LEAF intervenes in cases across the country, typically in front of the Supreme Court of Canada and provincial Appeals Courts.
LEAF is not a legal clinic. We cannot provide you with legal representation or advice. We also do not provide funding or sponsor individual cases.
If you need assistance with your individual case, the following resources may be helpful:
Legal Resources in British Columbia
Legal Resources in Saskatchewan
Legal Resources in the Maritimes
Find Legal Aid near you
Find Legal Aid in PEI
Find Legal Aid in Nova Scotia
Find Legal Aid in New Brunswick
Find Legal Aid in Newfoundland and Labrador
Find Legal Aid in Ontario
Find Legal Aid in Québec or find other low-cost legal resources in Québec via this directory
Find Legal Aid in Manitoba
Find Legal Aid in Saskatchewan
Find Legal Aid in Alberta
Find Legal Aid in British Columbia
Find Legal Aid in Yukon
Find Legal Aid in the Northwest Territories
Find Legal Aid in Nunavut
Legal Resources Available in British Columbia
Access Pro Bono offers a range of legal services to British Columbians, including:
- a lawyer referral service
- free legal assistance and representation in civil matters before the BC Supreme Court
- free legal assistance and representation in employment matters before BC’s Employment Standards Branch
- free legal assistance and representation in mental health law for those detained under BC’s Mental Health Act
- free legal assistance and representation in tenancy law for those before the Residential Tenancy Branch
- a Summary Advice Program with free legal advice across BC
- a Virtual Family Mediation Project offering free online family mediation in Victoria, Vancouver and Nanaimo
- a Wills Clinic advising on personal estate matters and helping to draft wills and powers of attorney.
The Community Legal Assistance Program provides legal assistance to low-income people across British Columbia, including summary legal advice, guidance to help you represent yourself, and full representation. They also run a Sexual Harassment Advice, Response, and Prevention for Workplaces (SHARP) program, which provides up to five hours of free confidential legal advice.
Rise Women’s Legal Centre offers services regarding family law matters and very limited immigration matters for individuals who self-identify as women or gender diverse in British Columbia.
The UBC Indigenous Community Legal Clinic provides legal services to the Indigenous community, including possible legal advice, assistance, and representation to eligible clients.
The Disability Alliance BC Disability Law Clinic provides free legal advice to people with disabilities about human rights and discrimination.
The BC Human Rights Clinic provides free legal services to people who need help with a provincial human rights complaint, including summary advice, 1-2 hours of legal assistance, or legal representation for those who are eligible.
Legal Resources Available in Alberta
Pro Bono Law Alberta offers:
- civil claims Duty Counsel services (brief legal assistance to self-represented litigants with civil matters before the Provincial Court in Calgary and Edmonton)
- Queen’s Bench Court Assistance (brief legal assistance to self-represented litigants with civil matters before the Queen’s Bench in Calgary and Edmonton)
- help for non-profits with discrete legal matters.
The Women’s Centre of Calgary hosts a free Legal Advice Clinic for women, where all lawyers providing advice are women. The clinic addresses and provides advice on family issues, civil cases, immigration, and some other types of law, but does not provide advice on criminal law and do not provide legal representation.
Alberta has multiple community legal clinics. Each offers different legal services to low- to moderate-income Albertans who have a legal issue but do not qualify for Legal Aid. Their locations include:
- Calgary Legal Guidance
- Community Legal Clinic – Central Alberta
- Edmonton Community Legal Clinic
- Community Legal Clinic – Fort McMurry
- Grande Prairie Legal Guidance
- Lethbridge Legal Guidance
- Community Legal Clinic – Lloydminster
- Community Legal Clinic – Medicine Hat
Legal Resources Available in Saskatchewan
Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan provides free legal services to low-income Saskatchewan residents in 14 free legal clinics across the province. At the Free Legal Clinics, clients can receive up to one hour of free legal advice from a volunteer lawyer.
The Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan runs the Listen Project: Legal Information & Advice for Survivors of Sexual Violence. This initiative offers survivors up to 2 hours of free legal advice.
Legal Resources Available in Manitoba
The Community Legal Education Association operates a Law Phone-In & Lawyer Referral Program, which provides:
- general legal information and advice over the phone in response to callers’ inquiries
- referrals to law-related agencies where appropriate
- a referral to a lawyer on the Lawyer Referral panel where appropriate (the first interview with that lawyer is free, up to half an hour)
CLEA also operates a Workplace Sexual Harassment Hotline for Manitoba.
The Legal Help Centre offers a Family Law Clinic and a Consumer Protection Clinic. Prior to the pandemic, they also offered drop-in clinics, which they may resume offering in the future. In the meantime, these drop-in clinics are being replaced by phone appointments.
Legal Resources Available in Ontario
Pro Bono Ontario connects volunteer lawyers with Ontarians who can’t afford a lawyer. Their Legal Advice Hotline provides up to 30 minutes of legal assistance on civil matters excluding family and criminal law. Their Workplace Sexual Harassment Hotline provides free legal assistance. They also run a Supreme Court Pro Bono program which provides help with applications for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Human Rights Legal Support Centre offers human rights legal services to individuals throughout Ontario having experienced discrimination contrary to Ontario’s Human Rights Code. They also run the Sexual Harassment and Assault Resource Exchange (SHARE) program, which provides free, confidential legal information to workers having experienced sexual harassment or assault at work.
The ARCH Disability Law Centre provides free confidential legal advice to persons with disabilities across Ontario on certain disability-related areas of the law through their Summary Advice and Referral Service.
The HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) provides free legal services for people living with HIV/AIDS in Ontarioin various areas of law, including:
- income security
- housing/tenant law
- immigration/refugee law
- HIV and criminal law
- employment law
- health law and HIV
- human rights
- powers of attorney and wills
- private insurance law
- consumer and debt law
- HIV and prison law
- family law
The Black Legal Action Centre provides free legal services to low and no income Black Ontarians who are facing a legal issue directly related to anti-Black racism, including legal representation, summary legal advice, and help filling out forms.
Luke’s Place supports women who have been subjected to abuse through the family law process. For women in the Durham region, they provide in-person family law support through legal information, summary legal advice, and help preparing forms and evidence. For women elsewhere in Ontario, they offer a Virtual Legal Clinic where women dealing with abuse and family law can receive free legal advice from a lawyer.
The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic in Toronto provides free legal services in the following areas to women who have experienced violence and abuse, including:
- spousal assault/domestic violence
- adult sexual assault
- childhood sexual violence
- violence against you as a woman in your home country
They can give you information about your legal rights, the legal protections available to you, and your legal options in court.
The Ontario government provides funding for independent legal advice for women, men, and gender-diverse people who have experienced sexual assault in Ontario and currently live in Ontario. The program provides for up to four hours of free legal advice.
Legal Resources Available in Québec
Justice Pro Bono is a non-profit that mobilizes the legal community to donate expertise and time for those in Québec who do not have the resources to access legal services. Their services include:
- the Public Interest Causes program, which provides free representation for those who are not eligible for legal aid but who are financially unable to pay for a lawyer and who have a case of exceptional character, where it is in the public interest or where irreparable harm could be caused
- legal services are also offered with the Montreal Children’s Hospital
- free legal consultations on immigration matters offered in partnership with Médecins du Monde
- a mobile legal clinic set up in Nunavik
- a mobile legal clinic on family law matters
Juripop offers access to legal services at low cost for people turned away from legal aid, but still unable to pay for a lawyer, including:
- legal assistance
- court representation in Montreal, Laval and Longueil
- drafting documents
- accompaniment in negotiations and mediations
The YWCA Legal Information Clinic in Montréal offers confidential, one-on-one 30-minute consultations with experienced volunteer lawyers and notaries on a variety of topics for women and their families ranging from 0$-20$. They also offer legal workshops and a Community Legal Corner, a program with free legal information, support, and accompaniment services.
The Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le SIDA (COCQ-SIDA) offers a free HIV Info Rights service, a legal information service provided by a lawyer on legal issues related to HIV/AIDS, for people living with HIV/AIDS, or for those living in a situation where the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS are affected.
Legal Resources Available in the Maritimes
Several Maritime provinces offer Legal Information services.
Nova Scotia
Legal Info Nova Scotia offers legal information on a range of topics. It also provides:
- Lawyer and Mediator Referral Services
- a free Legal Information Line
- a Legal Advice for Sexual Assault Survivors Program, which offers 2 hours of free legal advice for survivors
- a Workplace Sexual Harassment Legal Advice Program, which also offers up to 2 hours of free legal advice
Family Law Nova Scotia also offers a Summary Advice Counsel service, providing free basic legal advice, regardless of your income.
New Brunswick
The Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick offers legal information on a range of topics and operates a toll-free family law information line and virtual family law information centre.
Newfoundland and Labrador
The Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador provides general legal information online, and operates a legal information line and a lawyer referral service. They also run the Journey Project, which offers a Sexual Violence Legal Support Service providing up to 4 hours of free legal advice for individuals who have experienced sexual violence.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island offers a Pro Bono Legal Advice Clinic for Self-Represented Litigants.
