Pro Bono Practice and Opportunities in Canada

The legal profession is governed by provincial/territorial legislation, and this applies equally between private practice counsel and in-house counsel. Each of the fourteen provincial/territorial law societies is established by provincial/territorial law and is principally responsible for regulating the conduct of Canadian lawyers in the public interest of that jurisdiction. For example, the Law Society of Ontario’s (the “LSO”) authority to license and regulate lawyers was granted by the Ontario government through the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8, pursuant to which the LSO has developed by-laws and rules of professional conduct setting out the professional and ethical obligations of lawyers and paralegals and the manner in which they are regulated by the Law Society.^[1]

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada (the “Federation”), which is the national coordinating body for Canada’s 14 law societies, leads the development of national standards for the legal profession and undertakes initiatives to promote access to legal services and introduce common standards in, among others, admissions, money laundering, codes of conduct and complaints and discipline across all provinces/territories.

There are no additional rules that regulate the provision of pro bono legal services, provided that the lawyer is appropriately licensed to practice in the relevant province/territory in Canada.

Lawyers do not require an additional license to provide pro bono legal services in Canada, provided that the lawyer is appropriately licensed to practice in the relevant province/territory.

Foreign lawyers do not require an additional license to provide pro bono legal services in Canada, provided that they are appropriately licensed to practice in the relevant province/territory.

Foreign-trained lawyers who want to practice in Canada must first obtain an NCA Certificate of Qualification, then complete the provincial bar process (exams and articling) in the jurisdiction where they intend to practice.^[2]

Lawyers in Canada are not required to complete a minimum number of pro bono hours.

Canadian lawyers are encouraged by their regulatory bodies and professional associations to provide pro bono legal representation to persons who would otherwise be self represented .

The CBA’s Pro Bono Committee suggests that all members of the legal profession aim to contribute 50 hours or 3% of billings per year on a pro bono basis ^[3] and the Federation’s Model Code of Professional Conduct encourages lawyers to enhance the profession’s standard and reputation by providing pro bono legal services.^[4]

Aspiring lawyers in Canada are not required to complete a minimum number of hours of pro bono legal services in order to become licensed lawyers.

Certain law schools in Canada require law students to undertake public interest placements, but this is not a regulatory requirement.

As noted above, the CBA suggests that all members of the legal profession aim to contribute 50 hours or 3% of billings per year on a pro bono basis.^[5]

The practice regarding continuing legal education varies between each of Canada’s provincial/territorial law societies. Some law societies, such as the LSO and the Law Society of British Columbia, have formal Continuing Professional Development (“CPD”) requirements, which explicitly exclude pro bono activities, and others, such as the Law Society of Alberta, have less formal CPD requirements but suggest that their members undertake pro bono legal services.

In Canada, professional indemnity legal insurance is required for the provision of any pro bono legal services.

Whilst all lawyers in Canada are generally required by their relevant law society to maintain adequate professional indemnity insurance in order to practice, some provinces provide an exemption from maintaining insurance for certain groups of lawyers, such as in house, government/public, non-practicing and retired. Some provincial/territorial law societies and insurance providers have made arrangements for such uninsured members to benefit from extended indemnity insurance coverage when providing pro bono legal services, although this is not currently available in all provinces/territories and, where it is available, is generally subject to limitations, such as only extending protection for certain “approved” services and programs. Some provincial law societies provide insurance coverage for a nominal annual fee to retired or non-practicing lawyers with a status of “active for pro bono only.”

Please see the websites of the provincial pro bono organisations for more information on insurance.^[6]

There are no rules that prohibit advertising of pro bono successes, provided that the rules governing client confidentiality are complied with. In general, client consent is required before any specific details of a pro bono matter may be disclosed. There are no restrictions on soliciting new pro bono clients.

The main areas of law which require the provision of pro bono legal services and where there are unmet legal needs in Canada include criminal, family, employment, immigration advice, human rights and welfare rights.^[7]

The main providers of pro bono legal services in Canada are:

• NGOs, such as Pro Bono Ontario, Pro Bono Law Alberta, Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan, Access Pro Bono British Columbia and Pro Bono Quebec,
• private law firms such as McCarthy Tétrault LLP ^[8] and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP ^[9] and
• programs run by law students under supervision of lawyers in pro bono legal clinics and in programs run by Pro Bono Students Canada.^[10]

Though still in early stages, we understand that a number of pro bono agencies in Canada, including Pro Bono Ontario (the largest pro bono organization in Canada) are exploring AI tools to assist with intake processes and knowledge management tools.

The Law Foundation of Ontario is supporting the Conflict Analytics Lab and the Harvard Access to Justice Lab on a collaborative project to enhance Pro Bono Ontario client access to housing law through a lawyer-controlled AI system.^[11]

Beagle+ is a chatbot powered by generative AI, developed by People’s Law School in British Columbia. The chatbot assists people (including those who can’t afford lawyers) with step-by-step guidance on everyday legal problems by allowing users to input their legal concerns in their own words. The chatbot responds with appropriate information, relevant resources, and possible next steps.^[12]

A2AJ provides open datasets, AI models, toolkits, and research to help clinics, students, and pro bono groups build legal AI tools (e.g., tenant advocacy analytics and automated citation checks). It has a Legal AI Benchmarks project that evaluates AI models on tasks involving Canadian law, focusing on topics that impact marginalized and low-income people.^[13]

The UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law collaborated with UBC Cloud Innovation Center to build an AI-powered legal support tool. It aims to support students or legal professionals to formulate legal advice by taking user-entered information about a case, acting as a search assistant, and providing LLM-generated prompts.^[14]

Governmental
Free legal support funded by the governments in Canada takes the form of legal aid which is offered under separate programs in each province and territory.^[15] The administration of legal aid services in Canada falls mainly within the responsibility of the provincial/territorial governments. Each province/territory has established its own legal aid plan, utilising different delivery mechanisms, employing varying eligibility criteria and coverage provisions. For criminal matters, legal representation is generally provided for indictable offences and for certain summary offences if there is a likelihood of imprisonment or, for some schemes, loss of livelihood, if convicted. For civil matters, most plans provide legal representation for disputes involving child protection/welfare matters, while some also cover matters such as child custody and immigration/refugee issues.

Non-governmental
Several province wide pro bono organizations have been established (i.e., Pro Bono Ontario,^[16] Pro Bono Law Alberta,^[17] Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan,^[18] Access Pro Bono British Columbia ^[19] and Pro Bono Quebec ^[20] ) to increase access to justice by creating and facilitating opportunities for lawyers to provide pro bono legal services particularly through referral programs. In addition, Pro Bono Canada serves as an umbrella organization with the goal of promoting the provision of pro bono services by Canadian lawyers. However, it does not itself coordinate any specific programs.^[21] Pro Bono Students Canada (“PBSC”) relies on volunteer lawyers supervising its various projects. PBSC has a chapter in 22 law schools across Canada, with about 1,450 law students volunteering approximately 115,000 hours of free legal services to 360 public interest groups, community organizations, pro bono lawyers, courts and tribunals across the country.^[22]

Provincial pro bono organizations such as Pro Bono Ontario, ^[23] Pro Bono Law Alberta,^[24] Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan,^[25] Access Pro Bono British Columbia ^[26] and Pro Bono Quebec ^[27] provide opportunities to register as a volunteer.

In 2023 Canadian Lawyer Magazine and Pro Bono Ontario published a list of firms engaged in pro bono activities and awarded Five Star Pro Bono Status to a number of firms to recognize their contributions.^[28] At the bi-annual National Pro Bono Conference awards are given for Law Firm, Professional and Program.^[29]