Downtown Legal Services

To become a client of the clinic, you must have the type of case the clinic handles, you must live in the city of Toronto, and your income and assets must be below a certain level.  Levy-paying students at the University of Toronto are exempt from the last two requirements.  In addition, because demand for our services often exceeds our ability to assist, the clinic may consider the merits of the case  in assessing whether to offer  assistance.   Below are more details.

Type of Case
To see the types of cases the clinic handles, click Our Services.

Residence in the City of Toronto
The clinic takes cases for people who live in the city of Toronto.  This includes North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke, but not Mississauga, Peel or Richmond Hill.

Income and Assets
If you are receiving social assistance, such as Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Program, or Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefits, you will automatically qualify financially.

Otherwise, to be a client of the clinic, your gross (before taxes and deductions) income must be less than the following:

For criminal law, refugee law or tenant housing problems (monthly income)

For family law problems (yearly income)

 As well, for all types of problems (except university affairs cases), your net assets (property, possessions and savings) must not exceed $7,500 for a single person household or $10,000 for a household of two or more. To find out your net assets, add up your assets, and then subtract your debts.  When you add up your assets, you do not have to include the following items: your primary family home, furniture and household goods in your family home, one car or truck, tools you use to make a living (for example, landscaping equipment or a computer), money committed to purchasing a family home, up to $150,000 for an individual who is 60 or over who has a severe and prolonged disability so as to make him or her unlikely to return to work, and child tax credits.

Please note: we require proof of income.

Clinic Capacity

Please note that our capacity is limited, and even if you qualify for our services, our caseload might be full.  In addition, because we are a student legal clinic, we are closed for intake for several weeks at the end of each term (December / April – mid-May / mid-August – mid-September).  If our caseload is full or you do not qualify for our services, we will try to refer you to another legal services provider.