About Legal Aid Ontario

Fact Sheets

About Legal Aid Ontario

Community legal clinics

Sustaining communities


Community legal clinics are non-profit legal centres. They are each governed by an independent board of directors who are representative of the community they serve. Clinics employ lawyers, legal workers, paralegals and administrative staff to provide information, legal advice and representation.

Legal Aid Ontario funds 77 community legal clinics throughout the province, with 17 providing specialty legal services. Most community legal clinics are located in specific areas, and many communities in Ontario are served by a clinic.

Clinics do not usually charge legal fees, but they may ask clients who have the money to pay some or all of the expenses of a case, such as court filing fees and medical expenses.


Clinic services


Clinics address the unique needs of low-income people by providing legal assistance in areas such as housing law, social assistance and other income support programs. These legal issues often represent people's most basic needs.

Clinics also provide community development, referrals, and public legal education to agencies and lowincome communities, as well as engaging in activities to reform the law. They are often at the forefront of systemic change that benefits low-income Ontarians.

Although no two clinics are exactly alike, the types of issues they may provide help with include:

  • Tenant rights
  • Ontario Works
  • Ontario Disability Support Program
  • Employment Insurance
  • Workplace Safety and Insurance
  • Workers' Compensation
  • Government pensions
  • Immigration
  • Employment rights
  • Criminal injuries compensation
  • Human rights

Specialty Clinics


The 17 specialty legal clinics focus on marginalized groups of disadvantaged clients or particular areas of law that affect large numbers of low-income people. They represent the elderly, the disabled, urban Aboriginals, and persons with HIV/AIDS.


Clinic services over the past five years


 

2005 - 06

2006 - 07

2007 - 08

2008 - 09

2009 - 10

Direct client Services

  

Cases

15,966

17,628

17,424

18,000

19,556

Brief service

29,170

28,795

29,249

30,421

36,898

Advice

100,951

101,515

99,315

104,393

74,687*

TOTAL

146,087

147,938

145,988

152,814

131,141

* April 2010 to December 2010 only


Questions?

For more information on this topic contact media@lao.on.ca