| Description (Service) |
This listing gives an overview of legislation, community legal clinics, legal information services, how to find a lawyer or paralegal, Powers of Attorney, and is also an index to related listings in this directory:
LEGISLATION:
City of Burlington By-laws
Town of Halton Hills By-laws
Town of Milton By-laws
Town of Oakville By-laws
Ontario law: see Government of Ontario e-Laws
- laws viewed on, downloaded or printed from e-Laws are official copies of the law
Federal law: see Government of Canada Justice Laws website
- consolidated Acts and regulations on the Justice Laws Website are official, and can be used for evidentiary purposes
COMMUNITY LEGAL CLINICS:
Legal Aid Ontario (see full listing here)
- funds 79 legal clinics that provide free services for people with low income (see below for those serving Halton)
- clinics provide legal help for problems relating to basic needs: income, housing, and human rights
- services include representation in courts and tribunals, legal advice, law reform activities, and referrals to other sources of assistance
Community-based Clinics:
Halton Community Legal Services (see full listing here) provides help with:
- social assistance (Ontario Works (OW), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Canada pension matters, etc.)
- housing matters (disputes between tenants and landlords, evictions, etc.)
- various employment matters (wrongful dismissal, workers compensation, etc.)
The Women's Centre of Halton Legal Clinic (see full listing here) provides help with:
- family law
- immigration law
- criminal law
Specialty and Ethnolinguistic Clinics:
Provide services in a specific area of law or to a particular community, such as:
- Indigenous communities
- Black and other racialized communities
- the elderly, children and youth
- injured workers and those living with disabilities
In addition to providing legal services to individuals, several specialty clinics also advocate on behalf of the particular community they serve, including:
Aboriginal Legal Services (see full listing here):
- offers legal help, legal education, and community development to Aboriginal people
Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (see full listing here):
- provides direct legal services to low-income seniors, public legal education, and law reform
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (see full listing here):
- works to improve human rights and justice in housing for low-income Ontarians through legal advice and representation, law reform, community organizing, training, and education
ARCH Disability Law Centre (see full listing here):
- offers information, summary advice and referrals, and representation in systemic cases for people with disabilities
Black Legal Action Centre (see full listing here):
- delivers legal aid to low or no income Black Ontarians
Canadian Environmental Law Association (see full listing here):
- provides legal services to individuals and groups with environmental legal problems, and seeks to improve environmental protection through legislation
Centre for Spanish-Speaking Peoples (see full listing here):
- provides summary advice and assistance, with particular emphasis on immigration matters, tenants’ and workers’ rights, to the Spanish-speaking community
Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (see full listing here):
- offers legal advice and representation to low-income, non-English speaking members of the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian communities
HALCO - HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (see full listing here):
- provides free legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS
Human Rights Legal Support Centre (see full listing here)
- provides Legal advice and support, including possible representation and application assistance for applicants to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
IAVGO - Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (see full listing here):
- provides legal advice and representation to injured workers
Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic (see full listing here):
- provides information and advice, and represents injured workers
Justice for Children and Youth (see full listing here):
- offers information, summary advice, referrals, and representation to children and young people under 18 years of age, and to homeless and unstably housed young people under 25
Landlord's Self Help Centre (see full listing here):
- provides information and summary advice to small-scale landlords
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (see full listing here):
- provides advice and representation to low-income South Asians
Workers' Health & Safety Legal Clinic (see full listing here):
- takes on health and safety cases, workers’ compensation cases, human rights cases, and employment standards reprisal cases, if they relate to core mandate, for workers who do not have union representation
LEGAL INFORMATION SERVICES:
When looking at legal information online, it's of primary importance to ensure it applies to the law in Ontario
Canadian Bar Association, Pro Bono Initiatives
- lawyers in the CBA Immigration Law Section provide services, without charge, to individuals in relation to selected temporary public policies of IRCC
- services may include legal consultations and advice
Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) (see full listing here)
- provides clear, accurate, and practical legal rights education and information to help people understand and exercise their legal rights
Your Legal Rights shares legal information resources produced by nonprofit organizations across Ontario and also contains recent legal information webinars produced by CLEO
Steps to Justice gives reliable and practical information on common legal problems including:
- step-by-step information to help you work through legal problems
- practical tools, such as checklists, fillable forms, and self-help guides
- referral information for legal and social services across Ontario
- live chat and email support
Family Law Information Centre
- services are available in family courts across Ontario, including the Milton Courthouse (see full listing here)
- information about separation and divorce and related family law issues, family justice services, alternative forms of dispute resolution, local community resources and court processes
Legal Line (see full listing here):
- online information on 48 areas of law
- also provide referrals for legal advice and services
Pro Bono Ontario (see full listing here)
- offers a free legal advice line and connects volunteer lawyers with Ontarians who cannot afford a lawyer
- helps with civil court (no family or criminal law), employment, housing, consumer issues, and creating Powers of Attorney
REDUCED-COST LEGAL SERVICES:
JusticeNet (see full listing here)
- not-for-profit service helping people in need of legal expertise, whose income is too high to access legal aid and too low to afford standard legal fees
TO FIND A LAWYER OR PARALEGAL:
Law Society of Upper Canada, Referral Service (see full listing here)
- online service that gives the name of a lawyer or licensed paralegal who will provide a free consultation of up to 30 minutes to help determine rights and options
- search the Lawyer and Paralegal Directory by name, city, postal code, area of law, and language
- search the Directory of Certified Specialists by specialty area for lawyers who provide specialist assistance in complex matters and to facilitate referrals
TO COMPLAIN ABOUT A LAWYER OR PARALEGAL:
Law Society of Upper Canada Lawyer Complaints Services (see here)
CRIMINAL RECORD EXPUNGEMENT ASSISTANCE:
Pardons Canada (see full listing here)
- non-profit organization assisting individuals in obtaining pardons, record suspensions and US entry waivers
POWERS OF ATTORNEY:
A legal document that gives someone you trust the right to make financial or health care decisions for you
- there are two types: Personal Care (decisions about health care, housing and other aspects of personal life) and Property (decisions about financial affairs)
- for more information see the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General website
- make a Powers of Attorney by downloading the Publications Ontario kit or using the CLEO web tool
|
