We provide a range of free legal services for low-income residents of Toronto and University of Toronto students in six areas of law: criminal law, employment law, family law, refugee and immigration law, housing law and university affairs. Depending on your case, this may include providing advice about the law and your options, negotiating with the other side and representing you at a trial or hearing. We also provide notary/affidavit services for a small fee.
In addition to individual legal services, we also participate in a wide variety of community outreach activities including delivering public legal education workshops, participating in community forums and collaborating on advocacy initiatives. To find out more about our community outreach program or to request a plain language workshop, click here.
DLS recently engaged in a Strategic Planning process to help us identify focus areas of work for the next three years. Coming out of this process, we have identified three strategic priorities that will guide our work over this period:
- Strengthen organizational systems and structures
- Develop and nurture community partnerships
- Increase the profile of downtown legal services
To find out more about our process and our strategic priorities, read the full DLS Strategic Plan 2017-2020.