Find Legal Aid in
Your Province
Access contact information and eligibility details for legal aid services across Canada.
About Legal Aid for Refugees
What is Legal Aid?
Legal aid plans are run by each province and territory and pay for, or provide, lawyers for people who cannot afford one. On 2026-09-08 the plans in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador stated on their websites that they cover refugee claims, and Saskatchewan's plan stated that refugee claim coverage starts on September 14, 2026. The websites of the plans in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon do not list refugee or immigration matters.
Eligibility Requirements
Each plan sets its own financial eligibility rules based on income, assets and household size, and most also assess whether the matter has merit. Some services, such as duty counsel for people in detention in British Columbia, have no financial test. The plan's intake staff decide eligibility.
How to Apply
The application route differs by plan: a toll-free line in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador; an immigration line in British Columbia; the nearest local office in Quebec; telephone or application centres in Manitoba. Alberta asks refugee claimants to apply after the Basis of Claim form has been submitted and before a hearing date is set, and Ontario and Saskatchewan list help with the Basis of Claim form itself.
What Legal Aid Covers
Where a plan covers refugee claims, its website describes some or all of: the Basis of Claim form, the Refugee Protection Division hearing, a Refugee Appeal Division appeal, a Federal Court judicial review, a pre-removal risk assessment, and detention reviews before the Immigration Division. The entries in this tool quote what each plan's website says it covers. Application and filing fees charged by IRCC are not paid by legal aid (Legal Aid Ontario states this expressly).