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Spending by Canada's legal aid plans during fiscal year 2005/2006 was up 9% from the previous year, once inflation was taken into account, according to a new report.
These plans spent $673 million on delivering legal aid services in 2005/2006, or the equivalent of $21 for every Canadian. Prior to 2005/2006, spending had been relatively stable for three years.
Each province and territory has developed its own individual legal aid scheme. Structures, operations and eligibility requirements consequently vary from one jurisdiction to the next. For 2005/2006, 11 of the 13 legal aid plans provided data for the report.
Legal aid plans received 780,000 applications for assistance, an increase of 3% from the previous year. About 477,000 applications were approved for full legal aid service. This was up 2% from the year before and represented a reversal of the downward trend seen in the previous four years.
Cases involving criminal matters accounted for slightly more than half of direct legal aid expenditures. The remaining direct expenditures went toward civil cases.
Governments, both provincial/territorial and federal, continued to be the major source of funding for legal aid plans. They contributed $557 million in 2005/2006, or about 90% of total revenues. Client contributions and cost recoveries accounted for 3%, legal profession contributions, 1%, and other sources, 5%.
Approximately 12,000 lawyers from both the private sector and legal aid plans provided legal aid assistance in 2005/2006. This represents an increase of about 10% from the previous year.
Available on CANSIM: tables 258-0001 to 258-0004.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3308.
The data are available from the Summary tables module of our website.
The annual report Legal Aid in Canada: Resource and Caseload Statistics, 2005/2006 (85F0015XIE, free) is now available from our website. From the Publications module, choose Free Internet publications, then Crime and justice.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Information and Client Services (toll-free 1-800-387-2231; 613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
