LAO offers 2 hours of free advice with a lawyer to people who have experienced domestic violence and need immediate legal help. You can get legal advice about family law, refugee and immigration law, or both. Ask your local shelter or community legal clinic if they offer this service or call LAO to find out more.

LAO might also pay for a lawyer to help you if you’ve been charged with assault while trying to defend yourself against your abusive partner.

The Center offers free legal information and legal summary advice about family law, immigration and refugee law, housing law, and criminal law in cases of sexual assault in French to Francophone women in Ontario who are experiencing family violence. There is no financial eligibility test.

You must first call or email the legal support worker who will ask you for some information to understand your legal issue. A lawyer will call you back, usually within 4-5 days. The lawyer will spend up to 4 hours to answer your questions, give you advice, and review documents and forms.

The Centre also offers what’s called limited scope retainer or unbundled services. This means you pay a lawyer to help you with part of your case.

Luke’s Place works with abused women across Ontario by providing legal advice, support, and referrals. They offer a Virtual Legal Clinic that connects women with lawyers for free legal advice on family law issues. Call 905-728-0978 or 1-866-516-3116.

The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic in Toronto offers free legal services to women and gender diverse people who have experienced gender-based violence. Their services include:

• family law help if you’re in an abusive relationship or have left one
• immigration and refugee law help if you’re fleeing gender-based violence, your spousal sponsorship broke down, or to separate your claim from your abusive partner
• independent legal advice and representation for survivors of sexual assault or intimate partner violence
• some criminal law supports and referrals

The Clinic also offers free:

• interpreter services 7 days a week, 24 hours a day help from family court support workers
• counselling and housing support services

For help, fill out the intake form or call the Clinic.

The Ontario Legal Information Centre offers a free 30-minute meeting with a lawyer to anyone in Ontario, online or by phone in English or French. The centre provides legal information on any legal topic, and referrals to services. Book a meeting online or call 1-844-343-7462 if you need help.

The Law Society of Ontario has an online Law Society Referral Service that gives you the name of a lawyer or licensed paralegal who will give free legal advice for up to 30 minutes in any area of law.

If you cannot wait for a lawyer or paralegal to call you back, or if you do not have a call-back number, email lsrs@lso.ca. If you’re in crisis or in custody, call 1-855-947-5255 or 416-947-5255, Monday to Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The helpline is a 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line for women who have experienced abuse. It helps women in over 200 languages, and offers counselling, support, information, and referrals to legal and community services.

You can call them or text #SAFE (#7233) on a Bell, Rogers, Fido, or Telus mobile phone.

This helpline is a 24-hour telephone service for Francophone women who have experienced abuse. It gives support, information, and referrals to legal and community services.

FLIC’s are available in every court in Ontario that deals with family law. All have free pamphlets. Many have staff who can:

• tell you about community and legal services
• explain the court process
• tell you about ways to solve legal issues without going to court

Some FLICs have advice lawyers at certain times. These are lawyers paid by Legal Aid Ontario to answer questions, give general legal advice, and review legal documents on family law issues.

Distress and Crisis Ontario has a list of distress centres across the province that help people who are lonely, depressed, or suicidal. The centres are usually available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Many centres also have programs for survivors of suicide, support services for young people, telephone programs for seniors and vulnerable people, and mental health crisis lines.

ShelterSafe.ca is an online resource to help women and their children looking for safety from violence and abuse. Use their clickable map to find the nearest shelter.

This website has a directory of gender-based violence services in Ontario. It includes services related to abuse and violence from a partner, ex partner, family member, acquaintance, or someone you don’t know.