We encourage you to contact a number of other legal service providers as you seek legal help beyond what we're able to offer.
Legal Aid
In your search for free legal help, we encourage you to first determine whether you qualify for legal aid. In BC, legal aid services range from legal information and legal advice to legal representation (a lawyer to handle your case). If your legal problem involves criminal charges, mental health or prison issues, serious family problems or serious immigration problems, you may qualify for legal representation through legal aid. Please consult the Legal Aid BC website to see if you qualify under their rules and financial eligibility guidelines.
Community Legal Assistance Society
CLAS provides free legal assistance to disadvantaged people throughout BC, specializing in poverty, disability, workers’ compensation, employment insurance, mental health, human rights and equality law. Their activities include test case and Charter litigation; service case work and law reform; liaison and consultation with community groups; legal supervision of advocacy groups and law students; publication of legal materials designed to assist self-represented litigants; and legal training and support to lay advocates, community groups, law students, and lawyers doing pro bono work.
UBC Law Students Legal Advice Program
LSLAP is a non-profit society run by law students at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC. Law students provide free legal advice and representation to Vancouver-area clients who would otherwise be unable to afford legal assistance. LSLAP legal advice clinics are located throughout the Metro Vancouver.
University of Victoria Law Centre
A service of the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, the Law Centre provides legal advice, assistance and representation to Victoria-area residents who can't afford a lawyer.
Community Advocates
Community advocates help low- and modest-income British Coumbians find legal information, know their legal rights, argue their case in tribunal hearings, and/or lobby for political change. Advocates typically can't provide legal advice or representation, but they often have a very nuanced understanding of the legal issues that confront marginalized individuals. Depending on your circumstances, their services may be of equal or greater assistance to you than those provided by a lawyer.