Services in Ontario - Wills

During the COVID-19 situation, many community legal clinics are no longer meeting with people in person, but will provide services over the phone. Call ahead for more information.

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. Most help with:

• Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program
• tenants’ rights
• the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement
• some employment issues

Some clinics can help with immigration and refugee problems.

Search for the clinic in your area using your postal code.

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

For more help contacting a clinic, call Legal Aid Ontario at 1-800-668-8258 or 416-979-1446. For TTY, use Bell’s Relay Service at 1-866-641-8867 or 416-598-8867.

In Toronto, the 519 is an agency committed to the health, happiness and full participation of the LGBTQ2S communities. This includes services for:

• families and children
• counseling
• housing
• education and training
• newcommers
• youth

In Kingston, the Queen’s Elder Law Clinic provides a range of free legal services to seniors with a low income. This includes help with WIlls, Power of Attorney for Property, and Power of Attorney for Personal Care. 

The Law Society of Ontario has on 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 can’t wait for a legal representative to call you back, or if you don’t have a call-back number, email lsrs@lso.ca. Or, 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. You can also search for services offered in French and for unbundled services.

JusticeNet helps people find a legal professional if their income is too high to get legal aid but too low to afford legal fees. If your net family income is less than $59,000, they refer you to an online directory of lawyers, paralegals, and mediators who provide help at reduced rates.

JusticeNet is a non-profit organization. You must register and pay a $25 fee to use their website. They may return the fee if you don’t find a professional to work with.