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 (LAO) 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 can help with immigration and refugee problems. Search for the clinic in your area using your postal code.

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

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

There’s also a live chat feature on LAO’s website for general information about LAO clinics and applying for Legal Aid services. 

LAO helps people with low incomes with some immigration and refugee problems. For example, you might be able to get help:

• if you’re detained for immigration reasons
• to complete a Basis of Claim form
• with your refugee hearing,
• to prepare an appeal or application for judicial review,
• with cessation or vacation hearings,
• to prepare for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)

To get help from LAO, you can:

• call their free telephone line that lets you talk to a lawyer for up to 20 minutes to get information and general advice
• apply for a legal aid certificate if you have a low income and if your legal issue is one that LAO covers
• contact one of the Refugee Law staff offices in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Toronto

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has Refugee Law Offices in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Toronto to help refugees. If you have a low income, RLO lawyers may represent you:

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

RLO staff may provide other refugee and immigration services for very vulnerable clients, including those in detention. RLO staff can also refer you to a lawyer who can represent you using a legal aid certificate, if you qualify.

Toronto phone: 416-977-8111 

Ottawa phone: 613-569-7448 

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

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 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 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.

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.

This website has a list of settlement organizations that provide services to refugee claimants.