Legal Advice, Information, and Representation
Lower Mainland: 604-687-3221
Toll Free: 1 800-663-1919
Facilitates a 30-minute consultation with a lawyer for $25 plus taxes. Inform the lawyer you have gone through Lawyer Referral, keep track of the time, and determine the hourly rate should you extend the consultation.
Lower Mainland: 604-878-7400
Toll Free: 1 877-762-6664
Operates a free legal clinics at locations across the Lower Mainland and British Columbia to provide legal advice and assist in the preparation of legal cases. They also operate a Roster Program which provides pro bono (free) legal representation services for specific case types to qualifying individuals.
Lower Mainland: 604 408 2172
Toll Free: 1 866 577 2525
Legal Aid provides subsidized legal services, ranging from legal information and advice to legal representation, in the areas of criminal, family and immigration law. Legal aid is limited to criminal charges, mental health or prison issues, serious family problems or serious immigration problems. Applicants must meet financial guidelines to be eligible.
604 603 5797
Provides legal assistance and representation services to low and modest income individuals engaged in civil (non-family) chambers litigation matters before the BC Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in Vancouver.
Lower Mainland: 604 660 2084
Nanaimo: 250 741 5447
Victoria: 250 356 7012
Assists people with family and civil law issues, including separation or divorce, income security, employment, housing or debt. The centre does not deal with criminal issues or small claims court forms and filings.
Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS)
Lower Mainland: 604 685 3425
Toll Free: 1 888 685 6222
Provides legal assistance to those with low income or physical or mental disabilities. CLAS also offers specific legal services for person appearing before a Mental Health Act Review Panel.
UBC Law Students’ Legal Advice Program
604 822 5791
UBC law students provide free legal advice and representation on specific areas of law to people who cannot afford a lawyer at clinics located throughout Greater Vancouver. LSLAP also publishes a comprehensive legal advice manual.
Indigenous Community Legal Clinic
Lower Mainland: 604 684 7334
Toll Free: 1 888 684 7334
UBC law students assist Aboriginal individuals, band councils, societies, organizations and groups with a variety of legal issues including criminal matters, family law matters, human rights complaints, civil disputes in small claims court, wills and estates, hearings before administrative tribunals, Indian Status applications, Aboriginal legal issues, and limited assistance with some divorce cases.
250 385 1221
The Law Centre provides advice, assistance and representation to clients in the Victoria area who cannot afford a lawyer.
604 254 9626
MOSAIC provides legal services for low-income immigrants and refugees in immigration and family law matters. Also provides advocacy in tenancy, welfare and employment matters, including for temporary foreign workers.
Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of BC
Lower Mainland: 604 985 5355
Toll Free: 1 877 811 1190
Has offices throughout BC. Assists Indigenous people with the police or courts: assistance preparing for court, accompaniment to court, speaking on behalf of individuals in court. They also offer services related to drug and alcohol addiction.
Prisoners’ Legal Services
Call the Legal Services Society Call Centre
1 888 839 8889
A legal aid clinic for federal and provincial prisoners in BC. Can assist with segregation issues, disciplinary hearings, involuntary transfers, parole suspensions, detention hearings and sentence calculation, as well as other issues.
Rise Women’s Legal Centre (a service for women)
604 451 7447
A student-driven community legal centre offering legal services to self-identifying women, in family law, wills drafting, and immigration applications for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association
1 888 669 4482
Provides free legal advocacy and other services to live-in caregivers based in British Columbia.
Human Rights
Lower Mainland: 604 622 1100
Toll Free: 1 855 685 6222
The BC Human Rights Clinic assists people across BC with human rights complaints before the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
Lower Mainland: 604 775 2000
Toll Free: 1 888 440 8844
The BCHRT is a quasi-judicial body that deals with human rights complaints covered by the BC Human Rights Code. Resolution can be done through mediation or in a hearing.
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Toll Free: 1 888 214 1090
TTY: 1 888 643 3304
The CHRC deals with human rights complaints against the federal government, First Nations governments, or private companies that are regulated by the federal government such as banks, trucking companies, broadcasters and telecommunications companies.
