The Aboriginal Legal Aid in BC website has information and resources about legal issues that affect Indigenous peoples, including:

• family law and child protection;
• matrimonial property on reserve;
• fishing, hunting, and gathering rights (harvesting rights);
• First Nations/​Indigenous Courts; and
• legal help from Legal Aid BC and other groups such as Gladue reports through BC First Nations Justice Council.

BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC) provides culturally appropriate information, advice, support, and representation for Indigenous people. BCFNJC operates justice centres and provides Gladue services. Call 1-877-602-4858 for more information.

Indigenous Justice Centres (IJC)
IJCs run by the BC First Nations Justice Council offer culturally appropriate advice and representation services to people with criminal or child protection issues. The centres are located in the following communities:

• Chilliwack
• Kelowna
• Merritt
• Nanaimo
• Prince George
• Prince Rupert
• Surrey
• Vancouver
• Victoria

Eligible callers can also get help through the Virtual Indigenous Justice Centre. Call 1-866-786-0081 for more information

The Clicklaw website has links to legal information, educational resources, and services to help British Columbians. Here, you can find out about your rights and options to solve legal problems, find phone numbers for law-related help, and learn about family law and the legal system.

A community worker or legal advocate can help you find solutions to your legal issues. To find a community worker in your area, see PovNet or AMSSA (look under Resources). Or contact your local library to find a community group that can help you.

Dial-A-Law is a service of the People’s Law School. It features free information about the law in British Columbia in 190 topic areas. You can listen to Dial-A-Law information over the phone or read or listen to it on the website.

Call 604-687-4680 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-800-565-5297 (elsewhere in BC).

Family justice counsellors (FJC) are trained mediators who can give you information about the law and the court process, and help you reach an agreement. They can also refer you to counselling, emergency, or other services. They work at Family Justice Centres across BC and at the Abbotsford, Nanaimo, Surrey, Vancouver, and Victoria Justice Access Centres.

To find a FJC, see the BC Government website (in the search bar, type family justice counsellors).

Call Service BC at the numbers below and ask for the centre nearest you.

The Family Law in BC website has legal and step-by-step information about family law, including:

• plain-language general legal information,
• frequently asked questions,
• step-by-step guides,
• definitions of legal terms,
• links to court forms,
• illustrated stories
• short online videos, and
• information about, and links to, who can help you.

At Justice Access Centres, you can:

• learn about the court system and court procedures,
• get legal information,
• find and fill out the right court forms,
• find out about free legal advice resources, and
• learn about alternatives to going to court, including mediation and other dispute resolution options.

For more information, go to the BC Government website (in the search bar, type justice access centre)

The Justice Education Society of BC website has information for couples separating, including the online course How to Separate, which helps people through separation or divorce. It includes information on how to settle out of court and how to prepare for court. The society also has interactive guides for parents, kids, and teens about separation and divorce.

Parents Legal Centres provide eligible parents with a free lawyer and an advocate to help them address a social worker’s concerns about their children’s safety (child protection) early on and to find solutions that work for the family.

You may be eligible for PLC services if you qualify financially, and you are a parent, guardian, or person standing in the place of a parent. Services are available anytime after you’re first contacted by the ministry or a delegated Aboriginal agency.

Call 1-888-522-2752 (1-888-LABC-PLC) or the Legal Aid BC Call Centre at 604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-866-577-2525 (elsewhere in BC).

Peoples Law School is a Vancouver non-profit society that provides free legal education and digital and print information to help people deal with everyday legal problems. Call 604-331-5400 for information.

VictimLinkBC is a confidential, multilingual, free phone service is available across BC 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It provides information, support, and referrals to services or contacts in your community. Interpretation services are available for all the major languages spoken in BC. Call or text 1-800-563-0808, or email VictimLinkBC@bc211.ca.

Arbitrators can help you resolve family law problems out of court. At an arbitration hearing, they listen to both sides, review the evidence, and then make a decision. They act like judges, and their decisions are like court orders and must be followed. The Lawyer Referral Service might be able to refer you to a family law lawyer who is an arbitrator.

Collaborative family law lawyers can help you reach an agreement. To find a collaborative family law lawyer, see BC Collaborative Roster Society. The Lawyer Referral Service might also be able to refer you to a lawyer who practises collaboratively.

Family justice counsellors (FJC) provide free mediation services to families. They work at Family Justice Centres across BC and at the Justice Access Centres in Abbotsford, Nanaimo, Surrey, Vancouver, and Victoria. To find out about FJC’s go to the BC Government website (in the search bar, type family justice counsellors).

Call Service BC at the numbers below and ask for the centre nearest you.

A family lawyer can help you reach an agreement and put it in writing. See Help from a lawyer to find one.

A mediator is a neutral person who can help you and your spouse talk to each other and reach an agreement about parenting, support, property division, and other family law problems.

To find a mediator, see the Mediate BC website. The Family Mediation Canada website also has information about qualified family mediators.

You can also contact a community organization, your local legal aid location, a family justice counsellor, or the Lawyer Referral Service to ask if they can refer you to a mediator.

A parenting coordinator is a lawyer, counsellor, social worker, or psychologist trained to mediate and arbitrate disputes between parents who already have a final order or agreement. They can help you carry out your parenting and child support arrangements and settle disagreements about your existing agreement, court order, or arrangements.

To find a parenting coordinator, see the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society website (click Members)

The BC Family Law Unbundling Roster website has a list of family lawyers who do select legal tasks for clients. You pay for the legal tasks you want help with, and you handle the rest of your case yourself. This arrangement usually costs less than full legal representation.

Legal Aid BC provides free legal advice to parents with low incomes who are working with a family justice counsellor to try and reach an agreement in a separation or divorce.

Duty counsel for both Provincial and Supreme Courts help people with their family court matters. Services might vary in different locations. These lawyers might also be able to give you legal advice about your legal options.

To find out how to contact family duty counsel near you, check the Legal Aid BC website or call your nearest legal aid location or local court registry.

You can get free legal advice over the phone from a family law lawyer. Family LawLINE lawyers give brief ​“next-step” advice about the following issues to callers who don’t qualify for other services:

• parenting arrangements,
• decision-making responsibility,
• contact with a child,
• guardianship,
• protection orders,
• child support,
• spousal support,
• property division,
• child protection matters,
• family agreements, and
• court procedures.

Call Legal Aid BC at 604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-866-577-2525 (elsewhere in BC)

An intake worker will ask you questions about your financial situation and your legal issue. If you qualify, you’re transferred to an available Family LawLINE lawyer. Interpreters are available if required.

The Lawyer Referral Service can give you the name of a family law lawyer who can talk with you for 15 minutes free of charge.

Call 604-687-3221 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-800-663-1919 (elsewhere in BC). 

You can briefly describe your issue to the lawyer, and they can tell you if you have a case. You can decide to hire the lawyer or call the service for another name. Ask the lawyer what they charge per hour.

Legal Aid BC provides free legal help from a lawyer if you qualify. Tell Legal Aid BC if you’re leaving an abusive partner.

Contact the Call Centre at 604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-866-577-2525 (elsewhere in BC).

Call Centre recorded messages are available in Cantonese, English, French, Mandarin, Punjabi, and Spanish. Interpreters are available for more than 100 languages.

At Access Pro Bono, volunteer lawyers provide brief legal advice at legal clinics throughout BC. Call 604-878-7400 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-877-762-6664 (elsewhere in BC).

BC Family Maintenance Agency (BCFMA), formerly Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP), can help you collect your support payments for free if you already have a support order or agreement filed in court.

To enroll, call the number for your area:

• Lower Mainland: 604-678-5670 or 1-800-663-9666 
• Northern & Interior: 250-434-6020 or 1-800-663-3933
• Victoria: 250-220-4040 or 1-800-663-3455
• Enquiry BC: 1-800-663-7867 (ask to be connected to the nearest BCFMA client office)

Or you can:

• submit an online application,
• download an application, fill it out, and mail it in, or
• request that an enrollment application be mailed to you.

If you live in the Capital Regional District, you might be able to get free legal advice from University of Victoria law students at The Law Centre in Victoria. Call 250-385-1221.

Multicultural organizations might know interpreters, lawyers, or counsellors who speak your language. Contact AMSSA (click Membership) or Mosaic. 

QMUNITY is a BC centre for the 2SLGBTQ+ community (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer). It provides free counselling, social and support groups, and other services.

Thompson Rivers University law students give free legal help and advice at the Community Legal Clinic in Kamloops. Call 778-471-8490.

The UBC Indigenous Community Legal Clinic is located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside on traditional, ancestral, and unceded Coast Salish territories. UBC law students give free legal advice, assistance, and representation to eligible clients throughout BC who can’t afford a lawyer and who self-identify as Indigenous persons.

Call 604-822-5421 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-888-684-7874 (elsewhere in BC), or email iclc@allard.ubc.ca.

University of BC law students run free legal advice clinics throughout Greater Vancouver. Call 604-822-5791.