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Table 13-3
Approved legal aid applications, staff and private lawyers by type of matter — Civil matters
1

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Civil matters
  Total Staff lawyers Private lawyers
  number percent number percent
Newfoundland and Labrador  
2004/2005 . . .
2005/2006 . . .
2006/2007 . . .
2007/2008 . . .
2008/2009 . . .
Prince Edward Island 2  
2004/2005 329 212 64 117 36
2005/2006 .. .. ..
2006/2007 189 r 133 r 70 56 r 30
2007/2008 189 r 136 r 72 53 r 28
2008/2009 .. .. ..
Nova Scotia  
2004/2005 5,611 3,397 61 2,214 39
2005/2006 5,498 3,591 65 1,907 35
2006/2007 5,302 3,580 68 1,722 32
2007/2008 5,128 3,482 68 1,646 32
2008/2009 5,710 3,500 61 2,210 39
New Brunswick 3  
2004/2005 264 97 37 167 63
2005/2006 260 88 34 172 66
2006/2007 267 100 37 167 63
2007/2008 268 71 26 197 74
2008/2009 233 57 24 176 76
Quebec  
2004/2005 121,413 66,826 55 54,587 45
2005/2006 121,867 67,364 55 54,503 45
2006/2007 117,114 64,699 55 52,415 45
2007/2008 114,589 62,778 55 51,811 45
2008/2009 116,895 63,603 54 53,292 46
Ontario 4  
2004/2005 61,805 16,942 27 44,863 73
2005/2006 62,510 16,987 27 45,523 73
2006/2007 62,270 18,955 30 43,315 70
2007/2008 61,714 18,750 30 42,964 70
2008/2009 68,255 19,540 29 48,715 71
Manitoba 5  
2004/2005 6,756 3,463 51 3,293 49
2005/2006 6,589 3,311 50 3,278 50
2006/2007 6,282 3,838 61 2,444 39
2007/2008 5,690 3,420 60 2,270 40
2008/2009 5,627 3,286 58 2,341 42
Saskatchewan  
2004/2005 4,928 4,671 95 257 5
2005/2006 4,827 4,630 96 197 4
2006/2007 3,963 3,701 93 262 7
2007/2008 3,628 3,360 93 268 7
2008/2009 3,949 3,732 95 217 5
Alberta  
2004/2005 13,270 3,001 23 10,269 77
2005/2006 9,659 2,197 23 7,462 77
2006/2007 8,063 1,627 20 6,436 80
2007/2008 8,028 1,636 20 6,392 80
2008/2009 10,040 2,082 21 7,958 79
British Columbia  
2004/2005 7,114 666 9 6,448 91
2005/2006 7,877 644 8 7,233 92
2006/2007 7,839 558 7 7,281 93
2007/2008 8,430 387 5 8,043 95
2008/2009 8,898 371 4 8,527 96
Yukon 6  
2004/2005 405 395 98 10 2
2005/2006 354 342 97 12 3
2006/2007 323 310 96 13 4
2007/2008 328 314 96 14 4
2008/2009 405 397 98 8 2
Northwest Territories 7  
2004/2005 438 207 47 231 53
2005/2006 301 196 65 105 35
2006/2007 405 228 56 177 44
2007/2008 436 302 69 134 31
2008/2009 296 255 86 41 14
Nunavut  
2004/2005 109 95 87 14 13
2005/2006 461 444 96 17 4
2006/2007 143 98 69 45 31
2007/2008 .. .. ..
2008/2009 233 132 57 101 43
Total  
2004/2005 222,442 99,972 45 122,470 55
2005/2006 220,203 99,794 45 120,409 55
2006/2007 212,160 r 97,827 r 46 114,333 r 54
2007/2008 208,428 r 94,636 r 45 113,792 r 55
2008/2009 220,541 96,955 44 123,586 56
There is one matter per application for civil cases.
In Prince Edward Island in 2004/2005, all approved applications for civil matters were counted as full service applications.
In New Brunswick in 2004/2005, many members of the private bar refused to take legal aid cases.
Ontario has 79 legal aid clinics that are independent, non-profit organizations funded by the legal aid plan. Staff lawyers and community legal workers at these clinics provide legal aid services primarily in “other” civil matters, particularly in the area of poverty law which includes, social assistance/income maintenance, landlord and tenant, workers’ compensation, criminal injuries compensation, and refugee and immigration matters. In 2008/2009, these clinics accounted for 91% of total approved civil legal aid applications assigned to staff lawyers and 100% of “other” approved civil legal aid applications assigned to staff lawyers.
In 2005/2006, Manitoba began to issue one legal aid certificate per matter. This lead to an increase in the count for total, approved and refused legal aid applications. In 2006/2007, the use of certificate equivalents initiated by staff was discontinued, resulting in a decrease in the count for total and approved applications and an increase in refused applications.
No distinction is made between summary and full service applications in Yukon Territory. All applications are counted as full service applications. Data for Yukon Territory include duty counsel counts. In 2004/2005, Yukon Territory opened a poverty law clinic, resulting in an increase in applications under civil matters "other".
Presumed eligibility counts are not included in the data for the Northwest Territories. Territorial offences are included with criminal matters.
Note(s):
For more details on legal aid concepts and terminology please refer to the glossary.
Source(s):
Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Legal Aid Survey 3308.