Tariff & billing
The legal aid tariff found in Schedule 2 of the Rules and sets out the compensation for lawyers who provide services to low-income clients. It sets hourly rates, and also establishes the maximum number of hours that Legal Aid Ontario pays a lawyer for specific types of proceedings.
The legal aid tariff reflects the fees customarily paid by a client of modest means. These fees apply for all legal aid services, except in exceptional cases.
Legal Aid Ontario also pays lawyers block fees for some of the most common criminal charges.
Tariff reform update
Effective October 16, 2023, LAO is improving the compensation structure for private bar lawyers who are paid to do legal aid work. To review the tariff reforms for each area of law, please refer to the following summaries:
- Criminal law tariff reforms
- Family law tariff reforms
- Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA) tariff reforms
- Immigration and refugee law tariff reforms
For more information please review Amendments to the Legal Aid Services Rules (Schedule 2 – Fees and Disbursements) to come into force on October 16, 2023.
Manuals
Tariff and billing Handbook
The handbook is a plain language interpretation of policies, procedures, rules and schedules for legal aid billing. It is intended for lawyers (and their staff) already providing legal aid certificate or duty counsel services and/or private bar lawyers.
Disbursements
The Disbursements Handbook lists all disbursements requiring pre-approval. You will need to attach your invoices for such disbursements when billing. Billing unapproved disbursements may result in the denial of your expenditure for payment.
Tariff Rates
There are four different hourly rates; three depend on a lawyers’ tier level, which is assessed based on certified years of experience. The fourth is for lawyers whose cases qualify for the Complex Case Rate. Lawyers must be authorized to provide Complex Case Rate servicesin order to receive this rate.
Tariff structure for all areas except Northern Ontario
Please note that the tariff hourly rate is based on the issue date of the certificate, while duty counsel rates are based on the service date.
| Description | For certificates issued between Apr. 1 2015 to Oct. 16 2023 | Hourly rate (effective Oct. 16, 2023) |
Hourly rate (effective Apr. 1, 2024) |
Hourly rate (effective Apr. 1, 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $109.14 | $114.60 | $120.33 | $126.35 |
| Tier 2 | $122.78 | $128.93 | $135.37 | $142.14 |
| Tier 3 | $136.43 | $143.25 | $150.41 | $157.94 |
| Complex case rate | $161.05 | $169.10 | $177.56 | $186.44 |
| Law clerks and investigators in the employ of the roster member | $32.37 | $33.99 | $35.69 | $37.48 |
| Articling students | $64.74 | $67.98 | $71.38 | $74.95 |
Note: The tariff rates for duty counsel services provided prior to Oct. 16, 2023 was set at $109.14. For duty counsel services provided after Oct. 16, 2023 duty counsel will be paid according to their tier level.
Tariff structure for Northern areas
The GDR is available only for certain duty counsel and certificate services in one of five designated areas (Cochrane Area 05, Kenora Area 15, Rainy River Area 35, Temiskaming Area 39 and communities served by Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation (NALSC) Area 48). The following chart summarizes the rate increases:
| Description | For certificates issued between Apr. 1 2015 to Oct. 16 2023 | Hourly rate (effective Oct. 16, 2023) |
Hourly rate (effective Apr. 1, 2024) |
Hourly rate (effective Apr. 1, 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $120.05 | $126.06 | $132.36 | $138.99 |
| Tier 2 | $135.06 | $141.82 | $148.91 | $156.36 |
| Tier 3 | $150.06 | $157.58 | $165.45 | $173.73 |
| Complex case rate | $161.05 | $186.01 | $195.31 | $205.08 |
| Law clerks and investigators in the employ of the roster member | $32.37 | $33.99 | $35.69 | $37.47 |
| Articling students | $71.21 | $74.78 | $78.52 | $82.45 |
Note: The tariff rates for duty counsel services provided prior to Oct. 16, 2023 was set at $120.05. For duty counsel services provided after Oct. 16, 2023 duty counsel will be paid according to their tier level.
Tariff rates for travel time
The table below lists the tariff rates per hour of travel time:
| Description | Rate per hour: for all areas except Northern Ontario |
Rate per hour: for Northern Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $43.00 | $47.30 |
| Tier 2 | $48.38 | $53.21 |
| Tier 3 | $53.75 | $59.13 |
| Law clerks | $23.00 | $23.00 |
| Articling students | $23.00 | $25.30 |