Quick fact

Spending on legal aid in Canada

Canada provides legal aid through separate plans in each of the provinces and territories. The services provided by these plans may include legal representation, advice, referrals and information services. 

In 2007/2008, legal aid plans in 10 provinces and territories spent $670 million on the delivery of legal aid services. After accounting for inflation, spending was up from the previous year in six jurisdictions, with Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Northwest Territories reporting the largest increases at 10% each. Spending was down in New Brunswick, Quebec and Yukon and unchanged in Ontario.

Chart 1
Change in spending on legal aid between 2006/2007 and 2007/2008

Note: In order to create constant dollar amounts with the effects of inflation removed, amounts were converted to a base of 2002=100 using Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Legal Aid Survey.

For more information about legal aid please refer to the annual report: Legal Aid in Canada: Resource and Caseload Statistics, 2007/2008.