CLEO’s History

CLEO’s long and rich history dates back to 1974. To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we created this digital timeline to highlight some of our important milestones.

1974

How it all started

CLEO begins as Toronto Community Law School. A group of Osgoode Hall Law School students created the School in response to the public’s need for basic information about their legal rights.

1975

Incorporates as a registered charity

The Toronto Community Law School incorporates and becomes a registered charity called the Toronto Community Law Program.

1976

Hosts first symposium

CLEO and the Ontario Business Education Association hosts Fusion ’76. Two hundred Ontario high school law teachers attend and work on developing law courses.

1978

Public legal education sessions

Besides library programs and printed booklets for the general public, CLEO begins to hold regular sessions to train community workers about the law.

1979

Legal name change

The Toronto Community Law Program becomes Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO). The bilingual name comes later.

1980s

Focus on legal needs of people with low incomes

Working with Ontario’s community legal clinics, CLEO defines its mandate to develop plain language legal materials.

1984

Focus on select groups

CLEO focuses on meeting the legal needs of 3 main groups: women, youth, and people who use community legal clinics.

1986

Grows print resources

CLEO pauses its information sessions to expand print resources. Working with Parkdale Community Legal Services, CLEO develops pamphlets for tenants written at a grade 3 reading level.

1990

First Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) Manual

To help community legal clinics develop their own PLEI, CLEO publishes its first public PLEI manual.

1990s

Expand information to family and criminal law

In areas of law where no clinic partners exist, CLEO reaches out to community partners to develop new material.

2004

Community campaign

CLEO launches “So Vote” to encourage marginalized communities to vote.

2005

CLEONet launches

CLEONet is the first online resource for community workers that features a collection of public legal education resources.

2005

Your Rights Your Language

CLEO develops legal resources for non-English and non-French speaking communities.

2006

CLEO adopts its bilingual name

2008

Public Legal Education conference

CLEO hosts the Learn, Grow, Connect conference on how to share public legal education and information with Ontario’s diverse communities.

2010

Centre for Research and Innovation

CLEO launches the Centre to research the legal information needs of communities that face barriers to accessing justice.

2011

Connecting Communities

From 2011 to 2019, this project connects legal professionals and community organizations across Ontario to plan and deliver over 50 public legal education initiatives.

2011

Your Legal Rights

CLEO launches its first public-facing website with legal information in short question and answer format.

2013

Get Ready for ONCA

CLEO creates this project to educate, train, and guide nonprofits as they transition to the new Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA).

2013

Better legal information Handbook

CLEO publishes this resource to help community workers produce clear public legal information for the people they serve.

2017

Steps to Justice launches

CLEO brings together justice sector and community organizations from across the province to launch Steps to Justice. The website offers accurate, practical, and easy-to-understand legal information.