Legal Aid in Canada 2019-20

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Revenues are all monies received by the legal aid plan for assistance in the provision of legal aid services. Funding is received by legal aid plans from three main sources: government contributions, client contributions and cost recoveries, and contributions from the legal profession.
2. Federal government contributions are the federal contribution amounts for criminal and where applicable, I&R legal aid. Federal contributions flow directly to the consolidated revenue fund of each province/territory, and are subsequently allocated by the provinces/territories to their respective legal aid plans.
3. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).
4. P/T contributions are the contribution amounts received for legal aid services from the legal aid plan’s respective government. Many legal aid plans are unable to isolate the federal contribution received by the P/T government from JUS. Therefore, these federal contributions may be included in the total “P/T contributions to legal aid plans” figure.
5. Client contributions are to all monies received from the aided person for legal assistance; flat user fees are included. The amount of client contribution is established in an agreement between the jurisdiction and the client. Agreements may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Cost recoveries refer to the party costs ordered or agreed to be recovered in the case. Includes monies recovered from a judgement, award or settlement.
6. Contributions of the legal profession and interest earned from lawyers’ trust accounts are all monies received from the law profession (e.g., provincial/territorial law foundation funding, levies) as well as other revenues that have not already been accounted for in the above categories. This may include interest from lawyers’ trust accounts, revenues from investments, research sales, general interest earnings and any other revenue.

Notes

• For N.L. "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" include interest.
• For N.B., Public Trustee does not fall under the same screening criteria as criminal and family legal aid services; however, their revenue is included in this table as revenue received from the provincial Department of Justice. It is also used to cover expenditures related to P/T services.
• For N.B., "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes liens, Public Trustee Client Recovery, Public Trustee Fee Revenue, Interest, and miscellaneous.
• For Man., "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes judgements and settlements, interest income, and miscellaneous.
• For Sask. “Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues” includes interest, grants, and miscellaneous.
• For B.C. "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes investment income and fees.
• Yukon totals add to more than 100%.
• Nvt. data only includes federal contribution amounts; table should be interpreted with this in mind. Nvt. figures are draft and unaudited.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Legal Services Expenditures are payments made by legal aid plans to private law firms for the delivery of legal services and the costs of legal services delivered by legal aid plan staff. These expenditures include monies spent on the provision of legal advice and representation services to clients including special target groups. All legal aid office and contracted community clinic expenditures are a combination of direct and indirect service delivery costs. Direct service delivery costs are expenses related to providing services directly to clients, while indirect service delivery costs are expenses not directly related to providing legal aid services to clients, but are reasonably attributable to the delivery of legal aid. These costs are required to support the day-to-day operations of the legal aid plan and are provided at a service delivery location. These costs should not be included under administrative costs. Administrative costs and other costs are excluded.
2. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in 6 provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).

Notes

• For N.W.T. and Nvt. administrative and other costs are included in “Total Expenditures Dollars” but are not reflected in the criminal and civil expenditure breakdowns which is why totals do not add to 100%.
• For NU, total expenditures are draft and not audited.
• YK expenditures are not broken down by type of matter; total expenditure amounts should be interpreted with this in mind.

• Total legal aid plan expenditures from Table 2a include these administrative costs in all jurisdictions, except for N.W.T. and Nvt.
• For Nvt., data is draft and not audited.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Private bar lawyers are those who were active members of the private bar who delivered legal services and billed the legal aid plan during the fiscal year. Active bar members include the total number of lawyers certified and insured to practice in the jurisdiction. Government-employed and legal aid staff lawyers are excluded.
2. Staff lawyers are lawyers employed by legal aid plans who provide legal aid services to clients. They include duty counsel, staff lawyers at legal clinics, and others.
3. Other lawyers are personnel who are designated as counsel, but not performing in this capacity (e.g. Executive Director). For N.B., other lawyers includes Executive Director and Public Trustee & Director of Family Law Services.
4. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in 6 provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).

Notes

• For N.B., Public Trustee Services staff are listed separately under "Other Civil" as their caseloads are not included in civil statistics reported elsewhere.
• For Man., civil includes all staff lawyers taking I&R, children and family services, as well as domestic and civil matters; private bar lawyers accept cases in all identified categories.
• For Sask., private bar lawyers vary in taking files; therefore the number reported can be a private bar taking anything from one certificate to a full caseload like a staff lawyer.
• Yuk. operates under a 100% staff lawyer model. The territory only uses private lawyers for conflicts and other files on an occasional basis.

- Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Private bar lawyers are those active members of the private bar who delivered legal services and billed the legal aid plan during the fiscal year. Active bar members include the total number of lawyers certified and insured to practice in the jurisdiction. Government-employed and legal aid staff lawyers are excluded.
2. Staff lawyers are lawyers employed by legal aid plans who provide legal aid services to clients. They include duty counsel, staff lawyers at legal clinics, and others.
3. Other lawyers - refers to personnel who are designated as counsel, but not performing in this capacity (e.g. Executive Director). For N.B., Other Lawyers includes Executive Director and Public Trustee & Director of Family Law Services.
4. Intake workers are staff employed by the legal aid plan who provide intake services, assess clients’ needs, make appropriate referrals, prepare and review letters and documents, maintain records and perform other duties as required.
5. Support staff are staff employed by the legal aid plan who provide support in assisting clients but do not provide legal assistance. For example, a receptionist, an administrative person, human resource staff, an IT specialist, etc.
6. Paralegals are legal staff who have the ability to represent clients on many matters, including all provincial offences and summary criminal cases, as well as work for provincial tribunals and boards. Paralegals are non-lawyers providing legal services in specified areas of practice.
7. Legal assistants are staff who work under the supervision of a lawyer, qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work. They help lawyers deliver legal services but are prohibited from practicing law independently.
8. Articling students are students-at-law. Under the supervision of a senior lawyer, they can assist with legal advice, duty counsel, legal research, etc. Articling students must complete the articling program and be called to the bar before becoming a lawyer. For the purpose of this survey, articling students are classified as non-lawyers regardless of jurisdictional rules.
9. Other (e.g., managers) are personnel who are not performing tasks directly associated with support, paralegal, legal assistants or articling. For N.B., "Other Non-lawyers" includes and is not limited to HR Manager, Manager of Corporate Services, Manager of Trust & Guardianship, Guardian Officers, etc.

Notes

• For N.S., private bar lawyers are not included under personnel. They handle only 20% of cases with 80% being done by staff lawyers.
• For N.B., Public Trustee Services staff listed separately under "Civil" as their caseloads are not included in civil statistics reported elsewhere.
• For Man., Civil includes all staff taking immigration, children and family services, domestic and civil matters. Private bar accept cases in all identified categories.
• For Sask., private bar lawyers vary in taking files; therefore, the number reported can be a private bar lawyer taking anything from one certificate to a full caseload like a staff lawyer.
• For B.C., support staff include Public Legal Information services delivery.
• For N.W.T., the non-lawyers "Others" include nine Indigenous courtworkers employed by the legal aid plan. Justice Canada funding for these courtworker positions is covered under a separate Indigenous Courtwork budget component of the Access to Justice Services agreements (and not the legal aid portion of the funding).
• Yuk. operates under a 100% staff lawyer model. The territory only uses private lawyers for conflicts and other files on an occasional basis.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. An application for legal aid is a request for legal aid assistance that results in the provision of summary or full legal representation on behalf of the legal aid plan, or the denial of legal aid service. Summary services include the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service granted to an individual. Full legal representation constitutes more extensive legal assistance. The total number of applications reported for the fiscal year includes all applications filed during that time, irrespective of when the application was approved or rejected.
2. ̋Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
3. Provincial/Territorial (P/T) offences are those offences under provincial or territorial statutory responsibility. Also included are infractions under municipal by-laws.
4. Child protection matters are those that involve children who come into the care of child protection agencies for reasons such as allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
5. Family matters are proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature, excluding child protection.
6. Non-family matters are all other civil proceedings that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law).
7. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings for persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).
8. The actual number of applications received by NS Legal Aid in 2019-20 may be greater than the number of applications reported here because of differences in the way applications are counted (specifically related to gender).

Notes

• For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only.
• In Yuk., child protection cases are included under the “family” category. The number of P/T offences reported in Yuk. is an undercount due to unreliable data collection.
• For Nvt., total applications received includes representation made during circuit weeks for matters for which a written application has not been made and eligibility is presumed. Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

- Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. In this table, approved legal aid application counts are full legal representation applications only. When aggregated, the total number of applications reflects the number of individual requests for assistance, rather than the total number of persons seeking assistance. Full legal representation (may also be called “certificate”) refers to the provision of full legal aid representation by a private bar lawyer, approved by the legal aid plan or by a staff lawyer. An approved application for full legal representation refers to an application for legal assistance which is granted as described in a certificate, referral, or any other authorization denoting that the applicant is entitled to legal aid services. Once an application is approved for full legal representation by the legal aid plan, the certificate may then be brought to a private bar lawyer who bills the legal aid plan once the service is completed, or the service may be provided by a legal aid staff lawyer.
2. For criminal matters, there can be multiple charges per application and these can be handled separately by different lawyers.
3. For civil matters, there is one matter per application. In some jurisdictions one application may be associated with multiple matters.
4. ”Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
5. Provincial/Territorial (P/T) offences are those offences under provincial or territorial statutory responsibility. Also included are infractions under municipal by-laws.
6. Child protection matters are those where measures of child protection are sought and proceedings when a client is involved with a child protection agency.
7. Family matters are proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature, excluding child protection.
8. Non-family matters are all other civil proceedings that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law).
9. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).

Notes

• Totals may include applications that were withdrawn, or were received in a previous fiscal year, but approved or refused this fiscal year.
• For N.B., data only include approved applications where the attorney was assigned before March 31st.
• For P.E.I., civil data is only collected in aggregate form.
• For Ont., criminal legal aid matters includes data for adult and youth law clinics. It is not possible to break down by adult/youth the number of applications approved for full legal representation.
• In Man., an application may result in more than one legal matter. It is more likely that a criminal adult or youth application will result in multiple legal matters (e.g., breaches added to the original charge) than a civil application.
• For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only.
• In Yuk., child protection cases are included under the “family” category. The number of P/T offences reported in YK is an undercount due to unreliable data collection.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

1. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted.
2. If an application involves more than one reason for refusal, only the most important reason is counted. This is determined by the hierarchy of the table (reasons are ordered from highest to lowest importance, from left to right).
3. “Financial ineligibility” are refusals for legal aid based on financial information disclosed by the applicant (e.g., income level, assets, liabilities) which indicates that the applicant does not meet the financial eligibility requirements set by the legal aid plan and therefore does not qualify for legal aid. Financricial eligibility criteria are set out by each legal aid plan and therefore the criteria differ across the provinces and territories.
4. “Coverage restrictions” are applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the legal aid plan. For example, some plans do not cover wills and estates or workplace injury claims.
5. “Lack of merit” are applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance. This eligibility criterion does not depend on finances, it includes criteria such as the type of legal problem and the merit of the case.
6. “Non-compliance/abuse” are refusals for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the legal aid plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered, services applied for are abusive of the legal process, or because the client fails to cooperate with the legal aid lawyer.
7. “Other reasons for refusal” refer to all other reasons for refusing an application that has not already been accounted for in the above categories.
8. A proportion of Quebec refusals are due to the fact that some legal aid applicants have not submitted the required documents to assess their financial eligibility.

Notes

• B.C.’s current system does not support effective tracking of refusals, so many applications refused for coverage or eligibility may be incorrectly identified as “Other reasons for refusal”. Financial eligibility criteria are a set of a caps rather than a reflection of the client’s ability to pay. In addition the caps are based on a market basket measure of poverty.
• For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only.
• Yuk. data on reasons for refusal should be interpreted with caution due to inconsistent data collection.
• In N.W.T., refusals may be a result of applications received during different fiscal years. It is also common for a refusal to be issued due to incomplete applications, which are later completed and approved.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

– Refers to data that is not available, provided, or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Refused applications are all requests for legal aid that have been denied legal services. This total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full service that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted.
2. If an application involves more than one reason for refusal, only the most important reason is counted. This is determined by the hierarchy of the table (reasons are ordered from highest to lowest importance, from left to right).
3. “Financial ineligibility” are refusals for legal aid based on financial information disclosed by the applicant (e.g., income level, assets, liabilities) which indicates that the applicant does not meet the financial eligibility requirements set by the legal aid plan and therefore does not qualify for legal aid. Financial eligibility criteria are set out by each legal aid plan and therefore the criteria differ across the provinces and territories.
4. “Coverage restrictions” are applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the legal aid plan. For example, some plans do not cover wills and estates or workplace injury claims.
5. “Lack of merit” are applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance. This eligibility criterion does not depend on finances, it includes criteria such as the type of legal problem and the merit of the case.
6. “Non-compliance/abuse” are refusals for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the legal aid plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered, services applied for are abusive of the legal process, or because the client fails to co-operate with the legal aid lawyer.
7. Other refers to all other reasons for refusing an application that have not already been accounted for in the above categories.
8. A proportion of Quebec refusals are due to the fact that some legal aid applicants have not submitted the required documents to assess their financial eligibility.

Notes

• For P.E.I., data is only collected in aggregated form. The requested breakdown in not available.
• For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only.
• B.C.’s current system does not support effective tracking of refusals, so many applications refused for coverage or eligibility may be incorrectly identified as “Other reasons for refusal”. Financial eligibility critieria are a set of a caps rather than a reflection of the client’s ability to pay. In addition, the caps are based on a market basket measure of poverty.
• Yuk. data on reasons for refusal should be interpreted with caution due to inconsistent data collection.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

1. Refused applications are all requests for legal aid that have been denied legal services. The total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full service that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted.
2. Civil legal aid includes child protection matters; proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature; as well as all civil matters that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law, etc.). This category also includes immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters. Note that I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).
3. If an application involves more than one reason for refusal, only the most important reason is counted. This is determined by the hierarchy of the table (reasons are ordered from highest to lowest importance, from left to right).
4. “Financial ineligibility” are refusals for legal aid based on financial information disclosed by the applicant (e.g., income level, assets, liabilities) which indicates that the applicant does not meet the financial eligibility requirements set by the legal aid plan and therefore does not qualify for legal aid. Financial eligibility criteria are set out by each legal aid plan and therefore the criteria differ across the provinces and territories.
5. “Coverage restrictions” are applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the legal aid plan. For example, some plans do not cover wills and estates or workplace injury claims.
6. “Lack of merit” are applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance. This eligibility criterion does not depend on finances, it includes criteria such as the type of legal problem and the merit of the case.
7. “Non-compliance/abuse” are refusals for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the legal aid plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered, services applied for are abusive of the legal process, or because the client fails to co-operate with the legal aid lawyer.
   Other refers to all other reasons for refusing an application that have not already been accounted for in the above categories.

Notes

• For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only.
• B.C.’s current system does not support effective tracking of refusals, so many applications refused for coverage or eligibility may be incorrectly identified as “Other Civil.” Financial eligibility critieria are a set of a caps rather than a reflection of the client’s ability to pay. In addition, the caps are based on a market basket measure of poverty.
• Yuk data on reasons for refusal should be interpreted with caution due to inconsistent data collection.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

– Refers to data that is not available, provided, or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. An application for legal aid is a request for legal aid assistance that results in the provision of summary or full legal representation on behalf of the legal aid plan, or the denial of legal aid service. Summary services include the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service granted to an individual. Full legal representation constitutes more extensive legal assistance. The total number of applications reported for the fiscal year includes all applications filed during that time, irrespective of when the application was approved or refused.
2. Approved legal aid application counts refer to full legal representation applications only. When aggregated, the total number of applications reflects the number of individual requests for assistance, rather than the total number of persons seeking assistance. Full legal representation (or “certificate”) refers to the provision of full legal aid representation by a private bar lawyer approved by the legal aid plan or by a staff lawyer. An approved application for full legal representation refers to an application for legal assistance which is granted as described in a certificate, referral, or any other authorization denoting that the applicant is entitled to legal aid services. Once an application is approved for full legal representation by the legal aid plan, the certificate may then be brought to a private bar lawyer who bills the legal aid plan once the service is completed, or the service may be provided by a legal aid staff lawyer.
3. Refused applications refer to all requests for legal aid that have been denied legal services. This total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full legal representation that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted.
4. Indigenous refers to an individual who self-identifies as First Nations (North American Indian), Inuk (Inuit), or Métis, whether they live on or off-reserve and whether or not they have Registered or Treaty Indian status.
5.  “Other” refers to applications received in a previous fiscal year that are counted as “approved” or “refused” but not “received”; as well as “withdrawn”applications”, which were received in the current fiscal year but were withdrawn before being approved or refused.
6. Civil legal aid includes: child protection matters; proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature; as well as all civil matters that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law, etc.). This category also includes immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters. Note that I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.).

Notes

• For N.W.T. and Nvt., approval numbers could reflect applications that were received in fiscal year prior but approved in 2019-20.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

– Refers to data that is not available, provided, or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.
^P – Count is by number of persons assisted.
^A - Count is by number of assists - the number of times duty counsel was provided for each category of service provided for adult and youth criminal legal aid, provincial statute offences, I&R, and civil legal aid.

1. Criminal duty counsel are legal services in criminal matters that are generally provided at a court or place of detention.
2. Civil duty counsel are legal services in civil matters that may additionally be provided at locations other than a court or place of detention (e.g. psychiatric hospital, senior citizens' home).
3. “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
4. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions.
5. Other civil matters refer to all other civil proceedings including family matters.

Notes

• N.B. is unable to report adult/youth/provincial offences expenditures separately as this level of detail is not recorded in their accounting system or case management system.
• For N.S., an additional 87 assists were given for Brydges After Hours Telephone Duty Counsel, and are not reported in the criminal adult and youth numbers above. The age of the person could not be determined when these services were being provided.
• For P.E.I., criminal duty counsel services are not tracked for adults separately from youth.
• Legal Aid Manitoba does not track by matter type; therefore, for Brydges total assists, the service handles police custody calls throughout the province. For provincial statute offences, Legal Aid Manitoba does not track duty counsel assists by individual offences; the services rendered for provincial statute offences (if any) would be included in total criminal and youth matters. Legal Aid Manitoba does not track the number of persons assisted by duty counsel. For Man., civil includes all child protection and civil duty counsel matters.
• In Sask., duty counsel services are provided to individuals on remand at all court points including circuit points. If the matter cannot be resolved immediately, then a full-service application is taken. Civil duty counsel services are not available in Sask.
• Nvt. does not provide duty counsel services per se but presumes eligibility on criminal matters on circuit.

– Refers to data that were not available, provided or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Duty counsel service expenditures are the actual gross dollars expended by the legal aid plan in a given fiscal year for duty counsel services.
2. Criminal duty counsel are legal services in criminal matters that are generally provided at a court or place of detention.
3. Civil duty counsel are legal services in civil matters that may additionally be provided at locations other than a court or place of detention (e.g. psychiatric hospital, senior citizens' home).
4.  “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
5. Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions.
6. Other civil matters are all other civil proceedings including family matters.

Notes

• For Sask., the expenditures reflect the payments made to private bar and not staff lawyers.
• Legal Aid Manitoba does not track by matter type; therefore, for Brydges total assists, the service handles police custody calls throughout the province. For provincial statute offences, Legal Aid Manitoba does not track duty counsel assists by individual offences; the services rendered for provincial statute offences (if any) would be included in total criminal and youth matters. Legal Aid Manitoba does not track the number of persons assisted by duty counsel. For Man., civil includes all child protection and civil duty counsel matters.
• N.B. is unable to report adult/youth/provincial offences expenditures separately as this level of detail is not recorded in their accounting system or case management system. Brydges Program pro-rated based on number of calls received.
• For P.E.I., criminal duty counsel expenditures are not collected by age (adult/youth).
• Yuk. duty counsel expenditures only include private bar spending, not staff lawyer expenses.
• For N.W.T., a calculation is used to approximate the costs related to duty counsel/presumed eligibility matters. Estimated average time spent on files by criminal lawyers is 65% duty counsel (presumed eligibility), 30 % adult criminal and 5% youth criminal.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited. Nvt. does not provide duty counsel services per se but presumes eligibility on criminal matters on circuit.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Appeal is an appeal of a lower court or administrative tribunal decision, not an appeal of a refused application. Each case is counted despite the fact that the matter may have been dealt with by the legal aid plan in the past.

Notes

• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

Note: For Saskatchewan, the applications for legal aid services including those from outside the province are taken in the same manner as applications originating within the province.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.
*cell count under 5 supressed.

1. I&R legal services are only available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.
2. The other categories could include gender diverse people, as well as unknown responses.

Notes

• Northwest Territories, Yukon and Prince-Edward-Island data are not included due to missing data.
• Other category in Quebec (N=89) is excluded because data are not disaggregated by age category.
• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

– Refers to data that were not available or that were not provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.
*cell count under 5 supressed.

1. Indigenous legal aid clients are those who self-identify as First Nations (North American Indian), Inuk (Inuit), or Métis whether they live on or off-reserve and whether or not they have Registered or Treaty Indian status.
2. Indicates the number of recipients of summary and full services, and excludes duty counsel. Recipients may be counted more than once if they are entitled to receive more than one type of legal aid service.
3. “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
4. Civil legal aid includes all types of civil legal aid excluding immigration and refugee legal aid.

Notes

• Nvt. data is draft and not audited.

1. Includes cases approved in 2019-20, as well as cases carried over from previous years that were completed or ongoing in 2019-20, but incurred expenditures to the legal aid plan in 2019-20.
2. The list of offences for which criminal legal aid was provided is similar to the one contained in the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics classification system for reporting offences. The offences are those that generally carry a risk of incarceration upon conviction. The categories do not refer to specific offences under the Criminal Code. Rather they represent groupings of similar offence types.
3. Other offences includes all other data not captured in the broad offence categories.

Notes

• Yuk. and N.W.T. not included due to incomplete data
• Sask. expenditures includes $651,696 related to agent fees and administrative costs related to private bar.
• For Ont., the total volume of approved formal applications includes 2,263 for legal clinics and the total in-year expenditures includes $1,072,723 for legal clinics. Also, the total number of adult cases is 57,779. Mental health and appeal matters are counted under offence type and under the mental health and appeal section.
• B.C. YCJA Ministry costs are excluded.
• For P.E.I., expenditures by Criminal Code provision or offence categories are not available for staff lawyers’ caseloads. Only aggregate totals are available. An adjustment of $627,758 is included in total expenditures to record this aggregated cost.
• Nvt. includes an adjustment of $2,345,996 for staff lawyer payroll and benefits. Nvt. data is draft and is not audited.

Given the legal complexities of each case, not all costs are included in the “Total in-year expenditures” column; therefore, the above data should not be used to calculate cost per case.

1. Includes cases approved in 2019-20, as well as cases carried over from previous years that were completed or ongoing in 2019-20 but incurred expenditures to the legal aid plan in 2019-20.
2. The list of offences for which criminal legal aid was provided for are similar to those contained in the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics classification system for reporting offences. The offences are those that generally carry a risk of incarceration upon conviction. The categories do not refer to specific offences under the Criminal Code. Rather, they represent groupings of similar offence types.
3. Youth refers to persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age.
4. Other offences includes all other data not captured in the broad offence categories.

Notes

• Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut not included due to incomplete data.
• Saskatchewan expenditures include $21,236 for agent fees and administrative costs related to private bar.
• Prince-Edward-Island expenditures include $15,685 adjustment for staff lawyers.

Given the legal complexities of each case, not all costs are included in the ‘Total in-year expenditures’ column; therefore, the above data should not be used to calculate cost per case.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

1. Certificate refers to the number of principal claimants receiving legal aid services for each stage of the process.
2. Quebec did not provide a breakdown of volumes and expenditures by certificate and by private bar or staff lawyer. Total volumes and total expenditures were included in the Quebec totals.

– Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim.

Notes

• Expanded duty counsel refers to duty counsel services that attempt to move matters quickly at the early stages of the court system, often achieving early resolutions prior to written applications for full legal aid representation.
• There are no specialized courts operating in Nvt.
• For Man. – duty counsel and expanded duty counsel is only offered for child protection matters in unified family court. Gladue is always a factor due to the large number of Indigenous people involved with the justice system.
• In British Columbia there are no Unified Family Courts.
• In Yukon, there are no Unified Family Courts. Services such as full legal representation, duty counsel and expanded duty counsel are offered for all family related matters (with the exception of divorce and property) in Supreme Court Family Chambers.