Access Pro Bono runs free legal advice clinics throughout the province. Call to make an appointment. Provides information about free legal services available to people who can’t get legal aid or afford a lawyer. Includes a map to help people find legal clinics throughout Canada.
No questions found
The resource you were looking for has moved or no longer exists on our website. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Other organizations that can help
Volunteers provide free help with legal forms and appearances in various legal areas including housing, income support, aboriginal law, and transgender issues (name change, etc.).
Ask JES provides live help weekdays between 11am and 2pm. We strive to meet British Columbians where they’re at, offering them live digital chat, phone, and text message options during our operating hours. During offline hours, people can leave their contact information to receive a response by email.
Supports women affected by violence to access housing and other services.
Battered Women’s Support Services provides education, advocacy, and support services to assist all women in its aim to work towards the elimination of violence and to work from a feminist perspective that promotes equality for all women.
Connects refugee claimants with settlement workers in the Greater Vancouver area and provides links to a variety of resources and services for topics including legal, housing, health and emergency, wifi and connectivity, food, and clothing.
Information about complaints against police, privacy and access to information, and freedom of expression. The BC Civil Liberties Association actively advances human rights and civil liberties through litigation, law reform, community-based legal advocacy, public engagement, and education. Includes a link to The Arrest Handbook, which is available in several languages.
Helps families and children entitled to maintenance (child support and spousal support) under maintenance orders or agreements.
Formerly called the BC Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP).
Free legal services, education, and workshops for people with provincial human rights complaints.
The BC Human Rights Tribunal is responsible for accepting, screening, mediating, and adjudicating human rights complaints.
Find BC notaries by language and location.
The BC Notaries Association represents highly trained professionals from across BC who provide legal services on a wide range of legal matters including real estate transfers, wills and advanced healthcare planning, powers of attorney, mortgage refinancing, and other important legal documents.
Provincial and territorial child support information.
Local contacts and referral lists. Connects people to community, health, and government resources for help.
As an advocate on behalf of vulnerable children in BC, the Child and Youth Legal Centre provides free and confidential legal help for young people who are experiencing problems related to family law, child protection, human rights, and many other legal issues. The centre aims to ensure that the rights, interests, and points of view of children and youth are heard and respected. Services include:
- legal advice,
- legal representation (a lawyer to take your case), and
- referrals to other resources.
The centre helps young people up to 19 years old, but if a legal problem started before they turned 19, it may still be able to help.
The Child and Youth Legal Centre is run by the Society for Children and Youth of BC.
Visit the centre at:
102 – 1678 W. Broadway Street
Vancouver, BC, V6J 1X6
Help with understanding child support guidelines. Includes information about family justice counsellors and child support officers who can help.
For more information about child support officers in the following communities, contact:
Kelowna: 250-712-3636 (1-888-227-7734, call no charge)
Nanaimo: 250-741-5447
Surrey: 604-501-8282
Vancouver: 604-660-2084
Victoria: 250-356-7012
Provides links to legal information, education, and help for British Columbians on various topics including civil, criminal, family, tenancy, employment, and wills and estates planning.
Locate services and resources in your community who can help with legal problems.
Provides free legal assistance on loss of housing, human rights complaints, mental health law, accessing government benefits, work-related issues, and sexual assault.
If you live in Kamloops, Thompson Rivers University’s Community Legal Clinic can provide you with free legal help and advice.
Student-run community legal clinic provides help with the following:
- residential tenancy;
- employment standards;
- small claims (civil claims under $35,000 only);
- human rights claims; and
- some criminal charges in Provincial Court.
Also helps draft certain types of legal documents, including:
- simple wills for estates that are worth less than $25,000 and do not contain real property;
- powers of attorney;
- representation agreements;
- advance directives;
- notices of claim and replies to claim (small claims under $35,000 only); and
- documents for uncontested desk order divorces; and financial statements for use in Provincial Court or Supreme Court
Free credit counselling, bankruptcy, and debt consolidation advice in Canada. Provides information about solving debt problems, managing money better, and learning about credit.
Learn more about help in British Columbia.
Dial-A-Law features free information on the law in B.C. in hundreds of topic areas. Lawyers regularly review and update the information.
Transcripts of taped information, written by lawyers about various legal topics and your legal rights, are available.
Provides a Summary Advice and Referral Service which is a free, confidential legal service, directly to persons with disabilities from across BC, on a variety of disability-related areas of law. Run by the Disability Alliance of BC.
Provides a Summary Advice and Referral Service which is a free, confidential legal service, directly to persons with disabilities across BC, on certain disability-related areas of law, including accessibility laws, discrimination and human rights, access to services, and accommodation in the workplace. Language interpretation services are available.
Programs that support women, youth, and children involved in, or affected by, the justice system. Includes help with understanding the court process.
This diverse team of professionals provides fixed-fee services in a wide range of areas covering everyday legal problems including civil disputes, employment and benefits, family law issues, residential tenancy, and wills and estates.
Family Justice Centres operate across the province with staff available to assist you with issues related to separation or divorce, including:
- Parenting arrangements
- Guardianship
- Child and spousal support
- Contact with a child
- Property division respecting a companion animal
All centres have Family Justice Counsellors (accredited mediators) who can provide a full range of services virtually through telephone and video conferencing, so services are available even if there is no Family Justice Centre or Justice Access Centre in your community. Virtual services are also available for families who are separated by distance.
To find the location nearest you, see the list of Family Justice Centre locations. If there is no location near you, call 1-844-747-3963 to access Family Justice Centre services.
PovNet’s online tool helps people find an advocate at a wide variety of organizations to assist with legal issues.
Describes the services available at the Justice Access Centres in Abbotsford, Nanaimo, Surrey, Vancouver, and Victoria. Their staff provide legal help and information to people facing a separation or divorce.
Promotes Understanding & Access To The Legal System.
Community based services
Find resources for refugee claimants.
A non-profit organization run by UBC law students, providing free legal advice and representation.
Information about free legal advice clinics offered by law students at the University of British Columbia, including their clinic solely for immigration and refugee legal issues. Also includes the LSLAP Manual of legal information.
Assists with summary criminal offences, bylaw, tenancy, traffic tickets, civil resolution (<$5000), ICBC driving prohibitions, EI, WorkSafe BC matters, wills and estates, immigration issues, drafting certain legal documents, and more.
Robson Square walk-in clinic: Room 143, 800 Hornby Street, Vancouver (Provincial Court of British Columbia)
Check website or call for hours.
Carnegie walk-in clinic: Carnegie Community Centre at 401 Main Street, Vancouver
Check website or call for hours.
Helps you find a lawyer to take your case. If you don’t know a lawyer who handles criminal cases, contact the Lawyer Referral Service to get the name of a local lawyer to talk to for 15 minutes for free. You can find out what they’d charge if you need more help and decide whether you want to hire them.
A non-profit organization that provides free (pro bono) legal advocacy services to migrant workers in BC.
Culturally appropriate services for Indigenous people involved in the criminal justice system.
Current information about poverty issues in BC and Canada for advocates, community groups, and people on welfare. Lists community-based advocates around the province.
The West Coast Prison Justice Society operates Prisoners’ Legal Services, the only clinic in Canada that provides all prison-related legal aid (other than appeals) in its jurisdiction.
People in prison in British Columbia can access services by calling Prisoners’ Legal Services at 1-866-577-5245 (federal) or 604-636-0464 (provincial). Phone lines are open from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. on weekdays. Lines are closed on Wednesday afternoons.
Ready Tours teach and support refugee claimants as they prepare for their refugee hearings. If you are a refugee claimant, you can sign up for a free online Ready Tour from anywhere in Canada. Settlement or community workers may also join a tour.
Provides Legal Services to Women Mainly in Family Law. Plus Other Supports
Law clinic with advocacy and advice for people age 55+
Information about services that are available through government agents, and a listing of the Service BC centres around the province.
Helps employers and workers learn about how to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment.
SHARP Workplaces can provide you with five hours of free confidential legal advice to deal with your workplace harassment issues.
The Society for Children and Youth of BC (SCY) is a provincial organization dedicated to improving the well-being of children and youth in British Columbia. It focuses on child and youth rights, child and youth friendly communities, and social justice.
SCY’s legal centre provides free legal support for young people who are experiencing problems relating to family law, child protection, a breach of human rights, and many other legal issues.
SOURCES runs a community law clinic in Surrey, BC. Sources is a not-for-profit society providing a wide variety of social wellness programs and services in the Lower Mainland, Northern BC, and on Vancouver Island.
The South Asian Legal Clinic of BC (SALCBC) focuses on issues affecting the daily lives of South Asian British Columbians, including legal issues around immigration status, child protection and custody, separation and divorce, domestic violence, sexual assault, racial discrimination and profiling, economic justice for workers, elder abuse, mental health, and wills and estates.
You can get a free 30-minute legal advice and summary session. You may also qualify for additional legal services.
Lawyers provide low-barrier and culturally sensitive legal support for South Asian families living on low incomes.
Legal advocate for povert law issues, serving residents of Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St John, Tumbler Ridge
Experienced Sexual Assault? Get Free Legal Advice. Free confidential legal advice to inform your decisions.
Lawyers provide up to 3 hours of free and confidential legal advice to anyone in British Columbia who has been sexually assaulted. A lawyer will explain your rights and the legal options available to you. If you need more time, your lawyer can request an additional 2 hours to assist you.
Free 30 minute legal advice for people with low incomes.
Client Line at 604-878-7400 from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM or from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday (excluding holidays)
Free legal education and advocacy for BC tenants.
The Law Centre, a service of the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, provides advice, assistance and representation to clients who cannot afford a lawyer.
Provides Advice, Assistance & Representation For Those Who Cannot Afford A Lawyer.
If you live in Victoria, The Law Centre may be able to help you if you’re eligible and qualify financially.
Free legal advocacy services for people with income assistance, disability benefits, and tenancy issues
Provides legal advice to individuals who cannot otherwise afford to pay for legal services
Service to hire lawyers for dealing with parts of a legal matter.
With unbundling, your legal matter is broken down into parts. You choose which parts a lawyer helps with, and which parts you will do yourself. You get professional assistance where you need it most — at a cost you can afford.
Free legal help — Hazelton