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.

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has 4 free regional advice lines that give legal information and advice in French by phone to people living in:

• Greater Toronto Area
• Southwestern Ontario
• Eastern Ontario
• Northern Ontario and parts of central Ontario including Barrie, Parry Sound, and Muskoka and Kawartha Lakes regions

The advice lines do not help with family law or criminal law matters.

The FCJ Refugee Centre has free services for refugees and newcomers who do not have a secure or permanent right to stay. The centre can: 

• help with paperwork, translation, and interpretation
• make referrals to immigration and refugee lawyers 
• provide immigration case management for youth 
• give information about social services, skills development, and counselling 

They also provide temporary shelter for women and children, free food distribution, a primary health clinic for people without insurance, women’s programs, a youth group, and English classes. 

The centre has free information sessions about refugee hearings and appeals.

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) can give you a certificate that pays for a lawyer to help you with your immigration or refugee problem.

To qualify, you must have a low income and a legal issue that LAO covers. For example, you might get free help from a lawyer:

• if you’re detained for immigration reasons
• to complete a Basis of Claim (BOC) form and prepare for your refugee hearing
• to prepare an appeal or application for judicial review
• to prepare a humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) application
• to apply for a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA)
• if the government is trying to take away your refugee status

You can apply for a legal aid certificate online or by phone. Then you should find a lawyer that accepts certificates. You can also use the live chat on LAO’s website to ask for information about LAO services.

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

The Canada-US Border Rights Clinic is for people seeking safety at Canada’s border with the United States (US). They offer free summary legal advice, legal information, and referrals. You should get legal advice before you approach the US-Canada border. Their lawyers can give you advice about issues like:

• if you’re eligible to make a refugee claim at the US-Canada border given the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) 
• what happens if you have already been found ineligible to make a refugee claim 

For legal help, call or email the Clinic, or fill out the form on their website.  

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 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 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 Centre francophone de Toronto has a legal advice line funded by LAO for people living in the Greater Toronto Area including Toronto, Halton, Durham, Peel, and York. It gives legal information and advice in French over the telephone in the areas of:

• immigration law
• housing law
• income assistance
• employment law
• consumer rights
• human rights

The advice line does not help with family law or criminal law matters.

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.

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.