What does Legal Aid Ontario do?
Legal Aid will offer different services depending on the legal issue(s) being experienced and the individual applicant’s financial eligibility for services. These services can be divided into four broad categories:
- Legal Aid Certificates
- Duty Counsel (including Senior Counsel services and other staff offices)
- Community Legal Clinics and Student Legal Aid Clinics
- Specialty Legal Clinics
Legal Aid also has three Refugee Law Offices, which are located in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Toronto.
Legal Aid Certificates: Certificates can be provided to people who are dealing with family law, criminal law, immigration law, and refugee law issues. They are also provided to people who are facing Consent and Capacity Board hearings and Ontario Review Board hearings. These certificates can be used to hire a lawyer of your choice who is ‘registered’ with Legal Aid Ontario. Using the certificate, the costs of that lawyer will be covered by Legal Aid Ontario for a certain number of hours. These certificates are given to people in Ontario who meet the financial and legal requirements for them. For more information, see: “How can your client find a lawyer that accepts legal aid certificates?”
Duty Counsel and other LAO staff services: Legal Aid Ontario has lawyers, called duty counsel, who are available at courthouses to provide legal services to unrepresented individuals at their court appearances. Duty counsel provide legal advice about rights and obligations, as well as courtroom processes. They will also help clients prepare and review court documents, and, for criminal matters, represent them at bail hearings, sentencing, diversion, pleas, and adjournments. Duty counsel services can be accessed by those who meet the financial requirements for them. Some communities also have an expanded duty counsel program, where a duty counsel can assist clients with more steps and on a longer-term basis than traditional duty counsel. There are also other staff offices across the province, including Senior Counsel services for criminal matters, Refugee Law Offices, and Family Law Service Centres, where clients can receive full legal representation for their issues.
Community Legal Clinics and Student Legal Aid Clinics: These clinics are dispersed across Ontario and serve people who live within the clinic’s geographic boundary. They offer legal representation at court and tribunal appearances, as well as legal advice, legal education, and referrals to third-party services. Different clinics will offer different services, depending on the needs of the community, but most clinics focus on these areas of law:
- Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program
- Landlord & tenant issues
- Social housing issues
- Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement
- Wrongful dismissal and other employment issues
Specialty Legal Clinics: Unlike community legal clinics, specialty legal clinics can serve clients across Ontario. These clinics focus on specific areas of law, issues or populations. Some examples include:
- Aboriginal Legal Services
- Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
- ARCH Disability Law Centre
- Black Legal Action Centre
- Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
- Centre for Spanish-Speaking People
- Centre Francophone de Toronto
- South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
- HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario
- Workers’ Health & Safety Legal Clinic
- Justice for Children & Youth
- Advocacy Centre for the Elderly
