The provincial agency that provides legal aid to low-income Ontarians plans to expand eligibility for its services, a move some lawyers applaud but add is just a “first step” toward repairing Ontario’s legal aid system.
Last month, Legal Aid Ontario announced it is planning a three-year increase in the financial eligibility thresholds for criminal certification and family counseling services. He said the move aims to help more low-income Ontarians access legal aid and reduce the backlog in criminal courts.
Current eligibility thresholds depend on family size and income. A single person would have to earn $22,720 or less to qualify for a criminal and family lawyer, a requirement that increases to $50,803 for families of five or more.
The new plan proposes increasing the income threshold for those legal advice and criminal certification services to $45,440 for families of up to four people, over three years. The asset threshold for legal aid applicants would also increase to $15,000, regardless of family size.
Attorney General Doug Downey said the increase is expected to help an additional 180,000 people each year, particularly the most vulnerable as they navigate the legal system.
“It’s an intimidating system, it has a different vocabulary, it’s complicated,” Downey said in a video call. “Having someone to help you through this, by definition, makes it a good public service and makes the system work better.”
Downey added that removing family size stipulations for income thresholds also aims to reduce bureaucracy for those trying to access legal aid.
“This is a service for an individual, regardless of their circumstances,” Downey said. “It means that the lawyer on duty and the legal aid itself can spend less time on administration, trying to determine whether they have three children, four children or two children.”
The changes would take effect sometime after the public comment period ends on Jan. 9, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
Take an ‘exceptional first step’, says group of lawyers
Boris Bytensky, president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers, welcomes the changes. Below the current threshold, a single person working full-time at minimum wage in Ontario would not qualify, he said, and an Ontario resident would likely have to receive some form of social assistance to obtain legal assistance.
“I think it’s a great first step that, frankly, should have been done a long time ago,” Bytensky said in a phone interview.
When people make more money than the current threshold but still can’t afford a lawyer, they often end up representing themselves, Bytensky explained. That creates court delays that could put cases on hold, he said.
The increased eligibility will “substantially” help those who cannot afford legal services and generally support criminal justice in the province, he said.
But Bytensky stressed that there are still structural issues in the criminal law sector that need to be addressed. Criminal defense attorneys have received compensation increases at lower rates than other sectors of the law over the past decade, he said, and the current system also limits the number of hours they can devote to legal aid clients.
“They’re not doing this primarily as a profit center. They’re doing it well below the regular rates they would charge private clients,” he said, adding that he would like to see criminal defense lawyers be “reasonably paid” and have given sufficient time to work on complex cases.
Lenny Abramowicz, president of the Alliance for Sustainable Legal Aid, said he is encouraged by Legal Aid Ontario’s announcement and called the current eligibility thresholds “too low.”
But Abramowicz said there is still much to be done when it comes to justice in the province. For starters, he said he would like to see the expansion of eligibility become permanent to make the system more expeditious.
“It would allow access to justice in the province, so that people…when they face criminal incarceration can have representation,” he said.
Abramowicz added that he would also like to see the legal aid system cover civil matters. Currently only those facing criminal and family law issues can apply for legal assistance, he said, but many Ontarians also need legal support in social assistance or housing cases.
When they can’t access legal help for civil matters, they often end up losing their cases or giving up, he said.
“The vast majority of Ontarians never appear in criminal court, except perhaps for a parking or traffic ticket,” he said. “However, the vast majority of Ontarians have family law issues, landlord-tenant issues, social benefits issues, so representation on those issues is equally important.
“The government needs to use the same approach it has taken to address delays and problems in the criminal justice system regarding civil law matters.”
For Bytensky, the newly proposed eligibility threshold is significant, but only the beginning of what is needed to ensure everyone can have their day in court.
“It is an important step forward, but it cannot be the last.”
