PRO BONO ONTARIO

Mission

Pro Bono Ontario was created in 2001 to bridge the gap between low-income Ontarians who can't afford a lawyer (or qualify for legal aid) and lawyers who want to donate their services. PBO develops and manages programs that enable volunteer lawyers to provide high-quality legal services, free of charge, to people with everyday legal needs. 

Impact

Since 2001, PBO has helped more than 300,000 clients who had nowhere else to turn. 86% of our hotline clients say that we provided their first chance to speak to a lawyer about their issues. 

Core programs:

• Free Legal Advice Hotline provides free legal advice and help with legal documents to 2,000+ callers each month who have civil litigation problems (non-family), problems at work, housing issues, consumer protection issues, corporate law questions (for small biz & nonprofits), or need help with Powers of Attorney and estate administration questions.
• Medical-Legal Partnerships in Ontario's children's hospitals that help families address their health-harming legal problems.
• Education Law Program addresses unlawful conditions that prevent kids from learning. 
• Court-based Programs that help unrepresented litigants 
• A Continuum of Services ranging from procedural information to full representation before the Small Claims Court, Superior Court, Court of Appeal, Federal Court and Supreme Court of Canada.