The Young Offenders Act (YOA), which was established in 1984, marked a significant departure form the informal, welfare-oriented approach of the earlier Juvenile Delinquents Act. The YOA placed greater emphasis on accountability of youth and their legal rights. Politicians criticized the YOA for being 'soft' on youth crime. In response to these concerns, the then Liberal government enacted the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), which came into force in 2003. The YCJA addressed continuing public anxiety about a relatively small number of highly publicized cases involving the most violent youth offenders, as well as responding to the growing concerns of juvenile justice professionals, and others about the large numbers of less serious adolescent offenders being processed through the courts and committed to custody. The YCJA has resulted in significant decreases in the use of youth courts and youth custody in Canada. The YCJA has been applied in a way that has resulted in more use of diversion and community-based alternatives to custody. This chapter provides an overview of the YCJA which has resulted in a very significant reduction in the use of courts and custody for adolescent offenders in Canada. Figures, notes, and references