The Centre Francophone du Grande Toronto provides services in French for French speakers. They offer free legal services for people with a low income in areas including immigration and refugee law, tenants’ rights, income support, employment law, human rights, family law, and legal services for people affected by or living with HIV/AIDS.  

Fill out the online form to request services or call the Centre. If you’re calling from Peel, York or Durham region, you can get free summary legal advice in French at 1 844 966 7345.

Legal Aid Ontario funds legal clinics across Ontario to provide free legal services to people with low incomes.

Community legal clinics serve people who live in their area. Some community legal clinics help with immigration and refugee problems. Search online for the clinic in your area using your postal code.

Speciality legal clinics provide services to specific groups of people. The following specialty clinics offer immigration help to the groups they serve:

• Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples
• South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
• Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
• Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto
• HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario
• Justice for Children and Youth

These law school clinics help people in Toronto with some refugee and immigration issues:

• Downtown Legal Services
• Community and Legal Aid Services Program

This website lists some settlement organizations that help refugees across Ontario. For example, you might be able to get help with accessing housing, medical care, education, social assistance, and legal services.

The Immigration Detention Representation Program (IDRP) is a free service available from Legal Aid Ontario (LAO). Anyone in immigration detention in Ontario may be able to get a lawyer or paralegal to represent them at their detention review hearing. To access the program, you can contact one of the refugee law staff offices.

The Muslim Legal Support Centre (MLSC) is a legal clinic for Muslims who have low to modest incomes. MLSC offers free legal advice and other services in these areas:

• immigration
• family
• employment
• human rights
• housing
• criminal

To ask for legal help, you can complete MLSC’s intake form. Or you can call 416-350-2914 and leave a message for someone to call you back. MLSC also has free legal information sessions.

Legal Aid Ontario funds legal clinics across Ontario. There are two types of legal clinics: community legal clinics and specialty legal clinics.

Community legal clinics provide free legal services to people with low incomes who live in their area. Search for the clinic in your area using your postal code. Most help with:

• income assistance
• tenant rights
• employment problems

Some clinics can help with immigration and refugee problems or debt and consumer problems.

Some specialty legal clinics provide free legal services to specific groups of people with low incomes:

• Advocacy Centre for the Elderly
• Aboriginal Legal Services
• ARCH Disability Law Centre
• Black Legal Action Centre
• Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto
• Chinese and South Asian Legal Clinic
• Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples
• HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario
• Justice for Children and Youth
• South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario

Some specialty legal clinics provide free legal services in only certain areas of law:

• Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
• Canadian Environmental Law Association
• Income Security Advocacy Centre
• Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (IAVGO) Community Legal Clinic
• Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic
• Workers Health and Safety Legal Clinic

CCHR is an organization that works with tenants mainly by telephone and email.

Tenants facing eviction can get information about the eviction process and services that can help them. Tenants renting in Toronto can also get help if their landlord has applied for a rent increase above the guideline, or help with maintenance and repair applications to the Landlord and Tenant Board.

CCHR’s human rights services include helping tenants who:

• are being discriminated against when looking for housing
• are being harassed
• need accommodation for a human rights reason, such as a disability
• want general information about human rights or the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

The directory lists all lawyers and paralegals licensed to give legal services in Ontario. You can search by name, address or postal code, language, and area of law.

If you have a legal aid certificate and are looking for a lawyer who accepts certificates, you can use LAO’s online tool. It lets you look for a lawyer by location, area of law, and language. You can also search for a lawyer with experience in domestic violence cases.

The association has an online tool to help you find a licensed paralegal. You can search by name, area of law, and location.

JusticeNet is a not-for-profit organization that can help people find legal services when their income is too high for legal aid and too low to afford legal fees. Their website has a list of lawyers, paralegals, and mediators who charge reduced fees based on your income and family size. You must register and pay a small fee to use their services.