{"id":46416,"date":"2021-10-08T17:05:04","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T21:05:04","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:36:55","slug":"if-you-cannot-afford-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"publications-page","link":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/if-you-cannot-afford-lawyer","title":{"rendered":"If you cannot afford a lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Legal Aid Ontario<\/h2>\n<p>Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) offers free legal help for some legal issues if your income and assets are low enough. These services include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legal aid certificates<\/strong><br \/>\nLAO pays a lawyer to work on your legal problem for a certain number of hours. You can apply online or by phone. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalaid.on.ca\/services\/how-do-i-apply-for-legal-aid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legalaid.on.ca\/services\/how-do-i-apply-for-legal-aid<\/a> or call <strong>1-800-668-8258<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>You can use LAO&#8217;s online tool to find a lawyer who accepts LAO certificates. Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/legalaid.on.ca\/lawyers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legalaid.on.ca\/lawyers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lawyers at family courts<\/strong><br \/>\nTalk to <strong>duty counsel<\/strong> for help on the day of your court hearing. They may be able to give legal advice, explain the court process, or help you work out a settlement. They cannot represent you at trial.<\/p>\n<p>Talk to <strong>advice counsel<\/strong> for general information. They may be able to give you legal advice if your income is low enough.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Family Law Service Centres<\/strong><br \/>\nThese centres have staff lawyers and legal workers who can help prepare court documents, refer you to other services, and help you apply for a legal aid certificate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Family Law Offices<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are 3 offices located in Kenora, Ottawa, and Thunder Bay with lawyers and paralegals who help with family court cases and accept legal aid certificates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Law school clinics<\/strong><br \/>\nEach law school in Ontario has a legal aid clinic staffed by law students who are supervised by lawyers. These clinics are located in Kingston, London, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto, and Windsor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information about these services, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.legalaid.on.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legalaid.on.ca<\/a> or call <strong>1-800-668-8258<\/strong>. For TTY, call <strong>711<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Pro Bono Students Canada \u2013 Family Justice Centre<\/h2>\n<p>The Family Justice Centre is staffed by law students who are supervised by lawyers. People with low incomes who do not have a lawyer can get general legal advice and help with court forms. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.probonostudents.ca\/family-justice-centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">probonostudents.ca\/family-justice-centre<\/a> or call <strong>647-952-3354<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-46416","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>If you cannot afford a lawyer - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/if-you-cannot-afford-lawyer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If you cannot afford a lawyer - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Legal Aid Ontario Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) offers free legal help for some legal issues if your income and assets are low enough. 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