Table 13-1
Approved legal aid applications, staff and private lawyers by type of matter — Total approved applications1

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Approved legal aid applications, staff and private lawyers by type of matter — Total approved applications1
Table summary
"This table displays legal aid applications approved by legal aid plans. The row headers provide information by province/territory and fiscal year. The column headers provide information on the number of applications and percent of total approved applications assigned to each of staff lawyers and private lawyers."
  Total Staff lawyers Private lawyers
  number percent number percent
Newfoundland and Labrador  
2007/2008 4,063 3,998 98 65 2
2008/2009 4,490 4,430 99 60 1
2009/2010 4,889 4,746 97 143 3
2010/2011 4,673 4,506 96 167 4
2011/2012 4,687 4,608 98 79 2
Prince Edward Island 2  
2007/2008 1,482 1,371 93 111 7
2008/2009 .. .. ..
2009/2010 .. .. ..
2010/2011 1,579 1,438 91 141 9
2011/2012 1,439 1,331 92 108 8
Nova Scotia  
2007/2008 17,314 13,412 77 3,902 23
2008/2009 18,332 13,553 74 4,779 26
2009/2010 19,749 16,177 82 3,572 18
2010/2011 19,606 15,861 81 3,745 19
2011/2012 19,713 15,991 81 3,722 19
New Brunswick 3  
2007/2008 1,664 919 55 745 45
2008/2009 1,663 762 46 901 54
2009/2010 .. .. ..
2010/2011 3,297 1,803 55 1,494 45
2011/2012 3,487 1,848 53 1,639 47
Quebec  
2007/2008 215,324 99,912 46 115,412 54
2008/2009 222,885 104,650 47 118,235 53
2009/2010 227,216 105,299 46 121,917 54
2010/2011 223,518 103,692 46 119,826 54
2011/2012 224,246 104,926 47 119,320 53
Ontario 4  
2007/2008 126,964 19,665 15 107,299 85
2008/2009 137,397 20,228 15 117,169 85
2009/2010 129,950 20,640 16 109,310 84
2010/2011 120,741 20,354 17 100,387 83
2011/2012 126,800 21,253 17 105,547 83
Manitoba 5  
2007/2008 21,887 8,908 41 12,979 59
2008/2009 20,747 7,613 37 13,134 63
2009/2010 26,825 11,414 43 15,411 57
2010/2011 24,973 10,540 42 14,433 58
2011/2012 26,487 10,423 39 16,064 61
Saskatchewan 6  
2007/2008 18,308 16,720 91 1,588 9
2008/2009 18,197 r 16,216 r 89 r 1,981 11 r
2009/2010 19,027 r 17,759 r 93 r 1,268 r
2010/2011 19,310 r 18,027 r 93 r 1,283 r
2011/2012 17,871 16,437 92 1,434 8
Alberta 7  
2007/2008 36,433 3,645 10 32,788 90
2008/2009 41,784 4,430 11 37,354 89
2009/2010 38,681 4,026 10 34,655 90
2010/2011 29,700 4,076 14 25,624 86
2011/2012 33,251 6,652 20 26,599 80
British Columbia  
2007/2008 31,297 697 2 30,600 98
2008/2009 32,528 757 2 31,771 98
2009/2010 26,518 280 1 26,238 99
2010/2011 27,802 57 0 27,745 100
2011/2012 27,347 83 0 27,264 100
Yukon 8  
2007/2008 1,397 1,291 92 106 8
2008/2009 1,396 1,334 96 62 4
2009/2010 1,446 1,382 96 64 4
2010/2011 1,413 1,383 98 30 2
2011/2012 1,390 1,360 98 30 2
Northwest Territories 9  
2007/2008 1,633 496 30 1,137 70
2008/2009 1,304 436 33 868 67
2009/2010 .. .. ..
2010/2011 .. .. ..
2011/2012 685 685 100 ..
Nunavut 9 , 10  
2007/2008 .. .. ..
2008/2009 722 509 70 213 30
2009/2010 220 102 46 118 54
2010/2011 .. .. ..
2011/2012 335 257 77 78 23
Total  
2007/2008 477,766 171,034 36 306,732 64
2008/2009 501,445 r 174,918 r 35 326,527 65
2009/2010 494,521 r 181,825 r 37 312,696 63
2010/2011 476,612 r 181,737 r 38 294,875 62
2011/2012 487,738 185,854 38 301,884 62
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.
The number of criminal applications assigned to staff lawyers in 2011/2012 is not available. Prince Edward Island Legal Aid records the number of cases completed by staff and private sector counsel. Staff lawyers closed 948 federal adult criminal and 191 youth applications in 2011/2012. Federal criminal and youth applications assigned to private counsel do not include applications handled by private sector counsel on a per diem basis while substituting or backfilling for a staff lawyer. The decline in criminal applications between 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 is partially attributable to a definitional error in one Prince Edward Island Legal Aid office in 2010/2011, which resulted in over-reporting of criminal applications.
Effective April 20, 2009, intake services for family legal aid were expanded when eligibility screening for services formerly captured under the Domestic Legal Aid program was transferred to New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission from the Department of Justice and Consumer Affairs.
Ontario has 77 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 2011/2012, these clinics accounted for 98% of total approved civil legal aid applications assigned to staff lawyers and 100% of “other” approved civil legal aid applications assigned to staff lawyers. Figures for 2011/2012 full-service criminal applications approved and assigned to private lawyers include Legal Aid Ontario's "Big Case Management" program, which are criminal legal aid cases (mostly homicide) whose projected costs exceed $20,000.
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 and accounts for the increase in approved applications assigned to staff and private lawyers.
In 2008/2009, 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. Figures for Saskatchewan were re-stated for the reference periods 2008/2009 to 2010/2011, inclusive, based on the number of letters of denial issued to clients by the Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission. The number of applications excludes applications received during 2011/2012 but deemed “discontinued” for administrative purposes as at March 31, 2012, because the client ceased contact with the Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission before obtaining legal aid services from a lawyer.
The increase, between 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, in the number of applications approved and assigned to staff lawyers is primarily due to a change in Legal Aid Alberta's service delivery model to provide early resolution to lower-level criminal offences. These offences would have been assigned to private lawyers prior to 2011/2012.
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 or Nunavut. 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 is not comparable to previous years.
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.
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