What about referrals to community legal clinics?
Legal Aid Ontario provides legal services and resources to low-income individuals through different programs, including community legal aid clinics. Their clinics are staffed by lawyers, community legal workers, paralegals and administrative staff.
These community legal clinics typically focus on:
- Issues related to Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program
- Disputes between landlords and tenants
- Social housing issues
- Issues related to the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and Guaranteed Income Supplement
- Wrongful dismissal and other employment issues
Some community legal clinics will focus on a broader range of issues, including immigration and family law, but not all community legal clinics provide these services. When making a referral, always make sure that the legal service provider can help with the specific type of legal problem(s).
To qualify for legal services from a community legal aid clinic, your client must:
- Live in the clinic’s geographic/community catchment area; and
- Meet Legal Aid Ontario’s financial eligibility threshold.
For more information on Legal Aid Ontario’s eligibility requirements, see: “Does your client meet LAO’s financial eligibility?” If your client’s income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford legal fees, they might still be able to get help with their civil legal issues. For more information, see: “What if a client doesn’t qualify for legal aid?”
There are also other community legal clinics which have a more specialized focus and serve clients throughout the province. For example:
- Aboriginal Legal Services: This Centre operates a legal clinic for low-income Indigenous peoples in a variety of areas, including housing, OW/ODSP, disability, police complaints, human rights, etc.
- Black Legal Action Centre: This Centre delivers legal services to low-income Black Ontarians in a variety of areas, including education, human rights, housing, OW/ODSP, police complaints, etc.
- Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario: This Centre delivers legal services to low-income tenants. They also manage the Tenant Duty Counsel Program.
- Justice for Children and Youth: This Centre provides legal advice, information and assistance to young people, parents and others. They offer legal representation to youth under 18 and homeless youth under 25.
More examples of specialty clinics and more information about them can be found here.
