Canada began to show an interest in diversion programs in the early 1970's, and many different kinds of diversion projects covering a wide range of functions from prevention to correction developed. Because projects developed without sufficient guidance, official committees were formed to guide the evolution of a Canadian concept of diversion. A 1979 Federal Discussion Paper restricts the use of diversion to postcharge/pretrial alternatives to court programs for prosecutable offenses. Programs that are nonadversarial and resolve conflicts through mediation are advocated. In Federal policy proposals, the following conditions are associated with the use of mediation: (1) participation in the diversion program is voluntary; (2) the selection criteria do not exclude cases where there was no prior relationship between the offender and victim; (3) the selection criteria do not exclude victimless crimes, cases of refusal by a victim to participate in a diversion program, nor cases where the victim refuses to meet the offender; (4) failure to reach a negotiated agreement constitutes an exclusion criterion; and (5) failure to comply with the terms of an agreement under the policy proposals constitutes 'willful failure.' Currently Canada has 10 diversion programs. Four programs use only mediation to resolve conflicts; three use mediation and negotiation; two use primarily negotiation; and one combines conciliation with negotiation. Each of the 10 projects is described, with attention to those aspects of the projects bearing on the dispute settlement process. Thirteen footnotes and seven references are provided.