Resources for SRL and the general public who occassionally contact LiRN staff for help. LiRN’s mandate is to assist lawyers across Ontario and staff are not obligated to help the public. However, staff can do so if time permits.
Links to Legal Resources for the General Public
Links to Legal Resources – County of Perth Law Association
Gena Lowe of Perth County Law Association shared her very successful outreach with Stratford’s Public Libraries about public legal resources that was inspired by the LFO discussion at the LwL 2023 conference. She created a flyer that included links to help the public learn about free legal resources on the web. She also reached out to the Stratford public library about possibly taking some of her discards for their collection since the public cannot access her library. Gena thanked many other association libraries who also share a list of resources to help the public which she used to compile hers.
Canada’s Self Represented Litigant Resources
The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) is committed to advancing understanding of the challenges and hard choices facing the very large numbers of Canadians who now come to court without counsel.
NSRLP Resources include Checklists, Coping with the Courtrooom, Family Law Handbook , Civil Law Handbook and MUCH MORE!
Free Canadian Case Law / Statutes / Journals
CanLII – The CanLII.org website provides access to court judgments from all Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, federal courts, and the courts in all Canada’s provinces and territories. CanLII.org also contains decisions from many federal and provincial administrative tribunals.
CanLII is funded by the Federation of Law Societies in Canada so it is reputable & comprehensive.
CanLII also has law journals, some texts, articles, newsletters. Law Journals include all law schools in Canada with the exception of U of T Law Journal.
- Structure of Canadian Courts, Boards and Tribunals
- What is a Precedent?
- Legislation
- How to do basic legal research using CanLII
- Getting Started – how to search using CanLII
- Creating search terms and strategies to search CanLII databases
- Searching by jurisdiction, case names, legislation
- Do I search Cases First, Legislation First, Relevance First, or Court Level First?
- Provincial / Federal Court Structures / Glossary
Ontario Laws
- Ontario Legislation – E-Laws – quick, easy and comprehensive access to the consolidated laws of Ontario. Also includes Regulations.
- Ontario Bills – Queen’s Park
- How does a Bill become Law in Ontario
- Ontario Gazette – newspaper of notices of Ontario Government
- FEDERAL Legislation / Canada Gazette
Forms
Please click on the links below to access electronic court forms for Family, Civil, Small Claims Court proceedings in Ontario as well as Ontario Court Forms:
- Family Law Rules Forms
- Rules of Civil Procedure Forms
- Rules of the Small Claims Court Forms
- Ontario Court Forms
Constructive Dismissal
Legal Aid Ontario provides a website with information about employment law.
Criminal Process for SRL / Public
To review information on court processes related to a criminal charge, please review the following websites:
Family Law Resources
Find a Lawyer
- LSO – Find a Lawyer / Paralegal
- Law Society of Ontario – 30 minute free consultation – Toll-free 1-855-947-5255
- Many law Associations’ websites have Find a Lawyer / Directories for their assocation, sometimes by practice areas.
Legal Aid
- Ontario Legal Aid
- Find a legal aid clinic
- Apply for Legal Aid
- CLEO – Community Legal Education Ontario – practical legal rights education and information to help people understand and exercise their legal rights – focuses on providing information to people who face barriers to accessing the justice system, including income, disability, literacy, and language.
- Law Schools – Legal Clinics
- Lakehead University. There is a community legal clinic at Lakehead University – their phone number is 705-346-7815
Telephone Helpline for Ontario Government Resources
211 is a telephone helpline (call 2-1-1) and website that provides information on and referrals to Ontario’s community, social, health-related and government services. We can help you understand what services and government benefits exist and explain how to apply. 211 is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year across Ontario.