A Profile of Legal Aid Services in Family Law Matters in Canada
TABLE 1 : Summary of Primary Delivery Model and Annual Income Cut-offs for Single Persons
| Province/Territory |
Primary Delivery Model1 |
Annual Income Cut-offs for Single Person2 $ |
| Newfoundland |
Staff |
4,716 |
| Prince Edward Island |
Mixed - Judicare |
14,176 |
| Nova Scotia |
Mixed - Staff |
12,804 |
| New Brunswick |
Mixed - Staff |
- |
| Quebec |
Mixed |
8,870 |
| Ontario3 |
Judicare |
9,192 |
| Manitoba |
Mixed - Judicare |
14,000 |
| Saskatchewan |
Staff |
9,420 |
| Alberta |
Judicare |
13,000 |
| British Columbia |
Mixed - Judicare |
12,024 |
| Yukon |
Mixed - Staff |
confidential |
| Northwest Territories |
Mixed - Judicare |
- |
| Nunavut |
Mixed - Staff |
- |
Source of data: Unless otherwise noted, data were provided by the legal aid service in each jurisdiction. Income information for Ontario and Newfoundland was obtained from Statistics Canada (1999).
1 Three models of legal aid service are currently in use in Canada. In the staff lawyer model, lawyers are employed directly by legal aid plans; however, private Bar lawyers are still used in cases in which this is required - such as conflict of interest. In the judicare model, legal services are provided by lwyers in private practice, who are paid by the legal aid plan contract, or tariff, basis. Most jurisdictions employ a mixed model of legal aid service delivery, which means that they use a combination of staff and private lawyers to provide legal services. For jurisdictions that use a mixed model, this table indicates whether the majority of cases are dealt with by staff or private lawyers.
2 In some jurisdictions, income is only one of several criteria used in determining eligibility for legal aid. These other criteria are discussed in the text.
3 Rather than an income cut-off, Ontario uses a net annual income waiver, which is the income above which a detailed needs test is required.
