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

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

They can also help people in Ontario younger than 25 years who are homeless.

In Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Rainy River Districts, the Newcomer Legal Clinic provides free legal services in refugee, immigration, and citizenship law to newcomers who have a low income or other barriers to accessing legal assistance.

To request services, fill out the form on the Clinic’s website or call the Clinic.

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.

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.

CASA helps people who came to Canada as a child or youth with their immigration law issues. CASA offers legal advice, representation, information, and referrals to those who:  

• are under the age of 25
• live in Ontario 
• arrived in Canada as a child or youth
• do not have immigration status or have temporary immigration status in Canada
• have no income or a low income   

Email CASA to schedule an appointment at: info@casacentre.ca.  

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.

The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) keeps a registry of Immigration Consultants and International Student Immigration Advisors that they monitor. Use this registry to find out if a professional is registered with the CICC. You can also use it to check if an Immigration Consultant has any discipline issues.

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.

In Toronto, The 519 provides legal help, health and wellness programs, education, housing support, and other programming to 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

The 519 Legal Advice Clinic offers 30 minutes of free legal advice from a lawyer by phone or video conference about:

• criminal, employment, family, housing, human rights, health, income security, wills and estates, and civil law
• legal issues surrounding gender affirming care
• immigration and refugee law with a focus on sexual orientation and gender identity

The 519 also has other law-related programs like the:

• Trans ID clinic
• Mock Hearing Program for LGBTQ+ refugee claimants
• A2J Case Support Program for 2SLGBTQ+ Black, Indigenous, and racialized people who have a low income and are navigating the criminal or family law systems

For legal help, fill out the intake form, email LegalClinic@The519.org, or book a call.

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.

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.