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Ottawa, January 23, 2020 – The Ontario Legal Information Centre (the Centre) is celebrating its 5th anniversary this month! It is the opportunity for the Centre to compile findings from its 5 years of existence with more than 11,000 people served, to take stock of 2019 and to set out its outlook for 2020.
Current Services
Since 2015, the Centre has offered a free thirty-minute meeting with a lawyer to any person facing a legal problem in Ontario. The Centre is a unique model in Ontario: the services are free, offered in French and in English, in person and over the telephone, and there is no eligibility requirement. Through its network of partners across the province, the Centre guides individuals within the legal system by directing them to the resources able to support them and by explaining to them the steps and the procedures required to navigate within the justice system.
A Look Back on 2019
This year, facing an ever-increasing demand, the Centre expanded its services and hired additional lawyers through funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario and from the Department of Justice Canada. The demand for the Centre's services is so great that it is still frequently unable to meet the demand. “We can think of this as a nice problem to have, explains Andrée-Anne Martel, Executive Director of the Centre, but, above all, it shows how the need for legal information continues to grow, and will continue to grow.”
But, above all, it shows how the need for legal information is growing, and will continue to grow.
2019 Statistical Portrait: :
- 3,433 people served
- 22% Francophone
- 46% with less than $30,000 in annual income
- 96% were not represented by a lawyer
Fields of law most solicited in 2019:
- Family: 16 %
- Civil procedure: 13 %
- Landlord and Tenant: 9 %
- Estates: 6 %
- Employment and labour: 5 %
- Immigration: 5 %
Avenues for growth in 2020
Always on track to offer local services, the Centre is prepared, with the help of funding from the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, to offer its legal services in person in Sudbury in 2020 for a few weeks. “We have wanted to offer our services in person in Northern Ontario for a few years now, continued Ms. Andrée-Anne Martel. We really hope that this temporary experience will help show the need for our services and allow us to strengthen our presence over there.”
The Centre will receive the public during a two-week period at the 6th floor, suite 604, of the Rainbow Centre, located at 10 Elm Street, in Sudbury, in accordance with the following schedules:
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- February 18, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- February 19, from 9:00 a.m. to noon &
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- February 20, from 9:00 a.m. to noon &
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- February 21, from 9:00 a.m. to noon
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- March 9, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- March 10, from 9:00 a.m. to noon &
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- March 11, from 9:00 a.m. to noon &
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- March 12, from 9:00 a.m. to noon
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