The organizations listed alphabetically below provide services to people all over Ontario, regardless of where they live. For example, Ontario has a number of specialty legal clinics. Specialty legal clinics serve a particular community or focus on a specific area of law. Most specialty legal clinics are not limited to serving a particular geographic area. For more information, see: Service by type - Legal Clinics - Specialty.
If you are at court or at a tribunal and don't have a lawyer, you can look for the duty counsel office or ask to see duty counsel. Duty counsel are lawyers who can give immediate legal assistance to low-income people who appear in court without a lawyer. There are duty counsel lawyers at criminal and family courts across the province. For more information see: Service by type - Court and Tribunal Related Services.
There are also Family Law Information Centres (FLIC) at courthouses across Ontario. All of the centres have free pamphlets on topics such as separation and divorce, court procedures, and family mediation. Many of the centres have staff who can give information and make referrals to community agencies and legal services. During specific hours, some of the centres have lawyers from Legal Aid Ontario who can meet with you. For more information, search by your region or see: Family Law Information Centres (FLICs).
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211 Ontario is an information and referral hotline that gives help in many languages. Dial 211 for free from any phone in Ontario. They take calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For general information on finding legal help visit: I need legal help, but have limited income and can't afford a lawyer. What can I do?
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Featured services in this region
Human Rights Legal Support Centre
The Human Rights Legal Support Centre offers human rights legal services to individuals throughout Ontario who have experienced discrimination. The Centre’s services range from legal assistance...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Industrial Accident Victims' Group of Ontario
Industrial Accident Victims’ Group of Ontario (IAVGO) provides information, advice, and representation to injured workers. Provides public legal education to workers and community groups, and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Advocacy Centre for The Elderly (ACE)
The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) is a community based legal clinic for low income senior citizens in Ontario. ACE provides direct legal services to seniors, public legal education, and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
All services in this region
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO)
The Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) works to better the housing situation of Ontario residents who have low incomes including tenants, co-op members and people who are homeless. ACTO...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Advocacy Centre for The Elderly (ACE)
The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) is a community based legal clinic for low income senior citizens in Ontario. ACE provides direct legal services to seniors, public legal education, and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
African Canadian Legal Clinic
The African Canadian Legal Clinic uses test case litigation to address anti-Black racism and other forms of systemic and institutional discrimination. The ACLC also provides education about...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
ARCH Disability Law Centre
ARCH Disability Law Centre provides information, summary advice, brief services and some representation to people with disabilities and to lawyers representing them. ARCH also provides public...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Assaulted Women's Helpline
Women who need legal help because of domestic violence can call the Assaulted Women's Helpline. The Helpline does crisis counselling, gives emotional support, and makes referrals to shelters and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC)
The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, advocating for, and exonerating individuals convicted of a crime that they did not commit...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic
The Barbra Schlifer Clinic offers legal representation, professional counselling, and multilingual interpretation to women who have experienced violence.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) promotes legal protection of civil rights and liberties, particularly with reference to freedom of expression, police powers, government...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)
Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) provides legal services to individuals and groups with environmental legal problems, and seeks to improve environmental protection through...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime
The Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime is a national, non-profit victim advocacy group that lobbies for victims' rights and effective justice reform. It offers resources and services to...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)
Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) is a charitable, non-profit organization in Canada dedicated to ending discrimination in housing and promoting human rights in housing. CERA...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
CLEO - Community Legal Education Ontario/Éducation juridique communautaire Ontario
CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario/Éducation juridique communautaire Ontario) develops materials and projects to help low-income and disadvantaged communities understand their legal rights. A...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Community Living Ontario
Community Living Ontario is a non-profit, provincial association that advocates for people who have an intellectual disability to be fully included in all aspects of community life.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Consent and Capacity Board
The Consent and Capacity Board (CCB) is an independent provincial tribunal whose mission is the fair and accessible adjudication of consent and capacity issues, balancing the rights of vulnerable...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada
Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada, Inc. is a not-for-profit, community-based organization that teaches consumers how to budget, get out of debt, and use credit wisely.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario, Canada
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Criminal Duty Counsel
The following information is taken from the Legal Aid Ontario web site at: http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/dutycounsel_criminal.asp If you have been charged with a criminal offence, and you have...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services, Legal Aid Ontario Services
Domestic Violence Court Program
Ontario's Domestic Violence Court (DVC) program has specialized processes for domestic violence cases during the investigation and prosecution. Teams of specialized professionals work together to...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services
Family Law Duty Counsel
The following information is taken from the Legal Aid Ontario web site at: http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/dutycounsel_family.asp. If you need help with a family law issue such as child custody...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services, Legal Aid Ontario Services
Family Law Information Centres (FLICs)
There are Family Law Information Centres (FLICs) at most courthouses that deal with family law. All of the Centres have free pamphlets on topics such as separation and divorce, court procedures, and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services
Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) is an independent resource for victims in Canada. The Office was created in 2007 to ensure the federal government meets its...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario, Canada
Service type:
Other Government Services
Fem'aide
Fem'aide offers French-speaking women in Ontario who have experienced gender-based violence, support, information and referral to appropriate front-line services within their communities, 24 hours a...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario website provides information to residents, businesses and visitors to Ontario. The site features information on Ontario government services and programs. To access Ontario...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
HALCO - HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario
HALCO - HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario provides free legal information, advice, and representation for people in Ontario who are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. HALCO also produces...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Housing Help Association of Ontario
The Housing Help Association of Ontario (HHAO) is a provincial association of community based, not-for-profit organizations delivering free housing help services that prevent and reduce homelessness.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Human Rights Legal Support Centre
The Human Rights Legal Support Centre offers human rights legal services to individuals throughout Ontario who have experienced discrimination. The Centre’s services range from legal assistance...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
The Tribunal's role in the human rights system in Ontario is to resolve applications concerning claims of discrimination made under the Ontario Human Rights Code.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)
The Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) works with clinics and anti-poverty groups using litigation, policy development, advocacy and lobbying, and community development and organizing to address...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Industrial Accident Victims' Group of Ontario
Industrial Accident Victims’ Group of Ontario (IAVGO) provides information, advice, and representation to injured workers. Provides public legal education to workers and community groups, and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Injured Workers' Consultants (IWC)
Injured Workers' Consultants (IWC) provides information, advice, and representation to injured workers. Works with injured worker and community organizations seeking improvements to the workers'...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Investigation and Enforcement Unit
You can contact the provincial government's Investigation and Enforcement Unit (IEU) if your landlord violates your rights under the Residential Tenancies Act. For example, if your landlord:...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Justice for Children and Youth
Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) is a non-profit community legal clinic that provides legal representation to low-income children and youth in the Toronto area. It gives summary legal advice,...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Landlord and Tenant Board
The Landlord and Tenant Board's role is to provide information about the Residential Tenancies Act and to resolve disputes between most residential landlords and tenants. The Ontario Rental Housing...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services
Landlord's Self-Help Centre
Landlord's Self-Help Centre (LSHC) provides information and summary advice to small-scale landlords province-wide. LSHC also develops educational materials, engages in law reform activities...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Law Society Referral Service
You can call the Law Society Referral Service (LSRS) to get the name of a lawyer. You then call the lawyer and, within three business days, the lawyer should call you back to arrange a free...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Finding a lawyer
Legal Aid Certificates
This information is taken from the Legal Aid Ontario web site at: http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/certificateservices.asp. What is the certificate program? The certificate program allows...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Finding a lawyer, Legal Aid Ontario Services
Legal Aid Ontario
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is an independent, publicly funded, and publicly accountable non-profit corporation that administers the province's legal aid program. Legal Aid Ontario's mandate in the Legal...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Aid Ontario Services
Mental Health Duty Counsel
The following information is taken from the Legal Aid Ontario web site at: http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/dutycounsel_mentalhealth.asp If you are appearing in mental health court on a criminal...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services, Legal Aid Ontario Services
Ministry of Labour's Employment Standards Information Centre
Ontarians who have questions about their employment rights can call the Ministry of Labour's Employment Standards Information Centre in 23 languages and dialects, from Arabic to Vietnamese. Ontario...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is an independent advisory agency that provides advice to the Attorney General of Ontario on victims' issues. The OVC does not provide direct services to victims...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Office of the Independent Police Review Director
The goal of the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) is to provide an objective, impartial office to accept, process and oversee the investigation of public complaints against...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth
The Office of the Provincial Advocate provides an independent voice for children and youth by responding to concerns from children, youth, and families who are seeking or receiving services under the...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services (OACCS)
The OACCS provides referrals to OACCS certified credit counsellors across Ontario. Credit counsellors can do financial assessments, provide information and support, and intervene with creditors.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Ontario Association of the Deaf (OAD)
Ontario Association of the Deaf (OAD) is Canada's oldest Deaf non-profit consumer organization. Some of OAD's initiatives include: Consultation and Training Consumer Advocacy (Children and Adults...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) acts as a collective voice for 170 agencies serving immigrants and coordinates response to the shared needs and concerns of these agencies....Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Ontario Court of Justice
The Ontario Court of Justice is the largest court in the country. They hear approximately 590,000 criminal charges, millions of provincial offences such as traffic tickets, and serve 25,000...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services
Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC)
The Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) is a provincial Aboriginal organization representing the collective interests of twenty-nine member Friendship Centres located in towns and...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the Legislature through the Attorney General. The Commission's mandate under the Code includes:...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services
The Ministry of Consumer Services provides information on consumer rights: how to complain when you're not treated properly; how to deal with collection agencies; how to protect yourself when...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Ontario Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour's mission is to advance safe, fair, and harmonious workplace practices that are essential to the social and economic well-being of the people of Ontario. Employment Standards...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General
The Ministry of the Attorney General is responsible for providing a fair and accessible justice system that reflects the needs of the diverse communities it serves across government and the province...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Ontario Native Women's Association
The Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA) is a not-for-profit organization that works to empower and support Aboriginal women and their families in the province of Ontario.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) offices
To find the nearest Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) office, you can: see the list of OW and/or ODSP offices on the Ministry of Community and Social Services web site...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Property standards inspections
Sometimes a government inspector's report can help get your landlord to do repairs, or can be used as evidence at a Landlord and Tenant Board hearing. To have your place inspected, you can phone your...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office (PPAO)
The Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office (PPAO) provides independent and confidential advocacy services and rights advice to consumers of and those seeking access to psychiatric services. The PPAO...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Rent Banks
In some areas of Ontario, there are programs, usually called rent banks, that might be able to help if you are having a temporary problem paying your rent. To find the rent bank in your area, you can...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT)
If your Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) assistance is refused, reduced, or cut off, you may be able to appeal to the Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT). The SBT is like a...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services
Springtide Resources
Springtide Resources, formerly known as Education Wife Assault (EWA), promotes healthy and equal relationships by engaging diverse communities in shared educational strategies designed to prevent...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Community and/or Social Services
TeenLegalHelpline.org
TeenLegalHelpline.org is a free and anonymous online service in which Ontario teens can ask a question and receive an answer from a lawyer. Questions are answered by experienced members of the...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Tenant Duty Counsel
Tenant duty counsel (TDC) are lawyers and community legal workers who help tenants at most Landlord and Tenant Board locations. TDC do not charge for their services, however you must qualify...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Court and Tribunal Related Services, Legal Aid Ontario Services
The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT)
The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) is part of Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General. The OPGT plays a role in protecting the rights and interests of mentally incapable adults....Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Government Services
Toronto Workers' Health & Safety Legal Clinic
Toronto Workers’ Health & Safety Legal Clinic takes on health and safety cases and workers’ compensation cases for workers who do not have union representation. Also provides education on safety...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Legal Clinics - Specialty
Volunteer Lawyers Service (VLS)
Volunteer Lawyers Service is a project of Pro Bono Law Ontario that offers free legal support to eligible charitable and nonprofit organizations in Ontario that otherwise could not afford the...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Workers' Action Centre
The Workers' Action Centre is a worker-based organization that provides information and rights advice to people in low-wage and unstable employment. They are responsible for the Workers'...Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
Workers' Rights Information Phone Line
Workers' Rights Information Phone Line provides information and support for people in Ontario who are having a problem at work.Regions served:
Serves all of Ontario
Service type:
Other Law-related Services
