Legal Aid is Available for the following Matters
Immigration and Refugee matters:Refugee hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board
- Sponsorship and deportation appeals
- Detention reviews
For some civil cases and final appeals:
- Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal
- Social Benefits Tribunal matters
- Employment Insurance appeals
- Mental health hearings and appeals
Eligibility for Legal Aid
If you need legal aid and you have little or no money, Legal Aid may be able to help you pay for a lawyer. To apply for legal aid you must do a financial eligibility test to see if you qualify.
Testing
The Legal Aid staff will ask you questions to find out what is your financial status and to decide if you have enough money to pay for your own lawyer. The Legal Aid office must do a financial test for you, your spouse, common-law partner or same-sex partner, any of your dependant children. Legal Aid Ontario sets the financial guidelines.
How do you know if your eligible?
The legal aid financial test has two parts: the asset test and the income test.
The Legal Aid staff first determines if you have enough money/assets available to pay your lawyer without Legal Aid's help. Then the look at your monthly income and expenses to determine if you have any money left over that could be used to pay for your legal fees.
Get More Information about getting Legal Aid Assistance