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University of Victoria

BC Office of the Human Rights Commissioner partnership

January 16, 2026

Through a new partnership with the BC Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC), three UVic research teams successfully competed for funding to carry out projects defined by the BCOHRC.

The program supports both the research impact of the principal investigators and career development for students and postdoctoral fellows.

Social Safety Net/Poverty – Service Bans $8,745

Access to Justice Centre for Excellence (ACE) lead researchers Kaitlyn Blaser (PhD Candidate, Law) and Michelle Lawrence (Professor, Law) with advisers Gerry Ferguson (Professor Emeritus, Law); Tamil Kendall (Director, Partnership for Women’s Health Research Canada); Robert Lapper (Law and Public Admin); and Andrew Pilliar (Associate Professor, Thompson Rivers University Law).

Health Care Supports: Barriers and Opportunities to Accessing Mental Health and Substance Use Supports in Rural and Remote British Columbia $10,000

Lead researchers Jodie Gawryluk (Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology and School of Medical Sciences, Interim Director at the Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health (IALH)); Timothy Naimi (Professor, Public Health and Social Policy and School of Medical Sciences, Director at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR)) with Andrea Mellor (CISUR Scientist); Zahra Premji (UVic Libraries); Cecilia Benoit (Professor Emeritus, Sociology, and CISUR scientist); and Dylan Cutler (Adjunct Assistant Professor in Psychology, IALH Research Manager). The team will also hire two doctoral students–one from IALH and one from CISUR.

Recommended Terms - An Anti-Racist Implementation Science Approach to Recommending Rights Language for Excluded Groups $10,000.00

 Farah Mawani (Assistant Professor, School of Public Health and Social Policy) and Zahra Premji (UVic Libraries) will hire graduate research assistants to help with this project.