Generally speaking Legal Aid discriminates against men and prefers to give help to women and visible minorities

• Here is what the Ontario Legal Aid office says:
• "Legal Aid offers different kinds of help, depending on your legal problem. You may need a lawyer to go to court with you, or you may just need some advice or some assistance with court documents.
• "You may be able to get legal aid to pay for a lawyer if:
• "You have little or no money left after you pay for basic necessities, like food and housing, and your legal problem is one that legal aid covers
• "People with no income or on social assistance almost always qualify financially for legal aid. But you may be able to get legal aid even if you have a job and own a house.
• " Legal aid staff will look at your personal financial circumstances to decide if you qualify. Every situation is different. It all depends on your family responsibilities and your monthly expenses. "

How to get legal aid assistance.
(Adapted from a Law Society of Upper Canada pamphlet.
The information here also generally applies in all provinces across Canada.)

There have been several cases in Ontario courts where judges have ordered Legal Aid to pay for a defendant's lawyer and they have raised the pay rates lawyers get. This will force the Legal Aid office to loosen up the purse strings and at the same time make many more lawyers willing to accept Legal Aid.

Ask Morin, Milgard, Marshall, Nelles, Gregory Parsons, Ronald Dalton, Randy Druken about justice in Canada. All have been wrongfully convicted and or subsequently exonerated. But they are only the extreme cases. Every day hundreds of men are wrongly convicted in Canadian Courts because they cannot afford bail or are poor.

In the USA 1 person in 32 is either currently in prison or on probation or parole. Hundreds of men have been wrongfully executed. Tens of thousands are wrongfully convicted. Not just blacks and the poor, although they are the majority. The Project Innocence Web Site is a superb source of USA information on fighting wrongfull convictions. posts a daily score card on the number of men on death row in the USA.

How Do You Find a GOOD Lawyer?

CanLaw is an excellent source for lawyers. Here is the index to our lawyers. Why not start there? Most will give you a half hour free consultation. If you do not see a lawyer you like, fill out our "Lawyer Referral Service " form and we will find you one for free. The Free Lawyer Referral Service link can be found on every page on this web site. We have excellent lawyers and recommend them to you.

How you you apply for Legal Aid?

Go to your local legal aid office and speak to a staff person. it is a good idea to call the office first to find out the best time to be there. Some offices will give you an appointment, others may ask you to take a number and wait you turn.

What do you need to bring with you?

• some form of identification such as your social insurance card, driver's licenser. birth certificate or landed immigrant papers.
• any documents relating to your case, such as court orders. separation agreements
• proof of income if you have any (3-4 recent pay stubs, welfare cheque stubs or employment Insurance statements)
• proof of monthly expenses and bills (rent receipt, mortgage payment, hydro, gas, car payment receipts of canceled cheques, credit card statements, car insurance bill)
• deed for your house.

If you are eligible or think you are eligible, for legal aid, you should apply as soon as possible, and if and when approved, take your legal aid certificate to the lawyer of your choice. While there are rules about who may qualify and under what circumstance, the Legal Aid plan has the "right" to change the rules at any time and often does. Budget constraints, political considerations and the women's rights movement have enormous impact on how legal aid officials conduct themselves and on deciding who gets legal aid and who does not. Mothers can usually get legal aid for family law matters when fathers in the same circumstances cannot. Although not all lawyers accept legal aid, a majority do.

You may be able to get legal aid to pay for a lawyer if:
• Your legal situation is urgent and serious and you have little or no money left after you pay for the necessities like food and housing.

• People with no income of on social assistance usually qualify financially for legal aid. You may be able to get legal aid even if you have some money in the bank and/or a house.

What kind of cases are covered?

If you qualify financially, legal aid may be able to pay your lawyer for some of these things. This is not a complete list. Please talk to you legal aid office about your specific case.

• For Criminal Charges
• any offense which likely result in jail time (e.g. assault, impaired driving causing bodily harm, robbery, welfare fraud, break and enter
• In Family Matters:
• to get custody of your children or to change custody
• to get a restraining order against your partner
• to remove your partner from your home, in cases of physical abuse.
• to establish or to change support payments for you and your child
• to establish access to your children where no arrangements have already been made
• to help with custody and access rights if your partner is likely to move far away so you can't see your children to threatens to take your children away from you
• to help if your partner denies you access to your child
• to change access from supervised to non-supervised
• to stop your partner from selling or destroying your property
• to negotiate property issues, including RRSP's and pensions
• In Immigration and refugee matters
• refugee hearings before the Immigration and refugee Board
• sponsorship appeals
• deportation appeals and submissions to the Minister of Immigration for deportation appeals
• For Other Civil Cases
• Workers' Compensation
• mental health hearings and appeals
• parole hearings and appeals
• damage claims

Legal aid is usually free to people with little income or money. People who have a little money but not enough to hire a lawyer may have to pay some money

If you do have to pay, you will be asked to sign a Payment Agreement which says that you agree to:

• pay legal aid a certain amount every month: or
• pay legal aid a lump sum of money; or
• have a lien put on your house or property. The lien says that you will pay legal aid back when you sell or refinance your house, when you renew the mortgage on your house or within five years, whichever comes first.

Normally it takes two or three weeks to process your application. Your lawyer cannot officially start working on your file until s/he has a legal aid certificate.

Make sure to tell legal aid staff if your situation is an emergency. The staff will help your fill out an application and may be able to tell you right away whether you can get legal aid. If you already have a lawyer, legal aid will mail the certificate directly to your lawyers. If you do not have a lawyer, you contact one while you wait for your certificate.

What if you are turned down for legal aid?

You can appeal. If you are turned down for legal aid. you can go back to the legal aid office and ask to fill out an appeal form. After you have filled out the appeal form, you will get an appointment to speak to the area committee, usually in about two or three weeks. You have to tell the committee, which is usually a group of three lawyers, why you are appealing the decision.

Where else can you get help? If you do not qualify for legal aid, Community Legal Clinics may be able to help you. The clinics have lawyers and trained legal workers to give you advice and represent you. These clinics usually deal with housing, (landlord and tenant) social assistance (welfare), pension, Worker's Compensation, employment insurance and immigration and employment rights issues. You will have to complete a financial test to make sure you qualify for their service.

DUTY COUNSEL CAN ONLY PROVIDE THE MOST LIMITED ASSISTANCE. Do not expect them to "represent" you. Only a properly retained lawyer can properly represent you. If you are going to court and do not have a lawyer, lawyers at the courthouse called duty counsel may be able to help you. However duty counsel are hugely overworked and at best can only give you about five minutes of their time, so do not expect much help here.

The Legal Aid Advice Lawyer is a service open to the public and available for three to four hours a week in some locations. Lawyers can give you advice or help review court documents. You may have to qualify financially before getting help. Check with your local legal aid office to find a location for the Legal aid Advice Lawyer near you.

Where is the nearest Legal Aid Office?

Check your phone book's yellow pages under "Lawyers" of the white pages under "Legal Aid: for the address of your local legal aid office.