People We Can Help

We use Legal Aid Ontario’s financial eligibility criteria to determine if you are eligible for services from DLS.

Our services are available, free of charge, to low-income individuals and levy-paying University of Toronto students living in Toronto who need assistance with a legal matter that falls within the clinic’s areas of practice.

We use Legal Aid Ontario’s financial eligibility criteria to determine if you are eligible for services from DLS. This means that 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.

If you are unsure whether we can help you, please call our intake line (416 978-6447) for more information. Our students will ask you some questions to assess if you are eligible for assistance.  In assessing eligibility, we also look at the nature of your legal issue(s), the viability of your case and whether it is an appropriate one for a student legal clinic like DLS to take on. Here we consider factors such as the stage of the legal proceedings, the complexity of the issues and your ability and willingness to work with our law student caseworkers.  If we are unable to help you, we will provide you with contact information for other organizations, legal aid clinics, or lawyers who may be able to assist you.

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 academic term (late November – December; April – mid-May; late 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.

University of Toronto Students:

Levy-paying students at the University of Toronto are exempt from the clinic’s financial eligibility criteria. All other case acceptance criteria apply.