Legal Aid Ontario: the certificate and clinic routes, the financial test, and how to apply by phone, in person, or through the client portal.
Applies in: Ontario
Legal Aid Ontario, or LAO, helps low-income Ontarians get a lawyer when they cannot afford one. There are two main routes: a legal aid certificate, which pays a private lawyer for a set number of hours, and community legal clinics, which give free advice and representation in their own areas. Both routes start with the same two tests: your legal issue must be one LAO covers, and you must qualify financially. This guide explains the tests and the three ways to apply. It is not legal advice, and it cannot tell you whether you qualify; only LAO can decide that.
LAO provides legal services for financially eligible, low-income Ontarians in areas including domestic violence, family law, criminal law, immigration and refugee law, and other listed matters. To receive assistance, you must qualify financially, and your legal matter must be one that LAO covers. If your matter is not covered, LAO can still give you general legal information and refer you to other services and programs. The Law Society's referral service can also give you the name of a lawyer or paralegal who offers a free consultation of up to 30 minutes.
Before you apply, gather any documents about your legal case, such as court orders, separation agreements, or a copy of the Crown screening form for criminal charges, and proof of your income, if you have any, such as recent pay stubs, social assistance cheque stubs, or employment insurance statements. Have identification ready, such as a Social Insurance card, driver's licence, health card, or permanent resident card. Having these close by means you can refer to them during the application, which usually takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete.
You can apply for legal aid in three ways. By phone: call LAO's Contact Centre at 1-800-668-8258 toll-free, or 416-979-1446 in the Greater Toronto Area, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET; wait times are typically under two minutes. In person: get help from a legal aid worker if you are in a correctional facility, a patient advocate or rights advisor if you are in hospital, or a lawyer if you are out of custody and applying in a criminal matter. Online: apply through the LAO Client Portal at client.legalaidonline.on.ca. The online process is currently only available to people who do not own any property and either receive income assistance, such as Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program payments, or have no income and have been in Canada less than six months, are living in a shelter, or are completing the application for someone who is incarcerated.
LAO assesses your financial situation, family size, and legal issue. For family, immigration, and refugee certificate services, your gross annual family income must be lower than $18,795 for one person, $32,131 for two people, $39,352 for three, $45,289 for four, and $50,803 for five or more people. For criminal certificate services, the limit is $45,440 for families of one to four people, and $50,803 for five or more. The asset threshold is $15,000 regardless of family size. If you are experiencing domestic violence, you may be eligible under a separate set of financial eligibility guidelines, and domestic violence survivors can get two hours of free legal advice on family, immigration, or refugee law with no financial eligibility requirement, through a referral voucher from a local shelter or community legal clinic. Approximately 75 percent of certificates are processed on the day of application, and for certain eligible individuals online applications may be approved automatically.
If you qualify, LAO will provide you with a certificate that covers the cost of a private lawyer who accepts legal aid work for a certain number of hours. Take the certificate to a lawyer who accepts legal aid certificates; you can find one with LAO's Find a Lawyer tool. This is different from duty counsel, who can only help you on the day of your court appearance, while a certificate lawyer may help you with your case on a long-term basis. If a clinic is the right route for your issue, LAO funds a network of community legal clinics across Ontario; find the nearest one through the service finder on LAO's website or by calling 1-800-668-8258. Duty counsel is available at court in family, criminal, and child protection matters.
If you are found ineligible for legal aid, you can ask for a review of the decision that refused your application. Applicants out of custody must submit the review request within 22 business days from the date on the decision notice, which is 15 business days plus an additional 7 days for delivery of documents. If you have an income or own property, you may qualify for a certificate with a contribution agreement, which means you will be required to repay LAO some or all of your legal fees, based on your income level. A contribution agreement outlines how much you will repay LAO.
The opened LAO pages state the income thresholds, the application routes, and the review rules set out above. They do not state how many hours a certificate covers for any particular type of case, because that depends on the type of case and is set on the certificate itself. No hours figure is asserted in this guide.
Legal Aid Ontario, or LAO, is a publicly funded, independent, non-profit corporation that provides legal assistance for low-income Ontarians. If you qualify financially and have a legal matter that LAO covers, LAO will help pay for a lawyer to represent you. LAO covers criminal cases, family disputes, immigration and refugee matters, and other listed areas.
A legal aid certificate is LAO's confirmation that it will pay a private lawyer to represent you for a set number of hours, based on the type of case. Think of it as a voucher: you apply to LAO, and if you qualify, LAO issues the certificate and you take it to a lawyer on the LAO roster who accepts legal aid certificates. The lawyer must be one of the private practice lawyers across the province who accepts legal aid work.
LAO decides eligibility based on your gross family income, family size, assets, and the type of legal issue. For family, immigration, and refugee certificate services, the published gross annual family income limits are $18,795 for one person, $32,131 for two people, $39,352 for three, $45,289 for four, and $50,803 for five or more. For criminal certificate services, the limit is $45,440 for families of one to four, and $50,803 for five or more. The asset threshold is $15,000. These figures can change, so confirm the current limits at legalaid.on.ca or by calling 1-800-668-8258.
You can apply in three ways. By phone: call 1-800-668-8258 toll-free, or 416-979-1446 in the Greater Toronto Area, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. In person: get help from a legal aid worker, a patient advocate or rights advisor, or a lawyer, depending on your situation. Online: apply through the LAO Client Portal at client.legalaidonline.on.ca, which is currently only available to people who do not own any property and either receive income assistance or have no income and meet one of the listed conditions. Applications usually take 20 to 30 minutes to complete.
A certificate pays a private lawyer to work on your case for a set number of hours, and the lawyer can represent you in court over the life of the case. Community legal clinics are local organizations funded by LAO that provide free legal information, advice, and representation, often in areas such as housing, employment, social assistance, and human rights. You can find the nearest clinic through the service finder on LAO's website or by calling 1-800-668-8258.
LAO can still give you general legal information and refer you to other services and programs. If your application is refused, you can ask for a review of the decision: applicants out of custody must submit the review request within 22 business days from the date on the decision notice. If you have an income or own property, you may qualify for a certificate with a contribution agreement, under which you repay LAO some or all of your legal fees based on your income level.