Guaranteed Daily Rates to increase five per cent April 1
Published: March 27, 2025
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is continuing to raise the amount paid to lawyers who provide legal aid services in remote northern areas.
Effective April 1, 2025, the Guaranteed Daily Rate will increase by five per cent for:
- Services provided in fly-in locations
- Services delivered in locations at least 200 km from a lawyer’s regular place of business, and not an area office
- Travel required prior to Guaranteed Daily Rate service dates
- Cancellation of flights or fly-in courts
Lawyers working with LAO will enter the increased rate for all services provided on or after April 1. To view the updated rates, visit the Guaranteed Daily Rate billing instruction page or the Tariff and Billing page and scroll down. We encourage you to bookmark these pages for easy reference.
This is the final in a series of five per cent increases LAO has implemented over three years. LAO implemented the previous increases to the Guaranteed Daily Rate on Oct. 16, 2023 and April 1, 2024.
The changes in 2023 and 2024 established the first increase to the hourly and block fee rates paid to lawyers since 2015, which marks the first new investment in improving hourly compensation in nearly a decade. The changes to the compensation structure for roster lawyers acknowledge the increased complexity of providing legal aid services.