Legal Aid Ontario’s financial eligibility guidelines

Legal Aid Ontario provides legal help for financially eligible low‑income Ontarians. When you apply for our services, you must undergo a financial eligibility test. This test allows us to determine whether a client qualifies for our services.

Financial eligibility for an individual is based on three components: the family unit, the income of the family unit, and the assets of the family unit. If the individual tested has income above the cut‑off levels and/or assets which exceed the exemption level, legal services may not be provided.

On Nov. 1, 2014, we implemented the first of multiple annual six per cent financial eligibility increases for all certificate and duty counsel services. The legal clinics funded by Legal Aid Ontario also saw their eligibility guidelines rise Nov. 1, 2014. As a result of these increases, we were able to expand access to our services in areas such as family, immigration, refugee, mental health, criminal and poverty law.

For more information about legal aid eligibility, please review our guidelines:

• Financial eligibility test for legal aid certificates
• Financial eligibility test for duty counsel services
• Clinic financial eligibility test

Earlier versions of certificate eligibility, duty counsel eligibility and clinic eligibility guidelines, as prescribed by O. Reg. 107/99, are also available.