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

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.

In some cases, a detained person may be released with conditions under the supervision of the Toronto Bail Program. A person could be in immigration detention or facing criminal charges.  

The detained person can ask the Toronto Bail Program for an interview to decide if they can be accepted. If accepted, the detained person can request an early detention review. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Legal Aid Ontario’s Refugee Law Offices (RLO) in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Toronto give refugees free help with some legal issues. If you have a low income, RLO lawyers may help you:

• appeal a decision denying your refugee claim to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
• apply to the Federal Court for judicial review of a negative decision in your refugee claim and to pause your removal
• if the government is trying to take away your refugee status

RLO staff may also provide other services for very vulnerable clients, including people in detention. RLO staff can also refer you to a lawyer who can represent you for free if you have a legal aid certificate.

Toronto phone: 416-977-8111  

Ottawa phone: 613-569-7448  

Hamilton phone: 905-528-0134 or toll-free: 1-877-449-4003  

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.

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.

JFCY is a legal clinic that helps people who are younger than 18. They can give 30 minutes of free legal advice by phone in many areas of law including criminal, education, and human rights.

They can also help people younger than 25 who:

• came to Canada as children and have problems related to immigration status, or
• are homeless

For immigration law issues, contact JFCY’s Childhood Arrivals Support & Advocacy program. Parents can call if they’re having problems registering their child in school because of their immigration status.