Table 12
Approved legal aid applications by type of matter

Approved legal aid application counts refer to full service applications only. An approved application for full service refers to an application for legal assistance which is granted as described in a certificate, referral, or any other authorization denoting that the applicant is entitled to legal aid services.

For civil cases, there is one matter per application. For criminal, there can be multiple charges per application and these can be handled separately (i.e., by different lawyers).

The population estimates used to calculate per capita figures are provided by Statistics Canada, Census and Demographic Statistics, Demography Division. Populations as of July 1^st: final postcensal estimates for 2005 and 2006; updated postcensal estimates for 2007 and 2008; and preliminary postcensal estimates for 2009.

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 2009/2010, these clinics accounted for 95% of approved legal aid applications assigned to staff lawyers.

In 2005/2006, Manitoba began to issue one legal aid certificate per matter. This led 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. In 2009/2010, Manitoba began to include the number of applications that were used to generate secondary or tertiary certificates in the total number of legal aid applications reported. This led to an increase in the count for total and approved legal aid applications.

In 2008, all youth matters became eligible for legal aid under an agreement between the Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission and the Ministry of Justice's Court Services Branch. This led to an increase in the count for total and approved legal aid applications.

No distinction is made between summary and full service applications in Yukon. All applications are counted as full service applications. Data for Yukon include duty counsel counts.

Presumed eligibility counts are not included in the data for the Northwest Territories. Territorial offences are included with criminal matters.

In 2009/2010, the capacity for statistical reporting in Nunavut was limited due to issues with information tracking systems. As a result, the number of approved applications may be underreported and are not comparable to previous years.