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Ontario Legal Aid System

In 1998, the Ontario government enacted the Legal Aid Services Act in which the province renewed and strengthened its commitment to legal aid for the people of Ontario. The Legal Aid Act established a Legal Aid Plan of Ontario, an independent but publicly funded and publicly accountable non-profit corporation, to administer the province’s legal aid program.

Legal Aid Plan of Ontario's mandate in the Legal Aid Services Act is to provide access to justice for low-income persons by means of providing consistently high quality legal aid services in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

Legal Aid clients have one thing in common – they are people with low or no income and require legal aid. The Legal Aid Plan of Ontario helps disadvantaged people, including single parents seeking child support from delinquent ex-partners; victims of domestic violence; parents seeking custody of children to protect them from abuse; injured workers; refugees; and accused persons with legal aid issues.

Only people meeting strict financial eligibility limits receive legal aid. Wherever possible clients are asked to contribute toward the cost of their legal fees to assist the legal aid plan.

Legal Aid Services

Legal Aid Plan services are carefully targeted to meet diverse client needs and make the most efficient use of the resources. Poverty legal aid services such as helping people to obtain or maintain social assistance benefits - are delivered through a network of community-based legal aid clinics, funded by the Legal Aid Plan of Ontario.

The Legal Aid Plan of Ontario also runs a certificate program. The Legal Aid Plan of Ontario issues certificates, which low-income people use to retain legal aid private lawyers to represent them in proceedings before the criminal or family courts, and certain administrative tribunals or immigration/refugee boards. The certificate is the private lawyer’s guarantee of payment from Legal Aid Plan of Ontario.