Services in Ontario - Getting benefits and services

The FCJ Refugee Centre has services for refugees and others who are at risk because of their immigration status. They can:

• help with paperwork, translation, and interpretation
• make referals to immigration and refugee lawyers
• give information about social services, skills development, and counselling

They also have free information sessions about hearings and appealing to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD).

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
• Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic
• Workers Health and Safety Legal Clinic

This website provides newcomers with information and resources to settle in Ontario, Canada in the areas of:

• immigration and citizenship
• health
• employment
• education
• daily life

There is also a directory that can help you find a settlement agency near you.

This directory helps refugee claimants find a doctor in their city who is approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to perform their immigration medical exam.

Service Canada is a central place to access a wide range of government services and benefits, including Employment Insurance, Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan, Social Insurance Numbers, and passports. There are Service Canada offices across Ontario.

Service Canada’s Benefits Finder suggests benefits from the Canadian and provincial governments that you may be able to get.

Legal Aid Ontario funds Justice for Children and Youth to offer free legal help in the Toronto area to young people under 18 and homeless youth under 25.

They focus on all areas of children’s law including youth criminal justice, education, mental health, human rights, and provincial offences. They also give general legal advice and information to young people, to parents on education issues, and to professional and community groups.

This service connects refugee claimants with a healthcare service provider who can assist with initial medical assessments and referrals to other health services. It is not an emergency or crisis line. 

CAMH offers psychiatric consultation and possible brief culturally sensitive interventions to refugee claimaints during their first 2 years in Toronto. A doctor’s referral is required.

Women’s College Hospital offers a Crossroads Clinic that provides medical services to refugee claimaints during their first 2 years in Toronto. They provide a range of services including:

• management of chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension
• full primary care for children including immunizations
• pregnancy care
• family planning advice
• annual health exams
• assistance with issues like sleep disorders, depression, and anxiety
• arranging appointments with specialists
• health education 

The Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT) is a community-based organization that helps victims of torture, war, genocide, and crimes against humanity. They provide treatment, tools, and support that allow refugees to heal from trauma and become active community members.

This website has a list of settlement organizations that can help people making a refugee claim.