Waterloo Region Community Legal Services
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OUR SERVICES
 Who qualifies
 Obtaining Legal Assistance
 Services We Provide
First Time Visit To Our Clinic
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 Our Services

Who Qualifies For Our Services

The services at the legal clinic are intended for Waterloo Region residents. Legal Aid Ontario establishes financial eligibility criteria based on income and assets, which we apply. If your financial position and the subject of your complaint meet the clinic's eligibility criteria, you qualify for our services.

Our services are free for those with little or no income and few resources. Wherever possible clients are asked to pay the cost of fees paid to others, for example, for medical reports. We cannot provide representation in all matters that fall within our mandate. We will look at the strength of a case and other avenues for resolution of a problem before undertaking to represent someone.

Obtaining Legal Assistance

Legal Aid Ontario

This clinic provides legal assistance to low-income individuals through two different components: the Clinic program and the Certificate program. These two programs provide legal services corresponding to different types of law. We fall under the Clinic program of Legal Aid and deal with the following types of legal problems:

  • Landlord and Tenant - Residential Tenancies Act, Landlord and Tenant Board
  • Social Assistance including Ontario Works and Ontario Disability
  • Canada Pension
    •
  • Worker's Compensation
  • Criminal Injuries Compensation
  • Debtor-Creditor
  • Wills and Powers of Attorney
  • Employment Insurance
  • Human Rights
  • Consumer law

The clinic does not deal with matters concerning the following types of law:

  • Family law
  • Real Estate
  • Criminal law
  • Personal Injury
  • Wrongful Dismissal

The Certificate program provides funding for legal services for other matters mainly concerning criminal, family and immigration law. If your problem concerns any of these three areas, contact your local Legal Aid office. To find your local Legal Aid office, look under the white/yellow pages for "Legal Aid". At that office or at certain other sites you can apply for a legal aid certificate. Once approved, you will be given a certificate which you may take to a lawyer in the private bar to assist you in your problem. Your Legal Aid office may have a list of lawyers in the area that will serve you, and you may choose one of your own preference. The certificate is a guarantee of payment by LAO to the private lawyer for his/her services to you. The Legal Aid office for Waterloo Region can be found at the following address:

Area Director, Legal Aid Ontario

50 Queen Street North, Suite 830, Kitchener, N2H 6P4

Tel: (519) 743-4306    Fax: (519) 743-0881

 

Lawyer Referral Service

This service has no financial eligibility requirement. The phone number is 1-900-565-4577. When you call this number, you have to pay $6.00 which will be added to your next phone bill. You can then ask for a lawyer in a certain area of law. Staff will give you the phone number of a lawyer in your community and an identification number. You can then call this lawyer and receive a free 30 minute consultation.

Family Law Information Clinic (FLIC)

Free information clinics. As FLIC is a service of Legal Aid Ontario, you must qualify financially. It allows you to meet with Family Law Duty Counsel to get information and advice on your family law issues. For information about the program, contact the Family Court office at (519) 741-3300.

Family Court Office Kitchener Court House

200 Frederick Street, 2nd Floor

Kitchener, Ontario

Tel: (519) 741-3300 

Held every Wednesday and Friday 8:30am on a first-come, first-served basis

 

Cambridge Family Court

99 Main Street

Cambridge, Ontario

Tel: 519-621-9226

Held every Monday at 9:00am

 

Services We Provide
Summary Advice
  • Legal information and basic advice we provide to help you understand the basic legal rules that apply to your situation, and help you take steps on your own.
Legal Representation
  • Advocacy before courts or tribunals and negotiations toward a solution for your problem.
Community Development
  • Work we do with groups of people who have concerns about legal issues affecting people with low incomes, to help them identify solutions and express their concern.
Public Legal Education
  • Information we provide about the law through pamphlets, videos and in-person presentations. We will send a staff member to provide an education session if requested by a group of people.
Law Reform
  • Work on test cases or making representations to government, to argue for a change in law or policy which would benefit low income people.
Referrals
  • Re-direction by our staff to other kinds of legal aid services, to private lawyers and to other agencies or resources that may be better equipped to handle the problem. Occasionally we refer callers to other agencies because they do not financially qualify for our services

First Time Visit to Our Clinic

When you visit our office for the first time it is a good idea to bring the documents relating to your case, and if you do not speak English, please bring someone who can translate for you (we do not have interpreters on site).