Infographic: Legal Aid in Canada 2023-24

The annual legal aid report presents data on legal aid delivery in Canada.

This infographic presents trend data over five years from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

In 2023-24 legal aid expenditures were at pre-pandemic levels and administrative costs increased, up 16% from last year.

Expenditures, costs and revenue reported in 2024 constant dollars calculated on March 19, 2025.

In 2023-24 legal aid revenues were up 25% compared to five years ago, with federal contributions up 34% in the same time period.

• 2019-20 contributions: $1.18 B total, $776 million from PTs, $220 million from Justice Canada, $181 million other
• 2020-21 contributions: $1.08 B total, $781 million from PTs, $217 million from Justice Canada, $86 million other
• 2021-22 contributions: $1.07 B total, $757 million from PTs, $221 million from Justice Canada, $89 million other
• 2022-23 contributions: $1.21 B total, $678 million from PTs, $243 million from Justice Canada, $293 million other
• 2023-24 contributions: $1.46 B, $735 million from PTs, $293 million from Justice Canada, $432 million other

Source: Table 1 – Legal aid plan revenues, by type of revenue, 2019-20 to 2023-24 (Figure uses constant 2024 dollars as calculated March 19, 2025)

In 2023-24 applications for legal aid were up 14% from the previous year – continuing an upward trend and surpassing pre-pandemic numbers. Similarly, the provision of duty counsel services has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with the total number of duty counsel assists up 18% in 2023-24 compared to five years ago.

• 2019-20 total applications received: 559,279; total applications approved 450,131
• 2020-21 total applications received: 458,149; total applications approved 367,491
• 2021-22 total applications received: 493,372; total applications approved 383,776
• 2022-23 total applications received: 512,300; total applications approved 410,184
• 2023-24 total applications received: 585,982; total applications approved 487,684

Source: Legal Aid in Canada reports 2019-20 to 2023-24 – Table 3 and Table 4

• 2019-20 total duty counsel assists: 1,204,877
• 2020-21 total duty counsel assists: 742,082
• 2021-22 total duty counsel assists: 928,627
• 2022-23 total duty counsel assists: 1,214,222
• 2023-24 total duty counsel assists: 1,418,093

Source: Legal Aid in Canada reports 2020-21 to 2023-24 – Table 9

The overall approval rate for all applications increased slightly in 2023-24 to 83%. There has been a small upward trend over the past three years in the approval rate by application type, with approval rates for all types up in 2023-24.

• Immigration and refugee applications went from 90% approved in 2019-20 to 94% in 2023-24
• Criminal applications went from 85% approved in 2019-20 to 87% approved in 2023-24
• Civil applications went from 74% approved 2019-20 to 75% approved in 2023-24

Source: Legal Aid in Canada reports 2019-20 to 2023-24 – Table 3 and 4.

Application characteristics

• Applicants for legal aid tend to be male and young. Overall, 6 in 10 applicants are male, while
• 4 in 10 applicants are young adults between the ages of 18-34. These proportions have remained consistent over the past five years.
• Slightly more than half of applications are for criminal matters and the most common reason for refusing an application is financial ineligibility. Application type has remained stable, and the proportion of applications refused for financial ineligibility has increased slightly over time.

Notes:

1. Expenditures: 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.
2. Duty counsel assists: services provided by a lawyer at a location other than a legal aid office, generally at court or a place of detention. Most often, the services provided are brief, and pertain to provision of summary services, docket court appearances, or representation at a first appearance or plea court.
3. 5-year average proportion.