Through budget consultations, the OBA has urged the government to increase legal aid financial eligibility levels and associated funding as an important way to increase access to justice and help build a sustainable legal aid system in Ontario.
Today, the budget announced a strategy to expand access to legal aid by raising the income eligibility threshold to qualify for legal aid assistance. When fully implemented, the government indicates this would allow an additional one million low-income Ontarians to be eligible for legal aid services. As part of this initiative, approximately 75,000 additional certificates would be issued by Legal Aid Ontario each year.
“I am pleased that the government recognizes the need to raise financial eligibility levels, which will help more Ontarians be served by the hardworking lawyers who provide legal aid services at reduced rates,” said Pascale Daigneault, OBA President
“Addressing this longstanding issue will play an important role in increasing efficiency in the criminal justice system and improving access to justice in family law for low-income families, victims of domestic violence and other vulnerable groups,” said Quinn Ross, Chair of the OBA Access to Justice Committee
The OBA, a branch of the Canadian Bar Association, is the voice of the legal profession in Ontario, representing more than 15,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students across the province.
Contact
media@oba.org