Executive Summary
This report presents the results of Cycle V of the Department of Justice Canada’s Legal Services Client Feedback Survey (CFS), based on data collected from 45 client departments and agencies between October 2023 and May 2025.Footnote 1 Previous iterations of the CFS include Cycle I (2006–2009), Cycle II (2009–2012), Cycle III (2016–2019), and Cycle IV (2020–2022).
For Cycle V, invitations to participate in the CFS were extended to all employees at the EX-minus-1 level and above in the National Capital Region (NCR), and at the EX-minus-2 level and above in the regions. Employees beyond these levels were also invited to complete the survey if they were identified as client contacts in the Department’s legal case management system (LEX). Of the 71,876 potential users of the Department’s legal services who received a survey invitation, 6,831 reported having received legal services in the 12 months preceding the survey.
For the first time in the CFS series, the survey included demographic questions and collected data specific to the Department’s legal training, the integration of Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) considerations in legal services, and the accessibility of legal services. The majority of legal service users surveyed were at the non-EX levelFootnote 2 (72.1%), identified English as their first official language (70.9%), worked within the NCR (56.7%) and identified as a woman (53.9%). The most prominent occupational groups and levels were EC-07 (10.5% of total service users), EX-01 (8.2%) and EC-06 (4.8%).
Overall Quality of Legal Services
Clients were asked to rate their satisfaction with the overall quality of the legal services received from the Department. As indicated in the table to the right, overall quality ratings across all four service types exceeded the departmental target of 8.0, suggesting that overall, the users of Justice Canada legal services were satisfied with the services provided by the Department in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Overall Quality Satisfaction Rating: All Service Users
| Cycle V (2023-25) |
|
|---|---|
| Legal Advisory Services | 8.6 (±0.0) (Strong) |
| Litigation Services | 8.5 (±0.1) (Strong) |
| Legislative Drafting Services | 8.9 (±0.1) (Strong) |
| Regulatory Drafting Services | 8.7 (±0.1) (Strong) |
Due to differences in methodologies between previous survey cycles and Cycle V, historical comparisons are limited to senior-ranking service users within the traditional target population of the EX-minus-1 level and above in the NCR and the EX-minus-2 level and above in the regions. As observed in the table below, Overall quality results for senior-ranking service users continued to surpass the departmental target.
Historical Comparison of Results: Senior-ranking Service Users Only
| Cycle V (2023-25) |
Cycle IV (2020-22) |
Cycle III (2016-19) |
Cycle II (2009-12) |
Cycle I (2006-09) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Advisory Services | 8.6 (±0.0) (Strong) |
8.6 (±0.0) (Strong) |
8.5 (±0.0) (Strong) |
8.4 (±0.0) (Strong) |
8.2 (±0.0) (Positive) |
| Litigation Services | 8.5 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.5 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.4 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.3 (±0.1) (Positive) |
8.4 (±0.1) (Strong) |
| Legislative Drafting Services † | 9.0 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.6 (±0.2) (Strong) |
8.6 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.5 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.2 (±0.1) (Positive) |
| Regulatory Drafting Services | 8.8 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.6 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.4 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.5 (±0.1) (Strong) |
7.8 (±0.3) (Moderate) |
The CFS includes general questions that are not specific to the legal service type(s) selected, which are categorized as Overall Considerations elements. As depicted in the table below, satisfaction ratings were “strong – surpassed target” for all elements in this category.
Satisfaction Ratings for Overall Considerations
| Cycle V (2023-25) |
|
|---|---|
| Courteousness/respectfulness of the legal service provider | 9.5 (±0.0) (Strong) |
| Legal services were provided in the official language of your choice, in accordance with applicable policies on language of work | 9.6 (±0.0) (Strong) |
| Ease with which the correct service provider to meet your needs was identified | 9.1 (±0.0) (Strong) |
| Satisfaction with access mode: Email or messaging | 9.1 (±0.0) (Strong) |
| Satisfaction with access mode: Telephone or video | 9.2 (±0.0) (Strong) |
| Satisfaction with access mode: In person | 9.1 (±0.1) (Strong) |
Client Satisfaction with Service Dimensions
The table below provides the composite ratings for each of the three service dimensions of client satisfaction by service type. As indicated, all composite ratings exceeded the departmental target.
Composite Ratings by Service Dimension and Service Type
| Legal Advisory Services | Litigation Services | Legislative Drafting Services | Regulatory Drafting Services | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Responsiveness of Legal Services | 8.1 (±0.1) (Positive) |
8.2 (±0.1) (Positive) |
8.7 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.4 (±0.1) (Strong) |
| Timeliness of Legal Services | 8.3 (±0.0) (Positive) |
8.5 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.9 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.4 (±0.1) (Strong) |
| Usefulness of Legal Services | 8.6 (±0.0) (Strong) |
8.6 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.9 (±0.1) (Strong) |
8.8 (±0.1) (Strong) |
Conclusion
Assessed collectively, Cycle V survey results reveal consistently high client satisfaction with the Department’s legal services, with all service types (legal advisory, litigation, legislative drafting, and regulatory drafting) receiving “strong – surpassed target” ratings for overall quality. Satisfaction results for all individual survey elements exceeded the departmental target of 8.0, reinforcing the Department’s commitment to delivering high-quality legal services to federal departments and agencies.
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