the emphasis on addressing harm and establishing or re-establishing justice and trust in relationships. This is done by mutual dignity, respect, care and concern.

Comprehensive and holistic

Works in integrated ways and looks for the connections between issues, causes, circumstances, and culture.

Inclusive and participatory

Including and empowering those with lived experience, being open and transparent with them about options and limitations, honouring choices for how they would like to participate, and removing barriers to access.

Responsive

Being flexible and adaptable in all of our work so as to be responsive to participants’ needs, objectives, and circumstances and the context within which the program exists.

Focused on individual and collective responsibility

Pays attention to the ways in which the system affects individuals and the ways in which individuals affect the system. Defence representatives take responsibility for change in their daily roles and work with each other and the institution to address structural factors that contribute to harm.

Collaborative and non-adversarial

Looks at bringing people into the process and working towards a common goal rather than working against one another.

Confidentiality

The RE Program is confidential.  Participation in, and information shared within the program, are confidential within legal limitations. If you choose to share your experience(s), you may do so anonymously. All personal information is handled in accordance with the Privacy Act.

The RE Program is outside the CAF chain of command and the investigation process. Participation in the program is not part of any administrative, disciplinary or criminal process.

Class members

What to expect

There are different ways in which class members may share their experiences and insights related to sexual misconduct.

As part of RE, class members may choose to share with a Defence representative:

• as much or as little as they would like about their experience(s) of sexual misconduct, such as:
  • the harm
  • how it was, or was not, responded to
  • the impact it had on their life
• their thoughts and knowledge about the causes of sexual misconduct and what needs to change to better respond and prevent it.

Class members may choose to share either:

• Individually:
  • with a Defence representative (in-person, virtually, by phone) and may include support person(s)
  • by sharing indirectly with a Defence representative with, or without, requiring a response
• In a group setting with:
  • class members and Defence representatives (virtually)
  • other class members (virtually) and by sharing indirectly with Defence representatives with, or without, requiring a response

Restorative practitioners facilitate communications with class members and help them prepare through individual sessions before engagements with Defence representatives. Class members are in control of the information they provide and what they choose to share. Engagement sessions are also facilitated by restorative practitioners.

Phases of the Restorative Engagement process

Phase 1

Class members meet with restorative practitioners and learn more about the:

• program
• purpose
• approach
• limits
• options for participation

Restorative practitioners will also facilitate class members to:

• determine if the program can meet their objectives
• make an informed decision about whether or not they want to participate
• explore what supports they might need during engagements and
• ensure they are connected with resources for support, if needed

Class members can but will not be asked t o share their sexual misconduct experience.

Phase 2

In this phase, restorative practitioners will guide class members to:

• identify their objectives for the engagement process
• decide what experiences, knowledge and/or insights they want to share and how
• decide on what engagement option they would like to select and
• prepare themselves to engage with Defence representative(s).

Phase 3

In this phase, class members will be invited to:

• reflect on and discuss their experience in the program
• share their feedback and
• reflect on next steps, and discuss their expectations regarding maintaining a connection with the program such as:
  • Receiving ongoing updates from the program, which could include opportunities for future involvement in culture change efforts in DND/CAF
  • Participating in the evaluation of the program
  • Participating in research related to the program
  • Sharing about their experience participating in RE, as part of program communications efforts

During Phase 3, class members will have an opportunity to identify if they are interested to participate in a Circle process with executives from DND/CAF . There will only be a few of these circle processes throughout the lifespan of the program. If a class member is interested, they can let their restorative practitioner know and they may be contacted if the opportunity becomes available.

Class member updates

Read the latest updates sent to class members who have expressed an interest to participate in the Restorative Engagement Program.

• Fall 2024
• Summer 2024
• Spring 2024
• Fall 2023
• Summer 2023
• March 2023
• June 2022
• March 2022

Defence representatives

Defence representatives are CAF members and DND public service employees. Their work in the program is to first acknowledge and learn from the experiences and insights of those who have been harmed by sexual misconduct. Then, they plan and prepare to take meaningful action to contribute to culture change.

Defence representatives commit to:

• listening with an open mind and considering multiple and conflicting perspectives
• participating actively in reflective learning activities
• learning to engage restoratively and without causing harm
• carrying what they learn forward into their career within the institution
• contributing to preventing sexual misconduct in the Defence Team and culture change beyond their time in this program

Defence representatives participate in groups of 6 to 8 CAF members and DND public service employees of diverse professions, backgrounds, and identify factors. There are new flexible ways they can participate in the program. We call these groups cohorts.

All following options were designed with awareness of the range of influence those ranks/levels have in contribution to culture change.

Option 1 and 2

• For Defence Team members of  any rank/level
• Designed for Defence representatives to learn skills to contribute to culture change in their own contexts across the whole institution
• Individual and group engagements

Option 3:

• For senior leaders
• Designed for Defence representatives to learn skills to support culture change efforts by those they directly supervise
• Individual and possible group engagements

Option 4:

• For executives
• Designed for Defence representatives to learn skills to support culture change efforts of those they supervise and at the institutional level
• Limited number of group engagements

DR alumni community

• For alumni DRs
• Designed as an opportunity for alumni DRs to participate in engagements after their completion of one of the options
• Individual and group engagement

Cohort work is facilitated by restorative practitioners. Defence representatives are essential agents of culture change that class members expect will occur through RE. To this end, Defence representative participation in the program has been carefully designed, using a restorative approach, to maximize Defence representative learning, planning and action, in real time.

Defence representatives may engage with class members. Engagement sessions are one of several ways of learning in this program about sexual misconduct; they will have many opportunities to learn from class members’ experiences throughout the program (readings, videos, CM submissions, etc.).

The Defence leadership’s role

Members of the CAF chain of command and DND executives and management support implementation of the program by:

• promoting the recruitment of Defence representatives
• encouraging potential Defence representatives to take part by nominating them and by self-nominating to join a cohort
• providing Defence representatives with a confidential workplace and equipment
• ensuring that Defence representatives are not tasked with other duties during their participation in the full time portions of the program
• engaging with Defence representatives about what they’ve learned through the program, how they plan to take that forward in their career and into their workplace, and what they need from leadership to support their efforts in culture change
• supporting Defence representatives in carrying forward their action plan

Restorative practitioners

Restorative practitioners are DND public service employees. They are independent from the CAF chain of command.

It is important to note that the role of restorative practitioners is to facilitate restorative processes/principles, assisting CMs and DRs in participating in the program and offering referrals  to support services and resources, as needed.

Working with Defence representatives

Restorative practitioners are assigned to facilitate each cohort of Defence representatives. They facilitate reflection, dialogue, learning, understanding, skills building, preparation, and planning for action. These cohort activities enable Defence representatives to identify lessons learned about sexual misconduct, develop restorative leadership skills, and build capacity for change.

Working with class members

Restorative practitioners work with class members to facilitate their participation in the program, including introducing the program (purpose, approach, and options); coordinating, preparing, and facilitating class member engagements with Defence representatives; bringing closure to their participation and referring to other programs and services as needed.

Support services and resources

Participating in the program can be very rewarding, and it can bring up difficult emotions. The restorative practitioner(s) assigned to you will facilitate you through the process and can connect you to other support services and resources, depending on your needs.

At any time, you can contact the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre’s 24/7 confidential support line (1-844-750-1648) to reach a counsellor who has been briefed on the RE program. They can provide support and connect class members, Defence Team members and restorative practitioners to support services.

Support can also come from a designated person that can be present during all stages of participation. Defence representatives can also reach out to other members of their cohort or to their management for support.

Information sessions

Attend an information session to learn more about what to expect as a class member or as a future Defence representative.

Send us feedback

As a participant in the RE Program, you may raise your concerns, complaints, feedback or what you valued most regarding your participation, such as:

• program services, including those provided by a specific staff member (for example, a restorative practitioner or a regional program coordinator);
• program mandate and operations;
• program information and communications activities;
• reporting and information management.

When we receive complaints, we will attempt to resolve them at the lowest level possible, to support timeliness in resolution. If your concerns have not been resolved to your satisfaction, you have a right of review which means that your complaint can be escalated to the next level of authority for a review of the circumstances and a resolution.

A written submission is preferred, and can be submitted to:

• The relevant regional positional mailbox
• The national RE positional mailbox: RE-DR@forces.gc.ca
• Via regular mail with the complainant’s contact information at:
  • ATTN: Restorative Engagement Program
  • Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre
  • 101 Colonel By Drive
  • Ottawa, ON K1A 0K2

We will acknowledge receipt of a complaint sent electronically within two business days. If your complaint is sent by mail, it may take longer than two business days depending on when we receive it. We will ensure that the complaint is sent to the appropriate person. Your complaint will be responded to within 30 business days.

Our response will include the name, role and contact information of who the complaint can be further elevated to if the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction.

Contact us

Call us or send us an email if you still have questions about the Restorative Engagement Program:

Toll-free: 1-833-998-2048

Email: RE-DR@forces.gc.ca

Note: All calls to the Restorative Engagement Program toll-free number are automatically transferred to the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre’s 24/7 line, where a counsellor can speak with you about Restorative Engagement and other support services and resources available.