Class 1: Legal Aid Ontario & Community Legal Clinics

1. How Ontario’s Legal Aid system works

Ontario's legal aid system has two pillars: Legal Aid Ontario and community legal clinics. Both provide free legal information, advice and representation to Ontarians living on a low income, but they differ in exactly what services they provide, and how they provide those services.

Legal clinics and Legal Aid Ontario help with different kinds of legal problems. Legal clinics generally help with civil law issues – for example problems with government benefits, problems with a landlord, or with an employer. Legal Aid Ontario helps with criminal, family, and mental health legal issues, domestic violence, and some immigration and refugee legal issues. Neither legal clinics nor Legal Aid Ontario can help with real estate, car accident claims, or insurance disputes.

Legal clinics and Legal Aid Ontario operate differently. There are approximately 70 legal clinics that serve particular communities all across Ontario - some of these communities defined by geography, and others by a shared characteristic (e.g., seniors, people living with HIV/AIDS). On the other hand, there is just one central number to call for Legal Aid Ontario.

Legal clinics and Legal Aid Ontario also differ in their referral and intake processes. People must generally self-refer to both Legal Aid Ontario and legal clinics, though health careproviders can help facilitate referrals.

2. Referral and intake processes for community legal clinics and Legal Aid Ontario

Legal clinics:

• Your patient starts by finding the legal clinic that serves their geographic area or specializes in their area of law. Tip: they can find their local legal clinic using the online postal code lookup tool here: [legalaid.on.ca/legal-clinics/].
• Next, your patient must contact the legal clinic. Legal clinics usually offer lots of ways for people to contact them and do an intake, including drop-in hours, a web form, or intake by phone.
• A legal worker will speak to your patient to assess their eligibility for services.
• If they are eligible, they will typically get an appointment for legal advice. This appointment will be with someone that works at the legal clinic, and may take place in person, virtually, or by phone. Appointments are scheduled as quickly as possible. If their issue is very urgent, the appointment may even be same-day. If the legal clinic cannot help your patient with their problem, they will give referrals.

Legal Aid Ontario:

• Your patient starts by contacting Legal Aid Ontario for an intake. Patients can either call their intake line or complete a web form.
• A Legal Aid Ontario employee will speak to your patient to assess their eligibility for services.
• If eligible for services, your patient will generally get either one-time legal information and advice over the phone, or Legal Aid Ontario will pay for a lawyer through their certificate program.
• The certificate pays a private lawyer who accepts legal aid work for a certain number of hours. Your patient gets to choose their own lawyer.

Legal Aid Ontario also has duty counsel. Duty counsel are lawyers who provide advice, information and representation to someone on the day of their court appearance who would otherwise be unrepresented in the courtroom. Clients can also speak with lawyers at Family Law Information Centres—which are located in most family courts—to get free general legal advice on family law issues and get help with reviewing legal documents. You must be financially eligible for Legal Aid to get help from a duty counsel lawyer.

3. What you can do (Action Step)

Look up your local legal clinic. Bookmark their website. Ask for pamphlets or cards to hand out to patients. Ask Legal Aid Ontario for pamphlets or cards. Some legal clinics are working with healthcare providers to optimize their referral and intake pathways; at these legal clinics, you may be able to initiate referrals on behalf of a patient, or get information yourself to pass on to a patient. If you would like to collaborate with your local legal clinic, please reach out to them.