Canadian prisons house approximately 35,000 inmates for offences ranging anywhere from theft to murder. Most of these inmates are guilty for their crimes, but there are also a number of prisoners who are innocent.

The UBC Innocence Project provides accessible and independent assistance with the post-conviction review process to individuals who have been convicted of a serious crime but maintain their factual innocence.

It is the only innocence project in Western Canada and the third in all of Canada. The project was established in 2007 as a three-year pilot. A group of dedicated and distinguished members of the criminal bar donate their time and expertise to this project. The goal of the Innocence Project’s work on a file is the preparation of an application for ministerial review. The Minister of Justice can refer a case to the Court of Appeal, order a new trial or dismiss the application. The project hopes to submit its first case to the Minister of Justice later this year, bringing yet another Canadian claim of wrongful conviction closer to resolution.

CPA International Investigations has been working diligently with the UBC Innocence Project since June 2010 to help review police records, locate and speak with eyewitnesses and investigate questionable areas of the cases.  CPA has spent countless hours providing research for this project to help investigate injustices and continues to support this worthwhile cause and hopefully aide in bringing some wrongful convictions forward.