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Legal aid plans have been established in all provinces and territories with the common goal of assisting lower-income Canadians who require legal services either for criminal or civil matters. This report presents results from the Legal Aid Survey which collects information on the operation of Canada’s 13 legal aid plans.

It is important to note that not all survey elements are reported by each of the legal aid plans, and that not all legal aid plans have reported data in each of the five years covered by this report. However, for the most recent year, 2011/2012, all legal aid plans in Canada provided results.

Funding of legal aid

In order to operate and provide legal services, legal aid plans receive funding from three main sources: governments (both federal and provincial/territorial); contributions from clients and cost recoveries from legal settlements; and contributions from the legal profession. Justice Canada provides the figures for federal contributions. Data on provincial/territorial government financial contributions are obtained from the appropriate departments responsible for justice matters. Information on total funding is provided by the legal aid plans.

1. The federal government provides criminal legal aid funding to the provinces and criminal and civil legal aid funding to the territories. ¹  In 2011/2012, the federal government reported providing a total of $112 million to all provincial/territorial legal aid plans in Canada. This figure has remained stable since 2007/2008 (Table 2).
2. Provincial and territorial governments directly fund both criminal and civil legal aid. In 2011/2012, provincial and territorial governments reported contributing $590 million to legal aid plans across Canada (Table 3).
3. Legal aid plans in Canada reported receiving funding of more than $776 million in 2011/2012. Government sources contributed the vast majority of this amount at 92% of the total (Table 1). ² 

Legal aid spending

Legal aid expenditures consist of direct costs for legal services such as legal representation, legal advice, and information for both criminal and civil cases, and other expenditures such as administrative costs. Expenditures in a given year do not necessarily match funding for that year for several reasons including the use of reserve funds.

1. In 2011/2012, legal aid plans spent $780 million providing legal aid services (Table 4).
2. Nine of twelve legal aid plans (excludes the Northwest Territories) spent more on criminal matters than on civil matters in 2011/2012. In 2011/2012, Prince Edward Island and Quebec allocated 45% of direct expenditures to criminal matters, Ontario 47%. In the other nine reporting jurisdictions, the proportion spent on criminal matters ranged from 56% for New Brunswick to 75% for Saskatchewan (Table 6).

Applications for legal aid

The number of applications that legal aid plans receive for legal assistance provides only a general indication of the demand for legal aid. Coverage and eligibility requirements impose restrictions on the types of cases that are eligible for assistance by legal aid plans, and hence are likely to limit the number of applications submitted.

An applicant may be approved for either summary or full services. Summary services include the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service granted to an individual during a formal interview. Full services constitute more extensive legal assistance. Applications not approved for full legal aid service may receive summary services instead. The Legal Aid Survey does not collect information on the total number of applicants who receive summary services.

1. About 743,000 applications for legal aid were submitted to legal aid plans across Canada in 2011/2012. Civil matters accounted for over one-half (55%) of applications received. In the ten provinces and territories that provided data for both 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 (excludes Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), applications for legal aid were up 3% from the previous year (Table 10).
2. Altogether, the thirteen legal aid plans in Canada approved approximately 488,000 applications for full legal aid services in 2011/2012. Criminal matters accounted for over one-half (57%) of approved applications. Compared to 2010/2011, applications approved for full legal aid service were up 2% (excludes the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) (Table 12).

Legal aid staff

Legal aid plans may use members of the private bar and/or staff lawyers to provide legal services to clients. In most jurisdictions the client has the right to choose counsel, either staff or private bar, from a panel of lawyers providing legal aid services. The proportion of services provided by private bar and staff lawyers varies by jurisdiction, and often by type of matter (criminal or civil).

1. Including all provinces and territories in Canada, more than 10,000 lawyers from both the private sector and legal aid plans provided legal aid assistance in 2011/2012. Private bar lawyers accounted for 86% of those providing legal aid services, while legal aid plan staff lawyers accounted for the remainder, 14% (Table 20).