In this issue, we share recent highlights of Vancouver becoming a Restorative City and offer resources, with a spotlight on restorative justice.

May this provide inspiration and remind us of the power that comes from walking in relationship and care for one another.

We are grateful for each and every one of you for connecting with us.

Enjoy the following:

Presenting our Restorative City Framework
Stewarding the Vision of Restorative Vancouver
Restorative Justice Works & is Needed!
What is Restorative Justice? Why do We Need it? - with survivor Marlee Liss

Implementation Streams:
Restorative Neighbourhoods - Hastings Sunrise
Policing - Restorative Complaint Resolution, Vancouver Police Department

Happy International Restorative Justice Week!
Restorative Resources
Upcoming RJ Conferences

Presenting our Restorative City Framework

We are celebrating another big milestone and historic moment, the presentation of our inaugural Restorative City Framework to Vancouver City Councillors and senior staff!

Thank you for welcoming us to City Hall and for allowing us to move furniture to welcome you into our Circle!

We facilitated an experience of our approach. How we do things matter; process is also product.

After an opening with gifts of medicine, we provided an overview of the Framework which was enthusiastically received and sparked a robust discussion. This Council briefing is an important contribution to our ongoing partnerships and expanding possibilities. Co-presented by Dr. Evelyn Zellerer and Norm Leech.

A Restorative City invites transformation through collaboratively implementing restorative approaches across multiple places and spaces: neighbourhoods, schools, parks, policing, governance and more.

We are inviting us to co-create a safe, just, peaceful, thriving future by intentionally bringing forth the best of humanity.

We are grateful to all the Councillors who joined us in person, from left to right in the photo: Mike Klassen, Pete Fry, Lucy Maloney, Sean Orr, Peter Meiszner, Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato, Lenny Zhou, and Sarah Kirby-Yung.

Special thanks to the staff who joined our circle: Donny van Dyk, City Manager, Sandra Singh, Deputy City Manager, Margaret Wittgens, General Manager, Arts, Culture and Community Services, and Michelle Bryant-Gravelle, Senior Director, Indigenous Relations.

We also had an amazing group of witnesses and supports, including Armin Amrolia, Deputy City Manager, Patrick O’Connor, Director Legislative Affairs, Marta Filipski, Assistant Director, Sonia Bianchi, Assistant Director, Aslam Bulbulia, workplace restoration team HR, Staff Sgt McRae, VPD, as well as Michael Wiebe and Clair MacGougan from our leadership team.

And of course, the whole amazing Restorative Collective Vancouver was with us in spirit!

“Being restorative is fundamentally about recognizing our interconnectedness, appreciating the gifts that come from our diversity, and fostering respectful, healthy, just relations.” - Dr. Evelyn Zellerer

Stay tuned as the journey continues, including a public launch!

Learn about Restorative City Vancouver

Stewarding the Vision of Restorative Vancouver

The path to a Restorative City is collaborative, complex, and transformative. We are incredibly grateful for our leadership team and to facilitate the Restorative Collective Vancouver - a diverse coalition of leaders from 40 organizations offering wisdom and guidance.

The Collective, which continues to evolve and grow, makes becoming a Restorative City possible and the participants are committed to becoming more restorative themselves.

Our latest Restorative Collective meeting focused on updates about our inaugural Restorative City Framework and next steps. We will be presenting the Framework to City Council, First Nations and leaders of the Province. A working group was formed to plan a public launch. Stay tuned!

Discussion also included about our first Restorative Neighbourhood project in Hastings Sunrise, with three lead organizations. We shared about training with the Vancouver Police Department on the Restorative Complaint Resolution program. See below for details.

There’s lots of possibilities moving forward and more seeds are being planted!

Thanking Hon. Terry Yung for his video as he was unable to join us in person since he was in the legislature. We greatly appreciated his acknowledgement of “the monumental achievement and success that the Restorative Collective has had in bringing Vancouver forward as a restorative city.”

Yes “change is possible when we work together.”

And we agree that with our “passion and determination the work of justice, equality, and reconciliation will be realized.”

Some reflections from participants of the Collective included:

“This gives hope, which we really need right now.”

“We have found a way to get along.”

“You have done incredible work that is sustainable.”

Follow along on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as we share stories, updates, and opportunities.

Restorative Justice Works & is Needed!

The idea of a “Restorative City” emerged from the global field of restorative justice.

Crime hurts, so justice should heal. When harm is caused, there is an obligation to repair the harm or make things right, and to address root causes.

Restorative practices are successfully used with youth and adults, and for all kinds of situations, from shoplifting to hate crimes to murder.

A restorative process is relational, participatory, and responsive. In brief, those impacted – victims/survivors, accused/offenders, families and community – are invited to participate in determining what happened, meaningful accountability, reparation, root causes, and a path forward.

Restorative practices are being implemented in many places - schools, communities, workplaces and legal systems.

Restorative approaches are effective and provide an essential service. It’s time to get serious and smart.

This is a vital component to achieve community and public safety.

Impressive evaluation data from Restorative Justice Victoria is derived from 1,300 cases. They accept a range of incidents, including serious crimes. Of all cases accepted into their restorative program, 95% successfully completed - offenders engaged in a process and fulfilled all terms of their agreements. Over a four-year period, 96% of victims and 99% of offenders expressed satisfaction with the process. 100% of victims would recommend restorative justice.

Clearly, we need RJ.

There’s a huge gap in services though as Vancouver does not have a community-based RJ program. This is what sparked our current journey where Peace of the Circle received a provincial grant in 2020 to build partnerships, and here we are!

Implementing a RJ program remains integral to becoming a Restorative City to ensure accessibility of essential services for everyone. The benefits and savings are huge.

Want to learn more?

Learn about Restorative Justice

What is Restorative Justice? Why do We Need it?
- with survivor Marlee Liss

We stand with victims/survivors for their right to restorative justice.

Listen to this powerful, nationally televised interview from a survivor’s perspective with Marlee Liss.

“I was going through the criminal legal system for three years as a survivor of sexual assault and just found so much revictimization there and started looking for another option and that’s when I learned about restorative justice. Which is not new. It’s been around a long time. Indigenous communities especially have paved the way for it.

It really prioritizes repair over punishment.

So, in a criminal legal case where it’s the accused versus the crown, this is the person who experienced harm at the very center and we’re here to focus on healing and helping them move forward while really prioritizing accountability.

…It can look many different ways… a really common one is a circle process, which is what I experienced. So, yes, you sit in a room with the person who caused harm and there are facilitators there who are focused on addressing that harm and getting really clear on what the survivor needs in order to feel a sense of closure and healing. And there’s a lot of prep work as well.

… when we shifted into restorative justice, it became so humane, so consensual, so trauma informed, and it felt like every step of the process was actually about my reclamation and healing.”

The full CBC News interview (5 minutes) with Marlee Liss is available by clicking above and on their YouTube channel.

Check out and support a growing global coalition: Survivors for Justice Reform

Implementation Stream: Restorative Neighbourhood -

Hastings Sunrise

Within the broader goal of becoming a Restorative City, the Restorative Collective Vancouver also came to a consensus to create restorative neighbourhoods.

In building restorative neighbourhoods, the focus is on contributing to the culture of the place, strengthening relationships, effective communication, collaborative decision-making, preventing crime, and resolving issues, conflicts, and harm.

Inspiration is drawn from the RJ4All International Institute to create the world’s 1st “restorative justice postcode” in London, England. They obtained a building as their hub for multiple services.

An exciting project just launched in Nova Scotia, CIRCLES-NS (Creating Integrated Restorative Communities for Locally Engaged Solutions), with a $1 million investment to the Restorative Lab at Dalhousie University. With its seed funding, their first lab will focus on community safety.

For our first neighbourhood, Hastings Sunrise, the leadership team continues to regularly meet. The first cohort of Hastings Sunrise peacemakers continue to facilitate dialogue circles. Thus far, 21 dialogue circles have been held on a variety of topics.

Everyone is invited:

“Gathering Our Journeys Across Borders:
A Community Circle of Immigrant Stories”

4:00 - 5:30 pm, November 27, 2025
Vancouver Public Library Hastings branch
2674 E. Hastings St

Refreshments will be served

Free, please register via email ninak@hscpc.com

Our current focus is developing a new restorative justice program for this neighbourhood, “Bridging Divides”, the first of its kind in Vancouver.

Peacemaker’s training and mentoring are ongoing. We just completed a training on agreements and outcomes to help further prepare peacemakers for more complex circles. Co-facilitated by Gillian Lindquist and Dr. Evelyn Zellerer.

If you live in this neighbourhood and would like to experience a facilitated dialogue or to resolve a conflict, harm or crime, let us know.

Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre, and Peace of the Circle are partnering for this initiative. We are grateful for the City of Vancouver and the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General for funding.

Implementation Stream: Policing -

Restorative Complaint Resolution
Vancouver Police Department

A Restorative City views policing from a wide, holistic lens and includes innovative forms of policing in our communities.

Restorative approaches offer a powerful way forward and is recommended in various reports. The report of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act, “Transforming Policing and Community Safety in British Columbia” (2022), recommended:

“Expanding the use of culturally appropriate restorative justice programs throughout BC, including increased funding for these programs and education for police officers.”

We are celebrating the third year of our Restorative Complaint Resolution training for the Vancouver Police Department!

The Restorative Complaint Resolution (RCR) utilizes a peace circle process. The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner determines which complaints files are suitable for consideration. The restorative circle process is voluntary and led by independent non-police facilitators.

To date, four Police Act cases have been successfully resolved through RCR.

We applaud the participants from Professional Standards as well as HR and Diversity, Community, and Indigenous Relations who completed the latest training facilitated by Dr. Evelyn Zellerer and Norm Leech.

“The VPD recognizes that restorative justice offers a compassionate and transformative approach to addressing harm within communities, fostering accountability, and healing through dialogue and reconciliation. The VPD supports Vancouver becoming a Restorative City and looks forward to continuing to further develop restorative justice practices throughout the city.”

– Adam Palmer, former Chief Constable, VPD

Learn about Peace of the Circle Training

Happy International Restorative Justice Week!

November 16-23, 2025

Restorative Justice Week 2025 Web Banner

Restorative Justice Week is celebrated the third week of November since 1996 in Canada and is expanding globally ever since!

International #RJWeek 2025 is a wonderful opportunity to connect, learn, raise awareness, and explore diverse applications and innovation of restorative approaches.

Check out what’s happening locally to you and around the world. For example:

The European Forum for Restorative Justice offers a map, calendar and resources.

RJ4All offers something daily.

Our colleagues in Brazil offer a campaign and opportunities on the Círculos em Movimento platform.

Restorative Resources

Healing the traumas of colonization has revealed the underlying differences between colonized and uncolonized, Indigenous worldviews and why they may be irreconcilable.

Elder Norm Leech powerfully shares about worldviews and paths to decolonizing and reconciliation that are truly healing.

Restorative Justice Victoria offers a free online training:
”Collaboration and Capacity Building in Victim Services and Restorative Justice.”

It offers critical thinking and skill-building around victim-sensitive practice and RJ application.

Access it here

Access the Why me? library where you can find reports, guides and resources, which showcase the impacts of Restorative Justice, best practices and how access to restorative justice can be widened.

RJ4All offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration on restorative justice - from interviews with leading experts to webinars and courses and an e-library.