Dr Kanika Samuels-Wortley is an Assistant Professor at the Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research explores the intersection of race, racism and the criminal justice system. Her scholarship employs a mixed-methods critical race approach to better understand how racial bias and discrimination impact Black and Indigenous peoples’ experience and perceptions of law enforcement in Canada.

Her work aims to acknowledge and identify how Canada’s colonial structures and history of enslavement continue to negatively affect Indigenous and Black communities through contemporary criminal justice practices. In various published works, as well as several provincial government reports, she argues for increased access to comprehensive race-based data and for the inclusion of racialized voices when considering policy initiatives. She has presented her research on systemic racism in policing in both provincial and federal inquiries, including the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. Her research has also been featured in numerous national news reports.

Dr Samuels-Wortley’s current research agenda explores the use of predictive policing technologies within Canadian law enforcement agencies and the role they may play in exacerbating racial inequities.