Skip to content
Leave Site Now X

London District Office is moving: No in-person services for the weeks of April 28 – May 16

X
LAO Client Portal
Français
  • Legal Help
    • Apply for legal aid
      • What is legal aid?
      • Do I qualify for legal aid?
      • Apply now
      • Client Portal
    • Our services
      • About our services
      • Family legal issues
      • Criminal legal issues
      • Refugee and immigration legal issues
      • Domestic violence legal issues
      • Mental health legal issues
      • Youth legal issues
      • Getting help at court (duty counsel)
      • Services in French
    • column-break
    • Find help
      • Find a lawyer
      • Find a legal clinic
      • Find a duty counsel office
      • Find a legal aid office
      • Speak to a representative
    • column-break
    • FAQ
      • Frequently asked questions
    • Other
      • Languages
      • What do you think about our services?
      • Contact
  • For Legal Professionals
    • For roster lawyers
      • Legal Aid Online
      • About Legal Aid Online
      • Contacts for lawyers
      • Forms library
      • Billing
      • Mentoring
      • Audit and compliance
      • LAO LAW
      • Case management
      • Roster resources
      • Test case funding
    • column-break
    • Working with legal aid
      • Join legal aid roster
      • Minimum experience requirements
      • Careers
    • LASA 2020
      • Legal Aid Services Act 2020 policies
      • LASA 2020 process updates for lawyers
    • column-break
    • Duty counsel
      • Service guides
    • News
      • News for lawyers
      • Better Billing Bulletin
  • About
    • Legal Aid Ontario
      • About
    • Our people
      • Our clients
      • Executive team
      • Board of directors
    • column-break
    • Resources
      • News
      • Reports
      • Publications
      • Open government
      • Social media
    • column-break
    • LASA 2020
      • Legal Aid Services Act
      • LASA 2020 rules and policies
      • LASA 2020 glossary
    • Careers
      • Job openings
    • Other
      • Consultations
  • Contact

LAO Client Portal
  • Legal Help
    • Apply for legal aid
      • What is legal aid?
      • Do I qualify for legal aid?
      • Apply now
      • Client Portal
    • Our services
      • About our services
      • Family legal issues
      • Criminal legal issues
      • Refugee and immigration legal issues
      • Domestic violence legal issues
      • Mental health legal issues
      • Youth legal issues
      • Getting help at court (duty counsel)
      • Services in French
    • column-break
    • Find help
      • Find a lawyer
      • Find a legal clinic
      • Find a duty counsel office
      • Find a legal aid office
      • Speak to a representative
    • column-break
    • FAQ
      • Frequently asked questions
    • Other
      • Languages
      • What do you think about our services?
      • Contact
  • For Legal Professionals
    • For roster lawyers
      • Legal Aid Online
      • About Legal Aid Online
      • Contacts for lawyers
      • Forms library
      • Billing
      • Mentoring
      • Audit and compliance
      • LAO LAW
      • Case management
      • Roster resources
      • Test case funding
    • column-break
    • Working with legal aid
      • Join legal aid roster
      • Minimum experience requirements
      • Careers
    • LASA 2020
      • Legal Aid Services Act 2020 policies
      • LASA 2020 process updates for lawyers
    • column-break
    • Duty counsel
      • Service guides
    • News
      • News for lawyers
      • Better Billing Bulletin
  • About
    • Legal Aid Ontario
      • About
    • Our people
      • Our clients
      • Executive team
      • Board of directors
    • column-break
    • Resources
      • News
      • Reports
      • Publications
      • Open government
      • Social media
    • column-break
    • LASA 2020
      • Legal Aid Services Act
      • LASA 2020 rules and policies
      • LASA 2020 glossary
    • Careers
      • Job openings
    • Other
      • Consultations
  • Contact

Legal Aid Services Act, 2020

The Legal Aid Services Act, 2020 (LASA 2020) was passed into law on July 8, 2020 and came into effect October 18, 2021.

LASA 2020 ushers in a modern approach to the management and administration of legal aid in Ontario. This leap forward is made possible by permitting LAO to make rules on how legal aid is provided (described in s.46 of the new law). Some of these practices were built into the old law (LASA 1998), which meant that the law would have to be changed to allow LAO to update operational processes. This process was slow and difficult; limiting the ability of the legal aid system to keep up with the needs of Ontarians and the technological advances that we have come to take for granted.

The new law maintains several aspects of the original Legal Aid Services Act, which continues to define the purpose of legal aid in Ontario, including:

  • LAO’s commitment to access to justice
  • LAO’s independence from, but accountability to, the Government of Ontario.
  • The areas of law in which LAO provides service (criminal, family, refugee and immigration, and mental health law services).
  • That LAO provides high quality legal aid services to low income clients.
  • The foundational role of the private bar and clinics.

Learn about the Rules that now form the foundation for how LAO manages legal aid, and support its long-term sustainability.

  • This form is feedback only.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Further Reading Pages

LASA 2020 Glossary

LASA 2020 Rules and Policies

LAO Consultation Registry

Go back to top

Site footer

Sign-up for email alerts about upcoming consultations.

Need legal help?

Call us toll free at 1‑800‑668‑8258 Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST) for help in over 300 languages.

Current wait time: 1 minutes

Wait times: Monday is our busiest day. For faster service, try calling Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Legal Aid Ontario is a safe and respectful space for our clients and employees. Verbal or threats of physical abuse will not be tolerated. Abusive behaviour may result in refusal of service.

Links

  • Freedom of information requests
    • Privacy policy
  • Accessibility policy
    • Terms of use
  • What do you think about our services?
    • Contact us
  • Sitemap

Legal Aid Ontario on social media

  • Social
    • Facebook
    • Intagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
Legal Aid Ontario

Legal Aid Ontario land acknowledgement

Land acknowledgement: Legal Aid Ontario recognizes that its work, and the work of its community partners take place on traditional Indigenous territories across the province.

Legal Aid Ontario copyright information

Legal Aid Ontario © 2025