Legal Aid in Canada – Detailed data tables, 2021-22

Table 1 – Legal aid plan revenues, by type of revenue, annual, 2021-22
	Total legal aid plan revenues^{Footnote 1 of Table 1} Dollars (%)		Federal contributions from 2021-22 agreements^{Footnote 2 of Table 1}				P/T contributions to legal aid plans^{Footnote 4 of Table 1} Dollars (%)		Client contributions and cost recoveries to legal aid plans^{Footnote 5 of Table 1} Dollars (%)		Contributions of the legal profession and interest earned from lawyers’ trust accounts^{Footnote 6 of Table 1} Dollars (%)		Other legal aid plan revenues
	Type of Revenue
			Criminal (+civil in territories) Dollars (%)		I&R^{Footnote 3 of Table 1} Dollars (%)								Other legal aid plan revenues
N.L.	17,012,731	100%	2,657,329	16%	12,493	0%	14,126,378	83%	84,883	0%	115,710	1%	15,938
P.E.I.	838,480	100%	422,931	50%			415,549	50%	–		–	–	–
N.S.	31,434,450	100%	4,526,053	14%	568,757	2%	26,270,300	84%	22,235	0%	0	0%	47,105
N.B.	11,861,436	100%	2,878,649	24%			7,637,323	64%	164,181	1%	200,000	2%	981,283
Que.	181,625,991	100%	28,896,196	16%	5,927,747	3%	142,751,257	79%	3,581,402	2%	0	0%	469,389
Ont.	433,761,280	100%	55,079,487	13%	36,880,073	9%	288,789,452	67%	7,385,030	2%	44,585,092	10%	1,042,146
Man.	35,968,698	100%	8,160,394	23%	206,669	1%	25,059,993	70%	956,681	3%	1,399,089	4%	185,872
Sask.	28,939,985	100%	7,631,716	26%			20,995,284	73%	5,520	0%	0	0%	307,465
Alta.	84,623,399	100%	16,924,955	20%	735,498	1%	55,636,742	66%	5,017,696	6%	5,432,198	6%	876,310
B.C.	113,947,175	100%	19,082,757	17%	3,840,000	3%	85,696,137	75%	0	0%	4,719,933	4%	608,348
Yuk.	–	–	–	–			–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	7,041,507	100%	2,324,789	33%			4,218,545	60%	–		–		498,173
Nvt.	–	–	–	–			–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	947,055,132	100%	148,585,256	16%	47,602,480	5%	671,596,960	71%	17,217,628	2%	56,452,022	6%	5,032,029
Table 1 footnotes – of Table 1 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 1 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 1 Revenues are all monies received by the legal aid plan for assistance in the provision of legal aid services. Funding is received by legal aid plans from three main sources: government contributions, client contributions and cost recoveries, and contributions from the legal profession. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 1 Footnote 2 of Table 1 Federal government contributions are the federal contribution amounts for criminal and where applicable, I&R legal aid. Federal contributions flow directly to the consolidated revenue fund of each province/territory, and are subsequently allocated by the provinces/territories to their respective legal aid plans. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 1 Footnote 3 of Table 1 Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in seven provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.),, Nova Scotia (N.S.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 1 Footnote 4 of Table 1 P/T contributions are the contribution amounts received for legal aid services from the legal aid plan’s respective government. Many legal aid plans are unable to isolate the federal contribution received by the P/T government from JUS. Therefore, these federal contributions may be included in the total “P/T contributions to legal aid plans” figure. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 1 Footnote 5 of Table 1 Client contributions are to all monies received from the aided person for legal assistance; flat user fees are included. The amount of client contribution is established in an agreement between the jurisdiction and the client. Agreements may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Cost recoveries refer to the party costs ordered or agreed to be recovered in the case. Includes monies recovered from a judgement, award or settlement. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 1 Footnote 6 of Table 1 Contributions of the legal profession and interest earned from lawyers’ trust accounts are all monies received from the law profession (e.g., provincial/territorial law foundation funding, levies) as well as other revenues that have not already been accounted for in the above categories. This may include interest from lawyers’ trust accounts, revenues from investments, research sales, general interest earnings and any other revenue. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 1 Notes of Table 1 Notes For N.L. "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes interest. For N.B., Public Trustee does not fall under the same screening criteria as criminal and family legal aid services; however, their revenue is included in this table as revenue received from the provincial government is also used to cover expenditures related to P/T services. For N.B., "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes liens, Public Trustee Client Recovery, Public Trustee Fee Revenue, Interest, and miscellaneous. For Man., "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes judgements and settlements, interest income, and miscellaneous. For Sask. “Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues” includes interest, grants, and miscellaneous. For B.C. "Other Legal Aid Plan Revenues" includes investment income and fees.

Table 2a – Legal aid plan expenditures, by type of expenditure, 2021-22
			Criminal matters Dollars (%)		Civil matters
	Total Expenditures^{Footnote 1 of Table 2a} Dollars (%)		Legal Services Expenditures (including administrative and other costs)
			Criminal matters Dollars (%)		I&R^{Footnote 2 of Table 2a} Dollars (%)		All other civil Dollars (%)
N.L.	16,438,751	100%	10,300,350	63%	58,527	0%	6,079,874	37%
P.E.I.	2,034,307	100%	766,043	38%			1,268,264	62%
N.S.	31,029,286	100%	18,232,851	59%	568,757	2%	12,227,678	39%
N.B.	9,830,875	100%	5,700,999	58%			4,129,876	42%
Que	182,886,612	100%	71,077,098	39%	5,927,747	3%	105,881,767	58%
Ont.	448,053,599	100%	182,034,111	41%	39,024,211	9%	226,995,277	51%
Man.	32,714,427	100%	24,089,087	74%	206,669	1%	8,418,671	26%
Sask.	26,978,322	100%	21,550,069	80%			5,428,253	20%
Alta.	91,530,694	100%	67,482,998	74%	735,498	1%	23,312,198	25%
B.C.	93,854,217	100%	56,315,768	60%	4,682,144	5%	32,856,305	35%
Yuk.	–	–	–	–			–	–
N.W.T.	5,927,766	100%	4,280,367	72%			1,647,399	28%
Nvt.	–	–	–	–			–	–
Canada	941,278,856	100%	461,829,741	49%	51,203,553	5%	428,245,562	45%
Table 2a footnotes – of Table 2a –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 2a Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 2a Legal Services Expenditures are payments made by legal aid plans to private law firms for the delivery of legal services and the costs of legal services delivered by legal aid plan staff. These expenditures include monies spent on the provision of legal advice and representation services to clients including special target groups. All legal aid office and contracted community clinic expenditures are a combination of direct and indirect service delivery costs. Direct service delivery costs are expenses related to providing services directly to clients, while indirect service delivery costs are expenses not directly related to providing legal aid services to clients, but are reasonably attributable to the delivery of legal aid. These costs are required to support the day-to-day operations of the legal aid plan and are provided at a service delivery location. These costs should not be included under administrative costs. Administrative costs and other costs are excluded. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 2a Footnote 2 of Table 2a Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before theImmigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in 7 provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Nova Scotia (N.S.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 2a

Table 2b – Total administrative and other costs, 2021-22
	Dollars
N.L.	1,603,494
P.E.I.	72,446
N.S.	2,447,309
N.B.	1,295,105
Que.	28,682,363
Ont.	105,333,178
Man.	4,817,669
Sask.	2,396,289
Alta.	5,607,935
B.C.	6,446,607
Yuk.	–
N.W.T.	3,302,474
Nvt.	–
Canada	162,004,869
Table 2b footnotes Note of Table 2b Total legal aid plan expenditures from Table 2a include these administrative costs in all jurisdictions, except for N.W.T.

Table 3 – Legal aid applications received, by type of matter, 2021-22
			Total criminal applications Number (%)		Adult	Youth^{Footnote 2 of Table 3}	P/T offences Number (%)^{Footnote 3 of Table 3}		Total civil applications (including I&R) Number (%)		Child Protection^{Footnote 4 of Table 3}	Family^{Footnote 5 of Table 3}	Non-family^{Footnote 6 of Table 3}	I&R^{Footnote 7 of Table 3}
	Total legal aid applications^{Footnote 1 of Table 3} Number (%)		Criminal legal aid applications				P/T offences Number (%)^{Footnote 3 of Table 3}		Civil legal aid applications
N.L.	6,447	100%	4,126	64%	3,855	271	0	0%	2,321	36%	2,291	0	0	30
P.E.I.	1,152	100%	838	73%	795	43	–	–	314	27%	44	255	15
N.S.^{Footnote 8 of Table 3}	33,613	100%	20,355	61%	19,620	735	342	1%	12,916	38%	953	9,956	1,926	81
N.B.	4,379	100%	2,326	53%	2,197	129	3	0%	2,050	47%	334	1,714	2
Que.	211,010	100%	83,432	40%	76,832	6,600	7,297	3%	120,281	57%	45,507	31,809	39,046	3,919
Ont.	113,130	100%	64,358	57%	61,633	2,725	0	0%	48,772	43%	4,402	23,826	7,875	12,669
Man.	25,905	100%	17,842	69%	16,612	1,230	69	0%	7,994	31%	1,797	5,383	634	180
Sask.	21,265	100%	14,328	67%	12,922	1,406	0	0%	6,937	33%	1048	5,889	0
Alta.	41,205	100%	29,069	71%	28,031	1,038	158	0%	11,978	29%	1,593	9,309	675	401
B.C.	32,532	100%	19,977	61%	19,182	795	1,589	5%	10,966	34%	2,435	8,531	0	1,876
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	858	100%	553	64%	542	11	1	0%	304	35%	32	272	0
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	493,372	100%	257,204	52%	242,221	14,983	9,459	2%	224,833	46%	60,436	96,944	50,173	19,156
Table 3 footnotes – of Table 3 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 3 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 3 An application for legal aid is a request for legal aid assistance that results in the provision of summary or full legal representation on behalf of the legal aid plan, or the denial of legal aid service. Summary services include the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service granted to an individual. Full legal representation constitutes more extensive legal assistance. The total number of applications reported for the fiscal year includes all applications filed during that time, irrespective of when the application was approved or rejected. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 2 of Table 3 Youth are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 3 of Table 3 Provincial/Territorial (P/T) offences are those offences under provincial or territorial statutory responsibility. Also included are infractions under municipal by-laws. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 4 of Table 3 Child protection matters are those that involve children who come into the care of child protection agencies for reasons such as allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 5 of Table 3 Family matters are proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature, excluding child protection. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 6 of Table 3 Non-family matters are all other civil proceedings that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law). Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 7 of Table 3 Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings for persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in 7 provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Nova Scotia (N.S.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 7 referrer of Table 3 Footnote 8 of Table 3 The actual number of applications received by NS Legal Aid in 2021-22 may be greater than the number of applications reported here because of differences in the way applications are counted (specifically related to gender). Return to footnote 8 referrer of Table 3 Notes of Table 3 Notes: In N.S. I&R legal aid is delivered by a separate organization, the Halifax Refugee Clinic. For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only. N.W.T. “family” category includes all family, child protection and other civil cases.

Table 4 – Legal aid applications approved for full legal representation, by staff and private bar lawyers, annual, 2021-22
			Total approved criminal applications Number (%)		Adult	Youth^{Footnote 4 of Table 4}	P/T offences^{Footnote 5 of Table 4} Number (%)		Total approved civil legal aid applications Number (%)		Child Protection^{Footnote 6 of Table 4}	Family^{Footnote 7 of Table 4}	Non-Family^{Footnote 8 of Table 4}	I&R^{Footnote 9 of Table 4}
	Total approved legal aid applications1^{Footnote 1 of Table 4} Number (%)		Criminal applications^{Footnote 2 of Table 4}				P/T offences^{Footnote 5 of Table 4} Number (%)		Civil applications^{Footnote 3 of Table 4}
N.L.	3,392	100%	2,474	73%	2,225	249	0	0%	918	27%	911	0	0	7
P.E.I.	920	100%	766	83%	723	43	0	0%	154	17%	–	–	–
N.S.	15,333	100%	10,635	69%	10,060	575	43	0%	4,655	30%	721	3,056	791	87
N.B.	3,142	100%	1,811	58%	1,683	128	0	0%	1,331	42%	222	1,109	0
Que.	161,371	100%	63,407	39%	57,151	6,256	5,796	4%	92,168	57%	42,175	19,844	26,832	3,317
Ont.	101,059	100%	58,136	58%	55,411	2,725	0	0%	42,923	42%	4,071	19,728	7,633	11,491
Man.	30,207	100%	24,659	82%	23,168	1,491	31	0%	5,517	18%	1,495	3,601	276	145
Sask.	16,989	100%	12,428	73%	11,022	1,406	0	0%	4,561	27%	888	3,673	0
Alta.	25,706	100%	20,337	79%	19,443	894	132	1%	5,237	20%	1,201	3,693	95	248
B.C.	24,978	100%	16,507	66%	15,742	765	1,228	5%	7,243	29%	1,609	4,215	0	1,419
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	679	100%	463	68%	452	11	0	0%	216	32%	28	188	0
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
CDA	383,776	100%	211,623	55%	197,080	14,543	7,230	2%	164,923	43%	53,321	59,107	35,627	16,714
Table 4 footnotes – of Table 4 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 4 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 4 In this table, approved legal aid application counts are full legal representation applications only. When aggregated, the total number of applications reflects the number of individual requests for assistance, rather than the total number of persons seeking assistance. Full legal representation (may also be called “certificate”) refers to the provision of full legal aid representation by a private bar lawyer, approved by the legal aid plan or by a staff lawyer. An approved application for full legal representation refers to an application for legal assistance which is granted as described in a certificate, referral, or any other authorization denoting that the applicant is entitled to legal aid services. Once an application is approved for full legal representation by the legal aid plan, the certificate may then be brought to a private bar lawyer who bills the legal aid plan once the service is completed, or the service may be provided by a legal aid staff lawyer. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 2 of Table 4 For criminal matters, there can be multiple charges per application and these can be handled separately by different lawyers. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 3 of Table 4 For civil matters, there is one matter per application. In some jurisdictions one application may be associated with multiple matters. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 4 of Table 4 “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 5 of Table 4 Provincial/Territorial (P/T) offences are those offences under provincial or territorial statutory responsibility. Also included are infractions under municipal by-laws. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 6 of Table 4 Child protection matters are those where measures of child protection are sought and proceedings when a client is involved with a child protection agency. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 7 of Table 4 Family matters are proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature, excluding child protection. Return to footnote 7 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 8 of Table 4 Non-family matters are all other civil proceedings that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law). Return to footnote 8 referrer of Table 4 Footnote 9 of Table 4 Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in 7 provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Nova Scotia (N.S.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 9 referrer of Table 4 Notes of Table 4 Notes Totals may include applications that were withdrawn, or were received in a previous fiscal year, but approved or refused this fiscal year. In N.S. I&R legal aid is delivered by a separate organization, the Halifax Refugee Clinic. For N.B., data only include approved applications where the attorney was assigned before March 31st. PE: Civil data is only collected in aggregate form. No breakdown is available. Total approved civil legal aid applications: 154. For Ont., total approved legal aid applications for full legal representation by staff lawyers is included in criminal adult matters. Data not captured separately for adult and youth criminal matters by staff lawyers.In Man., an application may result in more than one legal matter. It is more likely that a criminal adult or youth application will result in multiple legal matters (e.g., breaches added to the original charge) than a civil application. For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only.

Table 5 - Refused legal aid applications, by reason for refusal, all legal aid matters, 2021-22
			Financial ineligibility^{Footnote 3 of Table 5} Number (%)		Coverage restrictions^{Footnote 4 of Table 5} Number (%)		Lack of merit^{Footnote 5 of Table 5} Number (%)		Non-compliance or abuse^{Footnote 6 of Table 5} Number (%)		Other reasons for refusal^{Footnote 7 of Table 5}^{Footnote 8 of Table 5} Number (%)
	Total reasons for refusal^{Footnote 2 of Table 5} Number (%)		Reasons for refusal^{Footnote 1 of Table 5}
N.L.	2,415	100%	507	21%	0	0%	310	13%	0	0%	1,598	66%
P.E.I.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.S.	1,945	100%	964	50%	277	14%	162	8%	338	17%	204	10%
N.B.	445	100%	213	48%	151	34%	21	5%	0	0%	60	13%
Que.	46,179	100%	39,279	85%	3,697	8%	723	2%	38	0%	2,442	5%
Ont.	8,431	100%	5,009	59%	2,611	31%	529	6%	0	0%	282	3%
Man.	8,090	100%	3,467	43%	2,129	26%	887	11%	60	1%	1,547	19%
Sask.	3,067	100%	2,282	74%	505	16%	199	6%	32	1%	49	2%
Alta.	13,950	100%	4,398	32%	1953	14%	0	0%	0	0%	7,599	54%
B.C.	9,458	100%	1,840	19%	587	6%	0	0%	0	0%	7,031	74%
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	182	100%	45	25%	–		6	3%	4	2%	127	70%
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	94,162	100%	58,004	62%	11,910	13%	2,837	3%	472	1%	20,939	22%
Table 5 footnotes – of Table 5 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 5 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 5 An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 2 of Table 5 If an application involves more than one reason for refusal, only the most important reason is counted. This is determined by the hierarchy of the table (reasons are ordered from highest to lowest importance, from left to right). Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 3 of Table 5 “Financial ineligibility” are refusals for legal aid based on financial information disclosed by the applicant (e.g., income level, assets, liabilities) which indicates that the applicant does not meet the financial eligibility requirements set by the legal aid plan and therefore does not qualify for legal aid. Financial eligibility criteria are set out by each legal aid plan and therefore the criteria differ across the provinces and territories. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 4 of Table 5 “Coverage restrictions” are applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the legal aid plan. For example, some plans do not cover wills and estates or workplace injury claims. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 5 of Table 5 “Lack of merit” are applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance. This eligibility criterion does not depend on finances, it includes criteria such as the type of legal problem and the merit of the case. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 6 of Table 5 “Non-compliance/abuse” are refusals for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the legal aid plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered, services applied for are abusive of the legal process, or because the client fails to cooperate with the legal aid lawyer. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 7 of Table 5 “Other reasons for refusal” refer to all other reasons for refusing an application that has not already been accounted for in the above categories. Return to footnote 7 referrer of Table 5 Footnote 8 of Table 5 A proportion of Quebec refusals are due to the fact that some legal aid applicants have not submitted the required documents to assess their financial eligibility. Return to footnote 8 referrer of Table 5 Notes of Table 5 Notes B.C.’s current system does not support effective tracking of refusals, so many applications refused for coverage or eligibility may be incorrectly identified as “Other reasons for refusal”. Financial eligibility criteria are a set of a caps rather than a reflection of the client’s ability to pay. In addition, the caps are based on a market basket measure of poverty. For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only. In N.W.T., refusals may be a result of applications received during different fiscal years. It is also common for a refusal to be issued due to incomplete applications, which are later completed and approved.

Table 6 – Refused legal aid applications, by reason for refusal, criminal matters, 2021-22
			Financial ineligibility^{Footnote 3 of Table 6} Number (%)		Coverage restrictions^{Footnote 4 of Table 6} Number (%)		Lack of merit^{Footnote 5 of Table 6} Number (%)		Non-compliance or abuse^{Footnote 6 of Table 6} Number (%)		Other reasons for refusal^{Footnote 7 of Table 6}^{Footnote 8 of Table 6} Number (%)
	Total reasons for refusal^{Footnote 2 of Table 6} Number (%)		Reasons for refusal^{Footnote 1 of Table 6}
N.L.	1,280	100%	302	24%	0	0%	40	3%	0	0%	938	73%
P.E.I.	68	100%	68	100%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
N.S.	620	100%	338	55%	72	12%	100	16%	110	18%	0	0%
N.B.	226	100%	84	37%	84	37%	10	4%	0	0%	48	21%
Que.	17,851	100%	16,481	92%	571	3%	13	0%	0	0%	786	4%
Ont.	4,189	100%	2,121	51%	1,686	40%	245	6%	0	0%	137	3%
Man.	4,604	100%	1934	42%	1,286	28%	230	5%	37	1%	1117	24%
Sask.	1,679	100%	1235	74%	374	22%	35	2%	25	1%	10	1%
Alta.	7,311	100%	2217	30%	643	9%	0	0%	0	0%	4,451	61%
B.C.	3,498	100%	637	18%	217	6%	0	0%	0	0%	2,644	76%
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	90	100%	19	21%	0	0%	1	1%	0	0%	70	78%
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	41,416	100%	25,436	61%	4,933	12%	674	2%	172	0%	10,201	25%
Table 6 footnotes – of Table 6 –: Refers to data that is not available, provided, or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 6 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 6 Refused applications are all requests for legal aid that have been denied legal services. This total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full service that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 2 of Table 6 If an application involves more than one reason for refusal, only the most important reason is counted. This is determined by the hierarchy of the table (reasons are ordered from highest to lowest importance, from left to right). Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 3 of Table 6 “Financial ineligibility” are refusals for legal aid based on financial information disclosed by the applicant (e.g., income level, assets, liabilities) which indicates that the applicant does not meet the financial eligibility requirements set by the legal aid plan and therefore does not qualify for legal aid. Financial eligibility criteria are set out by each legal aid plan and therefore the criteria differ across the provinces and territories. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 4 of Table 6 “Coverage restrictions” are applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the legal aid plan. For example, some plans do not cover wills and estates or workplace injury claims. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 5 of Table 6 “Lack of merit” are applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance. This eligibility criterion does not depend on finances, it includes criteria such as the type of legal problem and the merit of the case. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 6 of Table 6 “Non-compliance/abuse” are refusals for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the legal aid plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered, services applied for are abusive of the legal process, or because the client fails to co-operate with the legal aid lawyer. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 7 of Table 6 Other refers to all other reasons for refusing an application that have not already been accounted for in the above categories. Return to footnote 7 referrer of Table 6 Footnote 8 of Table 6 A proportion of Quebec refusals are due to the fact that some legal aid applicants have not submitted the required documents to assess their financial eligibility. Return to footnote 8 referrer of Table 6 Notes of Table 6 Notes For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only. B.C.’s current system does not support effective tracking of refusals, so many applications refused for coverage or eligibility may be incorrectly identified as “Other reasons for refusal”. Financial eligibility criteria are a set of a caps rather than a reflection of the client’s ability to pay. In addition, the caps are based on a market basket measure of poverty. N.W.T. denials may be a result of applications received during different fiscal years. It is also common for a denial to be issued due to incomplete applications, which are later completed and approved.

Table 7 – Refused legal aid applications, by reason for refusal, civil matters, 2021-22
		Total refused1^{Footnote 1 of Table 7}^{Footnote 2 of Table 7} Number (%)		Financial ineligibility^{Footnote 3 of Table 7} Number (%)		Coverage restrictions^{Footnote 4 of Table 7} Number (%)		Lack of merit^{Footnote 5 of Table 7} Number (%)		Non-compliance or abuse^{Footnote 6 of Table 7} Number (%)		Other reasons for refusal^{Footnote 7 of Table 7}^{Footnote 8 of Table 7} Number (%)
N.L.	Other Civil	1,116	100%	202	18%	0	0%	262	23%	0	0%	652	58%
	I&R	19	100%	3	16%	0	0%	8	42%	0	0%	8	42%
	Total	1,135	100%	205	18%	0	0%	270	24%	0	0%	660	58%
P.E.I.	Other Civil	43	100%	34	79%	0	0%	6	14%	1	2%	2	5%
	I&R
	Total	43	100%	34	79%	0	0%	6	14%	1	2%	2	5%
N.S.	Other Civil	1,295	100%	625	48%	204	16%	145	11%	230	18%	91	7%
	I&R	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
	Total	1,295	100%	625	48%	204	16%	145	11%	230	18%	91	7%
N.B.	Other Civil	217	100%	129	59%	65	30%	11	5%	0	0%	12	6%
	I&R
	Total	217	100%	129	59%	65	30%	11	5%	0	0%	12	6%
Qc	Other Civil	26,475	100%	21,460	81%	2,712	10%	703	3%	37	0%	1,563	6%
	I&R	517	100%	464	90%	16	3%	5	1%	0	0%	32	6%
	Total	26,992	100%	21,924	81%	2,728	10%	708	3%	37	0%	1,595	6%
Ont.	Other Civil	3,653	100%	2,563	70%	806	22%	167	5%	0	0%	117	3%
	I&R	589	100%	325	55%	119	20%	117	20%	0	0%	28	5%
	Total	4,242	100%	2,888	68%	925	22%	284	7%	0	0%	145	3%
Man.	Other Civil	3385	100%	1,505	44%	809	24%	636	19%	23	1%	412	12%
	I&R	53	100%	17	32%	10	19%	15	28%	0	0%	11	21%
	Total	3,438	100%	1,522	44%	819	24%	651	19%	23	1%	423	12%
Sask.	Other Civil	1,388	100%	1,047	75%	131	9%	164	12%	7	1%	39	3%
	I&R
	Total	1,388	100%	1,047	75%	131	9%	164	12%	7	1%	39	3%
Alta.	Other Civil	6,435	100%	2,147	33%	1,287	20%	0	0%	0	0%	3,001	47%
	I&R	176	100%	34	19%	23	13%	0	0%	0	0%	119	68%
	Total	6,611	100%	2,181	33%	1,310	20%	0	0%	0	0%	3,120	47%
B.C.	Other Civil	5,142	100%	959	19%	267	5%	0	0%	0	0%	3,916	76%
	I&R	457	100%	175	38%	94	21%	0	0%	0	0%	188	41%
	Total	5,599	100%	1,134	20%	361	6%	0	0%	0	0%	4,104	73%
N.W.T.	Other Civil	92	100%	26	28%	0	0%	5	5%	4	4%	57	62%
	I&R
	Total	92	100%	26	28%	0	0%	5	5%	4	4%	57	62%
Canada	Other Civil	49,241	100%	30,697	62%	6,281	13%	2,099	4%	302	1%	9,862	20%
	I&R	1,811	100%	1,018	56%	262	14%	145	8%	0	0%	386	21%
	Total	51,052	100%	31,715	62%	6,543	13%	2,244	4%	302	1%	10,248	20%
Table 7 footnotes Note of Table 7 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 7 Refused applications are all requests for legal aid that have been denied legal services. The total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full service that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 2 of Table 7 Civil legal aid includes child protection matters; proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature; as well as all civil matters that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law, etc.). This category also includes immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters. Note that I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 3 of Table 7 If an application involves more than one reason for refusal, only the most important reason is counted. This is determined by the hierarchy of the table (reasons are ordered from highest to lowest importance, from left to right). Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 4 of Table 7 “Financial ineligibility” are refusals for legal aid based on financial information disclosed by the applicant (e.g., income level, assets, liabilities) which indicates that the applicant does not meet the financial eligibility requirements set by the legal aid plan and therefore does not qualify for legal aid. Financial eligibility criteria are set out by each legal aid plan and therefore the criteria differ across the provinces and territories. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 5 of Table 7 “Coverage restrictions” are applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the legal aid plan. For example, some plans do not cover wills and estates or workplace injury claims. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 6 of Table 7 “Lack of merit” are applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance. This eligibility criterion does not depend on finances, it includes criteria such as the type of legal problem and the merit of the case. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 7 of Table 7 “Non-compliance/abuse” are refusals for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the legal aid plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered, services applied for are abusive of the legal process, or because the client fails to co-operate with the legal aid lawyer. Return to footnote 7 referrer of Table 7 Footnote 8 of Table 7 Other refers to all other reasons for refusing an application that have not already been accounted for in the above categories. Return to footnote 8 referrer of Table 7 Notes of Table 7 Notes For Alta., applications approved and refused may relate to current and previous fiscal years, while those received are restricted to current year only. B.C.’s current system does not support effective tracking of refusals, so many applications refused for coverage or eligibility may be incorrectly identified as “Other reasons for refusal.” Financial eligibility criteria are a set of a caps rather than a reflection of the client’s ability to pay. In addition, the caps are based on a market basket measure of poverty.

Table 8 – Applications for full legal representation, approved and refused, by self-identified Indigenous population, criminal and civil, and province/territory, 2021-22
	Total received N (%)		Total approved^{Footnote 2 of Table 8} N (%)		Total Refused^{Footnote 3 of Table 8} N (%)		Total received	Total approved N (%)		Total refused N (%)		Total received	Total approved N (%)		Total refused N (%)
	All criminal and civil applications^{Footnote 1 of Table 8}						Criminal legal aid applications					Civil legal aid^{Footnote 4 of Table 8} applications
N.L.	604	100%	406	67%	198	33%	541	363	67%	178	33%	63	43	68%	20	32%
P.E.I.	82	100%	78	95%	4	5%	82	78	95%	4	5%	0	0	0	0	0
N.S.	1,496	100%	1,369	92%	127	8%	1,105	1,057	96%	48	4%	391	312	80%	79	20%
N.B.	332	100%	300	90%	32	10%	235	216	92%	19	8%	97	84	87%	13	13%
Que.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ont.	18,250	100%	17,388	95%	862	5%	14,116	13,449	95%	667	5%	4,134	3,939	95%	195	5%
Man.	12,523	100%	9,123	73%	3,400	27%	9,455	7,019	74%	2,436	26%	3,068	2,104	69%	964	31%
Sask.	10,878	100%	9,240	85%	1,638	15%	7,761	6,709	86%	1,052	14%	3,117	2,531	81%	586	19%
Alta.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
B.C.	7,888	100%	6,076	77%	1,812	23%	5,391	4,614	86%	777	14%	2,497	1,462	59%	1,035	41%
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	780	100%	614	79%	166	21%	509	421	83%	88	17%	271	193	71%	78	29%
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	52,833	100%	44,594	84%	8,239	16%	39,195	33,926	87%	5,269	13%	13,638	10,668	78%	2,970	22%
Table 8 footnotes – of Table 8 –: Refers to data that is not available, provided, or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 8 Counts of approved and received applications may not equal the total received because they could be received and approved or refused in different years. Note of Table 8 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Note of Table 8 Indigenous refers to an individual who self-identifies as First Nations (North American Indian), Inuk (Inuit), or Métis, whether they live on or off-reserve and whether or not they have Registered or Treaty Indian status. Footnote 1 of Table 8 An application for legal aid is a request for legal aid assistance that results in the provision of summary or full legal representation on behalf of the legal aid plan, or the denial of legal aid service. Summary services include the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service granted to an individual. Full legal representation constitutes more extensive legal assistance. The total number of applications reported for the fiscal year includes all applications filed during that time, irrespective of when the application was approved or refused. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 8 Footnote 2 of Table 8 Approved legal aid application counts refer to full legal representation applications only. When aggregated, the total number of applications reflects the number of individual requests for assistance, rather than the total number of persons seeking assistance. Full legal representation (or “certificate”) refers to the provision of full legal aid representation by a private bar lawyer approved by the legal aid plan or by a staff lawyer. An approved application for full legal representation refers to an application for legal assistance which is granted as described in a certificate, referral, or any other authorization denoting that the applicant is entitled to legal aid services. Once an application is approved for full legal representation by the legal aid plan, the certificate may then be brought to a private bar lawyer who bills the legal aid plan once the service is completed, or the service may be provided by a legal aid staff lawyer. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 8 Footnote 3 of Table 8 Refused applications refer to all requests for legal aid that have been denied legal services. This total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full legal representation that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 8 Footnote 4 of Table 8 Civil legal aid includes: child protection matters; proceedings related to divorce, separation, maintenance, and all other matters of a family law nature; as well as all civil matters that are not of a family nature (e.g., landlord and tenant disputes, poverty law, etc.). This category also includes immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters. Note that I&R legal aid is available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 8

Table 9 – Duty counsel services, by type of matter, 2021-22
	Total duty counsel services Number (%)		Total criminal duty counsel services Number (%)		Adult matters	Youth^{Footnote 3 of Table 9} matters	Provincial Statute Offences Number (%)		Total civil duty counsel services Number (%)		I&R^{Footnote 4 of Table 9}	Other civil matters^{Footnote 5 of Table 9}
	Total duty counsel services Number (%)		Criminal duty counsel services^{Footnote 1 of Table 9}				Provincial Statute Offences Number (%)		Civil duty counsel services^{Footnote 2 of Table 9}
N.L. ^p	12,123	100%	11,784	97%	11,630	154	0	0%	339	3%	0	339
P.E.I.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
N.S. ^A	16,690	100%	13,849	83%	13,569	280	235	1%	2,606	16%	0	2,606
N.B. ^A	21,389	100%	17,611	82%	17,139	472	2,162	10%	1,616	8%		1,616
Que.	18,056	100%	18,056	100%	18,056	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	–
Ont. ^A	689,355	100%	629,074	91%	620,108	8,966	0	0%	60,281	9%	112	60,169
Man. ^A	53,688	100%	49,482	92%	45,946	3,536	0	0%	4,206	8%	0	4,206
Sask.	34,878	100%	34,352	98%	32,701	1,651	526	2%	0	0%		–
Alta.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
B.C. ^A	80,647	100%	60,138	75%	58,978	1,160	0	0%	20,509	25%	744	19,765
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
N.W.T. ^P	1,801	100%	1,801	100%	1,717	84	0	0%	0	0%		–
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
Canada	928,627	100%	836,147	90%	819,844	16,303	2,923	0%	89,557	10%	856	88,701
Table 9 footnotes – of Table 9 –: Refers to data that is not available, provided, or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Notes of Table 9 Rounding may impact totals balancing. ^P – Count is by number of persons assisted. ^A – Count is by number of assists – the number of times duty counsel was provided for each category of service provided for adult and youth criminal legal aid, provincial statute offences, I&R, and civil legal aid. Footnote 1 of Table 9 Criminal duty counsel are legal services in criminal matters that are generally provided at a court or place of detention. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 9 Footnote 2 of Table 9 Civil duty counsel are legal services in civil matters that may additionally be provided at locations other than a court or place of detention (e.g. psychiatric hospital, senior citizens' home). Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 9 Footnote 3 of Table 9 “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 9 Footnote 4 of Table 9 Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 9 Footnote 5 of Table 9 Other civil matters refer to all other civil proceedings including family matters. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 9 Notes of Table 9 Notes For N.S., duty counsel data does not include business hours telephone duty counsel services. Legal Aid Manitoba does not track by matter type; therefore, for Brydges total assists, the service handles police custody calls throughout the province. For provincial statute offences, Legal Aid Manitoba does not track duty counsel assists by individual offences; the services rendered for provincial statute offences (if any) would be included in total criminal and youth matters. Legal Aid Manitoba does not track the number of persons assisted by duty counsel. For Man., civil includes all child protection and civil duty counsel matters. In Sask., duty counsel services are provided to individuals on remand at all court points including circuit points. There is a five hour limit on duty counsel so if the matter cannot be resolved immediately, then a full-service application is taken. Civil duty counsel services are not available in Sask.

Table 10 – Duty counsel service expenditures, by type of matter, 2021-22
			Total criminal duty counsel services Dollars (%)		Adult matters	Youth^{Footnote 4 of Table 10} matters	Provincial Statute Offences Dollars (%)		Total civil duty counsel services Dollars (%)		I&R^{Footnote 5 of Table 10}	Other civil matters^{Footnote 6 of Table 10}
	Total duty counsel services^{Footnote 1 of Table 10} Dollars (%)		Criminal duty counsel services^{Footnote 2 of Table 10}				Provincial Statute Offences Dollars (%)		Civil duty counsel services^{Footnote 3 of Table 10}
N.L.	315,248	100%	162,916	52%	162,516	400	–	–	152,332	48%	–	152,332
P.E.I.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
N.S.	2,720,531	100%	2,318,364	85%	2,292,155	26,209	–	–	402,167	15%	–	402,167
N.B.	1,559,175	100%	1,359,887	87%	1,355,427	4,460	5,228	0%	194,060	12%		194,060
Que.	1,377,813	100%	1,377,813	100%	1,377,813	-	–	–	-	–		–
Ont.	57,687,589	100%	40,998,855	71%	40,259,322	739,533	–	–	16,688,734	29%	3,784	16,684,950
Man.	2,988,116	100%	2,764,259	93%	2,575,109	189,150	–	–	223,857	7%	–	223,857
Sask.	5,884,057	100%	5,842,011	99%	5,540,213	301,798	5,537	0%	36,509	1%		36,509
Alta.	16,625,083	100%	16,625,083	100%	16,118,349	506,734	–	–	–	–	–	–
B.C.	15,180,446	100%	10,353,491	68%	9,829,853	523,638	731,006	5%	4,095,949	27%	234,996	3,860,953
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
N.W.T.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		–
Canada	104,338,058	100%	81,802,679	78%	79,510,757	2,291,922	741,771	1%	21,793,608	21%	238,780	21,554,828
Table 10 footnotes – of Table 10 –: Refers to data that were not available, provided or collected by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 10 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 10 Duty counsel service expenditures are the actual gross dollars expended by the legal aid plan in a given fiscal year for duty counsel services. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 10 Footnote 2 of Table 10 Criminal duty counsel are legal services in criminal matters that are generally provided at a court or place of detention. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 10 Footnote 3 of Table 10 Civil duty counsel are legal services in civil matters that may additionally be provided at locations other than a court or place of detention (e.g. psychiatric hospital, senior citizens' home). Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 10 Footnote 4 of Table 10 “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 10 Footnote 5 of Table 10 Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 10 Footnote 6 of Table 10 Other civil matters are all other civil proceedings including family matters. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 10 Notes of Table 10 Notes For Sask., the expenditures reflect the payments made to private bar and staff lawyers. Legal Aid Manitoba does not track by matter type; therefore, for Brydges total assists, the service handles police custody calls throughout the province. For provincial statute offences, Legal Aid Manitoba does not track duty counsel assists by individual offences; the services rendered for provincial statute offences (if any) would be included in total criminal and youth matters. Legal Aid Manitoba does not track the number of persons assisted by duty counsel. For Man., civil includes all child protection and civil duty counsel matters. N.B. is unable to report adult/youth/provincial offences expenditures separately as this level of detail is not recorded in their accounting system or case management system. Brydges Program pro-rated based on number of calls received. For N.W.T., the total spent on duty counsel was $923,679. The amount is not included in the table because it was not broken down by type of matter.

Table 11 – Appeal applications, approved and refused, for legal aid services, by criminal and civil matters, 2021-22
	Total Approved and refused appeals^{Footnote 1 of Table 11} N (%)		Total Approved appeals N (%)		Total Refused appeals N (%)		Approved and refused appeals N (%)		Approved appeals N (%)		Refused appeals N (%)		Approved and refused appeals N (%)		Approved appeals N (%)		Refused appeals N (%)
	Total criminal and civil matters						Criminal matters (adult and youth)						Civil matters (including I&R)
N.L.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
P.E.I.	4	100%	1	25%	3	75%	3	100%	0	0%	3	100%	1	100%	1	100%	0	0%
N.S.	58	100%	52	90%	6	10%	44	100%	41	93%	3	7%	14	100%	11	79%	3	21%
N.B.	25	100%	13	52%	12	48%	12	100%	8	67%	4	33%	13	100%	5	38%	8	62%
Que.	791	100%	481	61%	310	39%	325	100%	228	70%	97	30%	466	100%	253	54%	213	46%
Ont.	2,573	100%	2,293	89%	280	11%	911	100%	738	81%	173	19%	1,662	100%	1,555	94%	107	6%
Man.	132	100%	74	56%	58	44%	110	100%	66	60%	44	40%	22	100%	8	36%	14	64%
Sask.	50	100%	50	100%	0	0%	42	100%	42	100%	0	0%	8	100%	8	100%	0	0%
Alta.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
B.C.	1,022	100%	550	54%	472	46%	334	100%	117	35%	217	65%	688	100%	433	63%	255	37%
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	22	100%	19	86%	3	14%	22	100%	19	86%	3	14%	0		0		0
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	4,677	100%	3,533	76%	1,144	24%	1,803	100%	1,259	70%	544	30%	2,874	100%	2,274	79%	600	21%
Table 11 footnotes – of Table 11 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 11 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 11 Appeal is an appeal of a lower court or administrative tribunal decision, not an appeal of a refused application. Each case is counted despite the fact that the matter may have been dealt with by the legal aid plan in the past. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 11

Table 12 – Incoming and outgoing civil legal aid cases processed under the Interprovincial Reciprocity Agreement, 2021-22
	Incoming	Outgoing
	Total by jurisdiction
Newfoundland and Labrador	3	6
Prince Edward Island	1	3
Nova Scotia	–	–
New Brunswick	24	9
Quebec	70	70
Ontario	173	59
Manitoba	16	4
Saskatchewan	0	0
Alberta	21	0
British Columbia	5	7
Yukon	–	–
Northwest Territories	0	0
Nunavut	–	–
Total	313	158
Table 12 footnote – of Table 12 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. For PEI all incoming and outgoing requests may not be included. Initial applications may be made by applicants from another jurisdiction directly to the receiving Plan, which will process the application.

Table 13 – Legal aid clients, by age, gender, and type of matter, Canada, 2021-22
	Criminal Number %		I&R^{Footnote 1 of Table 13} Number %		Civil Number %		Criminal and Civil (combined)^{Footnote 2 of Table 13} Number %		Total Number %
	Type of matter
Male 17 and under	8,683	6%	116	1%	15,388	30%	^{Footnote * of Table 13}	0%	24,189	11%
Male 18-34	70,083	46%	5,153	51%	11,766	23%	2,615	50%	89,617	41%
Male 35-49	51,868	34%	3,477	34%	13,963	27%	2,079	40%	71,387	33%
Male 50+	21,832	14%	1,350	13%	10,502	20%	494	10%	34,178	16%
Total Males	152,466	100%	10,096	100%	51,619	100%	5,190	100%	219,371	100%
Female 17 and under	2,702	6%	92	2%	16,215	19%	10	0%	19,019	14%
Female 18-34	21,588	50%	2,392	40%	32,078	37%	1,482	56%	57,540	41%
Female 35-49	14,261	33%	2,260	38%	26,439	30%	989	37%	43,949	32%
Female 50+	4,755	11%	1,193	20%	12,422	14%	186	7%	18,556	13%
Total Females	43,306	100%	5,937	100%	87,154	100%	2,667	100%	139,064	100%
Other 17 and under	133	10%	^{Footnote * of Table 13}	1%	20	2%	^{Footnote * of Table 13}	4%	156	6%
Other 18-34	592	44%	62	47%	412	40%	25	53%	1,091	43%
Other 35-49	390	29%	49	37%	234	23%	13	28%	686	27%
Other 50+	230	17%	19	15%	359	35%	7	15%	615	24%
Total Other^{Footnote 3 of Table 13}	1,345	100%	131	100%	1,025	100%	47	100%	2,548	100%
Total 17 and under	11,518	6%	209	1%	31,623	23%	14	0%	43,364	12%
Total 18-34	92,263	47%	7,607	47%	44,256	32%	4,122	52%	148,248	41%
Total 35-49	66,519	34%	5,786	36%	40,636	29%	3,081	39%	116,022	32%
Total 50+	26,817	14%	2,562	16%	23,283	17%	687	9%	53,349	15%
Canada	197,117	100%	16,164	100%	139,798	100%	7,904	100%	360,983	100%
Table 13 footnotes – of Table 13 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 13 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote * of Table 13 cell count under 5 supressed. Return to first footnote * referrer of Table 13 Footnote 1 of Table 13 I&R legal services are only available in six provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 13 Footnote 2 of Table 13 Criminal and civil (combined) are cases where a legal aid client received summary and/or full legal aid representation for both criminal and civil legal aid. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 13 Footnote 3 of Table 13 The other categories could include gender diverse people, as well as unknown responses. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 13 Notes of Table 13 Notes: Nunavut, Yukon and Prince Edward Island data are not included due to missing data.

Table 14 – Indigenous legal aid clients receiving full legal representation and summary services, by gender and type of matter, 2021-22
			Total criminal adult Number (%)		Adult			Youth^{Footnote 2 of Table 14}			Total criminal youth Number (%)		Civil^{Footnote 3 of Table 14}
	Total criminal and civil^{Footnote 1 of Table 14} Number (%)		Criminal
			Total criminal adult Number (%)		Male	Female	Other	Male	Female	Other	Total criminal youth Number (%)		Male	Female	Other	Total civil Number (%)
N.L.	604	100%	525	87%	398	127	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	13	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	16	3%	17	46	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	63	10%
N.B.	371	100%	313	84%	229	84	-	26	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	29	8%	26	3	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	29	8%
N.S.	1,478	100%	1008	68%	657	349	-	92	22	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	115	8%	109	245	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	355	24%
Ont.	17,374	100%	12,809	74%	9,440	3,285	84	428	206	6	640	4%	1,398	2,497	30	3,925	23%
Man.	9,142	100%	6,607	72%	4,964	1,611	32	317	112	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	431	5%	698	1,402	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	2,104	23%
Sask.	8,235	100%	6,093	74%	4,244	1,516	333	274	138	19	431	5%	407	1,197	107	1,711	21%
B.C.	5,697	100%	4,177	73%	3,141	1,031	5	121	53	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	174	3%	380	963	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	1,346	24%
N.W.T.	606	100%	363	60%	296	67	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	6	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	7	1%	69	167	^{Footnote * of Table 14}	236	39%
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	43,507	100%	31,895	73%	23,369	8,070	456	1,267	548	28	1,843	4%	3,104	6,520	145	9,769	22%
Table 14 footnotes – of Table 14 –: Refers to data that were not available or that were not provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 14 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote * of Table 14 cell count under 5 supressed. Return to first footnote * referrer of Table 14 Note of Table 14 Indigenous legal aid clients are those who self-identify as First Nations (North American Indian), Inuk (Inuit), or Métis whether they live on or off-reserve and whether or not they have Registered or Treaty Indian status. Footnote 1 of Table 14 Indicates the number of recipients of summary and full services, and excludes duty counsel. Recipients may be counted more than once if they are entitled to receive more than one type of legal aid service. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 14 Footnote 2 of Table 14 “Youth” are persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 14 Footnote 3 of Table 14 Civil legal aid includes all types of civil legal aid excluding immigration and refugee legal aid. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 14

Table 15 – Criminal legal aid cases by type of offence and in-year expenditures, adults, Canada, 2021-22
List of Offences^{Footnote 1 of Table 15} and Appeals	Total cases^{Footnote 2 of Table 15} Number (%)		Total in-year expenditures (fees and disbursements) Dollars (%)
Homicide	1,854	1%	33,424,236	14%
Sexual Assault	7,489	5%	19,814,051	8%
Robbery	5,888	4%	13,130,599	6%
Kidnapping	1,192	1%	2,980,678	1%
Arson	610	0%	1,008,538	0%
Narcotics	15,395	10%	22,463,011	9%
Theft, Break and Enter, Possession of Stolen Property	28,111	18%	28,184,026	12%
Impaired Driving	3,974	2%	4,820,101	2%
Other Driving Offences	2,330	1%	2,543,450	1%
Assault	37,135	23%	38,466,072	16%
Breach of Probation	13,111	8%	6,656,090	3%
Administration of Justice	11,267	7%	12,982,327	5%
Proceedings under Part XX.1 Criminal Code (Mental Disorder)	1,822	1%	428,062	0%
Proceedings under the Extradition Act	6	0%	22,220	0%
Other Offences^{Footnote 3 of Table 15}	29,933	19%	47,262,703	20%
Subtotal – Offences	160,117	100%	234,186,163	99%
Appeals:^{Footnote 4 of Table 15}
a. Crown	85	0.1%	638,722	0.3%
b. Eligible Person Requested	345	0.2%	1,646,151	0.7%
c. Proceedings under Part XX.1 Criminal Code (Mental Disorder)	2	0.0%	0	0.0%
d. Proceedings under the Extradition Act	1	0.0%	3,165	0.0%
Subtotal – Appeals	433	0.3%	2,288,037	1.0%
Total – Criminal Legal Aid	160,550	100%	236,474,200	100%
Table 15 footnotes Note of Table 15 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 15 The list of offences for which criminal legal aid was provided is similar to the one contained in the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics classification system for reporting offences. The offences are those that generally carry a risk of incarceration upon conviction. The categories do not refer to specific offences under the Criminal Code. Rather they represent groupings of similar offence types. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 15 Footnote 2 of Table 15 Includes cases approved in 2021-22, as well as cases carried over from previous years that were completed or ongoing in 2021-22, but incurred expenditures to the legal aid plan in 2021-22. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 15 Footnote 3 of Table 15 Other offences includes all other data not captured in the broad offence categories. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 15 Footnote 4 of Table 15 Excludes Ontario. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 15 Notes of Table 15 Notes QC., Nvt, and Yuk.. not included due to incomplete data. For Ont., the total volume of adult approved formal applications includes 923 for legal aid clinics and the total in-year expenditures includes $740,128 for the delivery of criminal legal aid services by legal aid clinics. Adult legal aid clinic data is not available by offence type. For Ontario, appeals are counted within the offence, so they are not included in the appeals section. For N.W.T., total expenditures includes $426, 313 spent on staff lawyers that is not broken down by type of offence. Notes of Table 15 Given the legal complexities of each case, not all costs are included in the “Total in-year expenditures” column; therefore, the above data should not be used to calculate cost per case.

Table 16 – Criminal legal aid cases by type of offence and in-year expenditures, youth, Canada, 2021-22
List of Offences^{Footnote 1 of Table 16} and Appeals	Total volume of cases^{Footnote 2 of Table 16} Number (%)		Total in-year expenditures (fees and disbursements) Dollars (%)
Homicide	98	1%	1,456,242	7%
Sexual Assault	1,725	11%	2,813,778	14%
Assault	4,600	28%	4,190,054	21%
Robbery	1,074	7%	1,494,589	8%
Kidnapping	65	0%	88,144	0%
Arson	108	1%	158,264	1%
Narcotics	538	3%	976,636	5%
Theft, Break and Enter, Possession of Stolen Property	1,723	11%	2,027,916	10%
Impaired Driving	125	1%	173,934	1%
Other Driving Offences	78	0%	106,135	1%
Breach of Probation	590	4%	279,382	1%
Administration of Justice	510	3%	894,289	5%
Proceedings under Part XX.1 Criminal Code (Mental Disorder)	5	0%	3,951	0%
Proceedings under the Extradition Act	0	0%	0	0%
Other Offences^{Footnote 3 of Table 16}	5,153	31%	4,955,718	25%
Subtotal – Offences	16,392	100%	19,619,032	100%
Appeals:
a. Crown	1	0%	21,124	0.1%
b. Eligible Person Requested	6	0%	6,927	0.0%
c. Proceedings under Part XX.1 Criminal Code (Mental Disorder)	0	0%	0	0.0%
d. Proceedings under the Extradition Act	0	0%	0	0.0%
Subtotal – Appeals	7	0%	28,051	0.1%
Total – Criminal Legal Aid – YOUTH	16,399	100%	19,647,083	100%
Table 16 footnotes Note of Table 16 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Note of Table 16 Youth refers to persons who are at least 12 years of age, but under 18 years of age. Footnote 1 of Table 16 The list of offences for which criminal legal aid was provided for are similar to those contained in the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics classification system for reporting offences. The offences are those that generally carry a risk of incarceration upon conviction. The categories do not refer to specific offences under the Criminal Code. Rather, they represent groupings of similar offence types. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 16 Footnote 2 of Table 16 Includes cases approved in 2021-22, as well as cases carried over from previous years that were completed or ongoing in 2021-22 but incurred expenditures to the legal aid plan in 2021-22. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 16 Footnote 3 of Table 16 Other offences includes all other data not captured in the broad offence categories. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 16 Notes of Table 16 Notes PEI, Yukon, and Nunavut not included due to incomplete data. For Ont., the total volume of youth approved formal applications includes 114 files by legal aid clinics and the total in-year expenditures includes $91,413 for the delivery of criminal legal aid services by legal aid clinics. Youth legal aid clinic data is not available by offence type. Note of Table 16 Given the legal complexities of each case, not all costs are included in the ‘Total in-year expenditures’ column; therefore, the above data should not be used to calculate cost per case.

Table 17 – Immigration and refugee legal aid certificates and expenditures, by province/territory and type of lawyer, 2021-22
Alberta
	Certificates^{Footnote 1 of Table 17} issued in the fiscal year Number (%)		Expenditures for certificates issued in the fiscal year Dollars	Certificates carried over from previous fiscal year Number (%)		Expenditures for certificates issued in a previous fiscal year Dollars	Total number of certificates (previous and current fiscal year) Number (%)		Total expenditures Dollars (%)
Private Bar	49	23%	44,865	80	46%	114,546	129	33%	159,411	23%
Staff Lawyer	166	77%	124,319	94	54%	406,775	260	67%	531,094	77%
Specialized Clinics	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0%
Totals	215	100%	169,184	174	100%	521,321	389	100%	690,505	100%
British Columbia
Private Bar	812	100%	1,815,724	882	100%	2,051,229	1,694	100%	3,866,953	100%
Staff Lawyer	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0%
Specialized Clinics	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0%
Totals	812	100%	1,815,724	882	100%	2,051,229	1,694	100%	3,866,953	100%
Manitoba
Private Bar	87	60%	24,909	63	73%	62,161	150	65%	87,070	55%
Staff Lawyer	58	40%	19,559	23	27%	51864	81	35%	71,423	45%
Specialized Clinics	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0%
Totals	145	100%	44,468	86	100%	114,025	231	100%	158,493	100%
Nova Scotia
Private Bar	8	9%	20,815	0	0%	0	8	9%	20,815	4%
Staff Lawyer	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0	0%	0	0%
Specialized Clinics	81	91%	547,942	0	0%	0	81	91%	547,942	96%
Totals	89	100%	568,757	0	0%	0	89	100%	568,757	100%
Newfoundland and Labrador
Private Bar	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Staff Lawyer	7	100%	33,653	4	–	19,231	11	100%	52,884	100%
Specialized Clinics	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Totals	7	100%	33,653	4	0%	19,231	11	100%	52,884	100%
Ontario
Private Bar	11,491	59%	6,161,806	0	0%	14,815,730	11,491	59%	20,977,536	69%
Staff Lawyer	1,293	7%	4,242,296	0	0%	0	1,293	7%	4,242,296	14%
Specialized Clinics	6,671	34%	5,349,286	0	0%	0	6,671	34%	5,349,286	17%
Totals	19,455	100%	15,753,388	0	0%	14,815,730	19,455	100%	30,569,118	100%
Quebec
Private Bar	2,313	70%	298,726	2,605	100%	2,626,214	4,918	83%	2,924,940	51%
Staff Lawyer	19	1%	31,751	0	0%	0	19	0%	31,751	1%
Specialized Clinics	985	30%	2,729,491	0	0%	0	985	17%	2,729,491	48%
Totals	3,317	100%	3,059,968	2,605	100%	2,626,214	5,922	100%	5,686,182	100%
Canada
Private Bar	14,760	61%	8,366,845	3,630	97%	19,669,880	18,390	66%	28,036,725	67%
Staff Lawyer	1,543	6%	4,451,578	121	3%	477,870	1,664	6%	4,929,448	12%
Specialized Clinics	7,737	32%	8,626,719	0	0%	0	7,737	28%	8,626,719	21%
Totals	24,040	100%	21,445,142	3,751	100%	20,147,750	27,791	100%	41,592,892	100%
Table 17 footnotes Note of Table 17 Rounding may impact totals balancing. – of Table 17 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Footnote 1 of Table 17 Certificate refers to the number of principal claimants receiving legal aid services for each stage of the process. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 17

Table 18 – Legal aid service delivery by private bar, staff, and other lawyers, 2020-21
			Private bar lawyers^{Footnote 1 of Table 18}						Staff lawyers^{Footnote 2 of Table 18}						Other lawyers (e.g. Executive Director)^{Footnote 3 of Table 18}
	Total lawyers providing legal aid services Number (%)		Type of lawyer providing legal aid services
			Criminal	I&R^{Footnote 4 of Table 18}	Other Civil	Criminal and Civil	OTAL Number (%)		Criminal	I&R	Other Civil	Criminal and Civil	TOTAL Number (%)		Criminal	I&R	Other Civil	Criminal and Civil	TOTAL Number (%)
N.L.	89	100%	0	0	0	15	15	17%	0	0	0	70	70	79%	0	0	4	0	4	4%
P.E.I.	33	100%	3		16	5	24	73%	3		4	1	8	24%				1	1	3%
N.S.	323	100%	0	0	0	213	213	66%	–	3	–	103	106	33%	–	1	–	3	4	1%
N.B.	149	100%	34		47	32	113	76%	21		12	0	33	22%	1		1	1	3	2%
Que.	2,283	100%	0	0	0	1,847	1,847	81%	0	0	0	370	370	16%	0	0	0	66	66	3%
Ont.	3,674	100%	1,227	244	1,199	621	3,291	90%	152	20	70	115	357	10%	0	0	0	26	26	1%
Man.	344	100%	0	0	0	284	284	83%	22	0	16	16	54	16%	0	0	0	6	6	2%
Sask.	294	100%	0		0	202	202	69%	0		0	88	88	30%	0		0	4	4	1%
Alta.	2,107	100%	1,018	395	584	0	1,997	95%	0	0	0	110	110	5%	0	0	0	0	0	0%
B.C.	1,095	100%	442	61	375	178	1,056	96%	5	1	26	4	36	3%	0	0	0	3	3	0%
Yuk.	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	38	100%	0		0	25	25	66%	9		4	0	13	34%	0		0	0	0	0%
Nvt.	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–
Canada	10,429	100%	2,724	700	2,221	3,422	9,067	87%	212	24	132	877	1,245	12%	1	1	5	110	117	1%
Table 18 footnotes – of Table 18 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 18 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 18 Private bar lawyers are those who were active members of the private bar who delivered legal services and billed the legal aid plan during the fiscal year. Active bar members include the total number of lawyers certified and insured to practice in the jurisdiction. Government-employed and legal aid staff lawyers are excluded. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 18 Footnote 2 of Table 18 Staff lawyers are lawyers employed by legal aid plans who provide legal aid services to clients. They include duty counsel, staff lawyers at legal clinics, and others. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 18 Footnote 3 of Table 18 Other lawyers are personnel who are designated as counsel, but not performing in this capacity (e.g. Executive Director). For N.B., other lawyers includes Executive Director and Public Trustee & Director of Family Law Services. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 18 Footnote 4 of Table 18 Immigration and Refugee (I&R) matters are proceedings of persons (individuals, or principal applicants and family) involved in the immigration and refugee determination system under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). I&R legal aid covers the provision of legal advice, assistance and representation for immigration or refugee proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada, the Federal Court (FC), or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials on post-determination actions. I&R legal aid is available in 7 provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.), Nova Scotia (N.S.), Quebec (Que.), Ontario (Ont.), Manitoba (Man.), Alberta (Alta), and British Columbia (B.C.). Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 18 Notes of Table 18 Notes For N.S., private bar lawyers are not included under personnel. They handle only 29% of cases with 71% being done by staff lawyers. N.S. data includes staff from the Halifax Refugee Clinic (3 support staff, 2 paralegals, 1.4 legal assistants, 3 lawyers and 1 lawyer in administration). For N.B., Public Trustee Services staff are listed separately under "Other Civil" as their caseloads are not included in civil statistics reported elsewhere. For Man., civil includes all staff lawyers taking I&R, children and family services, as well as domestic and civil matters; private bar lawyers accept cases in all identified categories. For Sask., private bar lawyers vary in taking files; therefore the number reported can be a private bar taking anything from one certificate to a full caseload like a staff lawyer.

Table 19 – Legal aid plan personnel as of March 31, 2021
	Total legal aid plan personnel N (%)		Total lawyers N (%)		Private bar lawyers^{Footnote 1 of Table 19}	Staff lawyers^{Footnote 2 of Table 19}	Other lawyers^{Footnote 3 of Table 19}	Total non-lawyers N (%)		Intake worker^{Footnote 4 of Table 19}	Support Staff^{Footnote 5 of Table 19}	Para-legal^{Footnote 6 of Table 19}	Legal assistant^{Footnote 7 of Table 19}	Articling student^{Footnote 8 of Table 19}	Other^{Footnote 9 of Table 19}
	Total legal aid plan personnel N (%)		Lawyers providing legal aid					Non-lawyers
N.L.	159	100%	89	56%	15	70	4	70	44%	13	17	3	26	10	1
P.E.I.	39	100%	32	82%	24	8	0	7	18%	0	6	0	0	0	1
N.S.	419	100%	323	77%	213	106	4	96	23%	0	13	2	77	2	2
N.B.	187	100%	147	79%	113	33	1	40	21%	13	7	0	6	0	14
Que.	2,854	100%	2,217	78%	1,847	370	0	637	22%	73	455	0	26	17	66
Ont.	4,291	100%	3,674	86%	3,291	357	26	617	14%	129	469	16	3	0	0
Man.	439	100%	344	78%	284	54	6	95	22%	23	21	4	33	13	1
Sask.	366	100%	294	80%	202	88	4	72	20%	4	13	9	41	2	3
Alta.	2,284	100%	2,107	92%	1,997	110	0	177	8%	70	84	0	20	3	0
B.C.	1,267	100%	1,095	86%	1,056	36	3	172	14%	37	124	11	0	0	0
Yuk.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
N.W.T.	53	100%	38	72%	25	13	0	15	28%	0	4	0	0	0	11
Nvt.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Canada	12,358	100%	10,360	84%	9,067	1,245	48	1,998	16%	362	1,213	45	232	47	99
Table 19 footnotes – of Table 19 –: Refers to data that were not available, collected, or provided by the jurisdiction as reported in the Statement of Final Claim. Note of Table 19 Rounding may impact totals balancing. Footnote 1 of Table 19 Private bar lawyers are those active members of the private bar who delivered legal services and billed the legal aid plan during the fiscal year. Active bar members include the total number of lawyers certified and insured to practice in the jurisdiction. Government-employed and legal aid staff lawyers are excluded. Return to footnote 1 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 2 of Table 19 Staff lawyers are lawyers employed by legal aid plans who provide legal aid services to clients. They include duty counsel, staff lawyers at legal clinics, and others. Return to footnote 2 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 3 of Table 19 Other lawyers - refers to personnel who are designated as counsel, but not performing in this capacity (e.g. Executive Director). For N.B., Other Lawyers includes Executive Director and Public Trustee & Director of Family Law Services. Return to footnote 3 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 4 of Table 19 Intake workers are staff employed by the legal aid plan who provide intake services, assess clients’ needs, make appropriate referrals, prepare and review letters and documents, maintain records and perform other duties as required. Return to footnote 4 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 5 of Table 19 Support staff are staff employed by the legal aid plan who provide support in assisting clients but do not provide legal assistance. For example, a receptionist, an administrative person, human resource staff, an IT specialist, etc. Return to footnote 5 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 6 of Table 19 Paralegals are legal staff who have the ability to represent clients on many matters, including all provincial offences and summary criminal cases, as well as work for provincial tribunals and boards. Paralegals are non-lawyers providing legal services in specified areas of practice. Return to footnote 6 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 7 of Table 19 Legal assistants are staff who work under the supervision of a lawyer, qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work. They help lawyers deliver legal services but are prohibited from practicing law independently. Return to footnote 7 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 8 of Table 19 Articling students are students-at-law. Under the supervision of a senior lawyer, they can assist with legal advice, duty counsel, legal research, etc. Articling students must complete the articling program and be called to the bar before becoming a lawyer. For the purpose of this survey, articling students are classified as non-lawyers regardless of jurisdictional rules. Return to footnote 8 referrer of Table 19 Footnote 9 of Table 19 Other (e.g., managers) are personnel who are not performing tasks directly associated with support, paralegal, legal assistants or articling. For N.B., "Other Non-lawyers" includes and is not limited to HR Manager, Chief Financial Officer, Manager of Trust Accounting and Taxation, Guardian Officers, etc. Return to footnote 9 referrer of Table 19 Notes of Table 19 Notes: For N.S., private bar lawyers are not included under personnel. They handle only 29% of cases with 71% being done by staff lawyers. N.S. data includes staff from the Halifax Refugee Clinic (3 support staff, 2 paralegals, 1.4 legal assistants, 3 lawyers and 1 lawyer in administration). For N.B., Public Trustee Services staff listed separately under "Civil" as their caseloads are not included in civil statistics reported elsewhere. For Man., Civil includes all staff taking immigration, children and family services, domestic and civil matters. Private bar accepts cases in all identified categories. For Sask., private bar lawyers vary in taking files; therefore, the number reported can be a private bar lawyer taking anything from one certificate to a full caseload like a staff lawyer. For B.C., support staff include Public Legal Information services delivery. The non-lawyers "Others" include nine Indigenous courtworkers employed by the legal aid plan in N.W.T. Justice Canada funding for these courtworker positions is covered under a separate Indigenous Courtwork budget component of the Access to Justice Services agreements (and not the legal aid portion of the funding).

Table 20 – Criminal legal aid funding to address pressures resulting from COVID-19, 2021-22
Name of Innovation/ Initiative(s)	Objective	Timeline	Beneficiary		Expected Outcome
Newfoundland and Labrador - Technological
Upgraded IT hardware	During 2021-22, Legal Aid NL made significant investments to upgrade and replace ageing computer hardware. As part of this initiative, upgraded laptops were deployed to approximately 50 per cent of the lawyers to improve remote working capabilities.	2021-22	Staff and clients. Staff are able to work from home to meet client needs.
Software Upgrades	Significant improvements were made to Legal Aid NL’s website, including upgrading the background software platform. During 2021/22, Legal Aid acquired video editing software to create training videos which will be available via a secure YouTube channel for Legal Aid Lawyers and support staff province-wide.	2021-23	Lawyers and support staff.
Newfoundland and Labrador - Service delivery
Piloted technology-based solutions to improve client service delivery	In October 2021, Legal Aid NL piloted an online website portal that provided prospective clients the ability to apply for legal aid online. During Q3 and Q4, Legal Aid NL received several online applications from clients and the uptake and demand for this service continues to grow. During the year, Legal Aid NL tested various technological solutions to facilitate virtual risk assessments for Family Violence Intervention Court (FVIC) clients in Stephenville. After some testing, Skype guest accounts were created and several risk assessments were completed virtually in 2021-22. The project has resulted in considerable savings in travel cost and significantly improved client service for both FVIC clients and court staff.	ongoing	Clients and staff lawyers. Clients can apply online without have to appear in person and Lawyers are able to meet with clients through a secure connection without have to travel or meet in person.
Implemented training programs in response to staff survey/feedback	During 2021-22, Legal Aid NL held a series of lunch-and-learns via Skype to provide ongoing training and development Commission-wide. In particular, dedicated training sessions were delivered to help enhance utilization and functional knowledge of the Legal Aid Management Information System (LAMIS). Furthermore, Legal Aid NL also developed and updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for various commonly used software programs and made them available to staff.		Staff are able to improve skills without having to attend in person training seminars.
Nova Scotia - Technological
Certificate Invoice Digitization	Convert Certificate form to digital form with digital signatures.	6 months (temporary)	Certificate Lawyers/ Managing Lawyers & Administrative staff at local & Executive offices.		Increases efficiencies in certificate management and processing payments by reducing transcription errors, math errors and form filling redundancies. Also prevent issues with handwriting or legibility.
Support Staff Laptops	Provide Support Staff with laptops instead of desktop computers.	3 months (permanent)	Support Staff/Clients.		Providing laptops has created a better remote work life balance and enabled support staff to participate in required teams/web meetings.
Nova Scotia - Service delivery
Increased criminal certificates issued to private lawyers to deal with Covid backlogs in courts	To assist with backlogs where staff lawyers were at max capacity.	Throughout 2021-22 (temporary)		Justice system and clients.	Reduction in pressure on staff lawyers and ensured clients received representation as matters proceeded. That also assisted the justice system overall.
Online adjournment requests and variation applications for self-represented parties	Provided assistance to self-represented parties seeking adjournments and variation applications when access to court in-person was limited due to COVID-19 restrictions and helped to address backlog in the provincial courts.	Throughout 2021-22 (temporary)		NSLA Staff, Clients, self represented litigants, Court System/ services.	Online adjournment request form and variation application processes created and added to NSLA website.
Virtual professional development, including annual general meeting	To ensure staff received appropriate professional development in order to satisfy bar requirements and maintain high level of competency.	Throughout 2021-22 (temporary and permanent)		Staff were able to receive the necessary training.	Staff received training safely.
New Brunswick - Service delivery
Private bar criminal certificate	To meet the increased number of certificates.	2021-22 (permanent)		Clients.	Consistency in service delivery.
Private bar criminal duty counsel	To meet the increase in bail hearings.	2021-22 (permanent)
Criminal contact lawyer	To cover staff shortages.	2021-22 (permanent)
Quebec - Technological
Programme eMAJ	Digital transformation of the legal aid network	2024-03-31 (4 year investment)		Clients and staff and private bar lawyers.	Service improvements.
Acquisition of computer hardware	Upgrading of equipment and staff mobility	2024-03-31 (permanent)		Staff and clients.	Service improvements.
Quebec - Service delivery
Itinerant court (Grand Nord)	Legal representation services.	2022-03-31 (permanent)		Indigenous clients.	Service improvements.
Virtual appearances on weekends and holidays	Reduce court delays.	2022-03-31 (permanent)		Clients.	Service improvements.
Projet Centaure	Gun control.	2022-03-31 (permanent)		Citizens.	Fighting gun violence.
Ontario - Technological
Service Integration (SI) - Duty Counsel (DC) Worksheets *project goals were impacted by COVID pandemic - at this time, with remote services being provided to clients, all staff and per diem DC use the SI worksheets	Deploy and continue to improve online worksheet to capture client information to improve client services and record-keeping, ensure continuity of client files, and improve data collection and reporting to better understand client needs and services delivered. Obtain better data and understanding of issues related to bail and delays in criminal Courts. The worksheet was updated in 2020 to include fields to identify reasons for adjournments, and tracking of bail conditions. Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) continues to make improvements to the SI worksheet.	Originally developed in 2018; expanded in 2020 to per diem DC. (permanent)		Clients: improved services and record-keeping. Justice system partners: more accurate records; reduced appearances; more accurate reports resulting in better allocation of scarce resources.		Have system available at all court sites. Target is to have all duty counsel services recorded through the system.
Remote appearances, disclosure review and summary legal advice	LAO adapted to remote services due to the pandemic and to ensure clients could have access to legal advice remotely; developed processes and invested in technology to ensure staff had access to equipment and software necessary to assist clients.	Started in March 2020, LAO has continued to update infrastructure, access to software and security updates. (permanent)		Clients: improved services and record-keeping. Access to legal advice and counsel for remote and hybrid court hearings. Justice system partners: more accurate records; reduced appearances; more accurate reports resulting in better allocation of scarce resources.		LAO is aiming to ensure that the most vulnerable clients have access to services during and following the pandemic. LAO aims to keep assisting the courts by ensuring that bail supports are available, and that duty counsel continue to assist eligible clients with disclosure reviews, pre-trials and resolutions.
Dedicated phone lines for Summary Legal Advice - Criminal and Family (SLAC and SLAF)	Through the use of these phone lines, LAO offered more summary legal advice in family and criminal law matters, temporarily waiving financial eligibility testing requirement.	March 2020 (temporary)		Clients: Increased access to legal advice.		LAO aimed to ensure clients had easy access to legal advice during the pandemic.
Return to in-person services (Hybrid)	LAO conducted site surveys to ensure compliance with Health and Safety protocols and Public Health safety requirements for staff and clients attending court locations. In addition to these assessments, LAO updated equipment and wireless infrastructure.	On-going (permanent)		Clients: Improved access to service; Justice system partners: reduced and more meaningful appearances.		LAO is aiming to provide safe and reliable access to legal advice to promote access to justice and facilitate court appearances.
Improvements to LAO's client portal	LAO introduced the ability for clients to apply for Legal Aid online in May of 2021.	Ongoing (permanent)		Clients: Easier access to apply for Legal Aid; Justice system partners: reduction in administrative appearances for legal aid applications.		LAO is aiming to increase access points and simplify the application process for clients.
Overall updates to LAO's remote desktop environment, Adobe, security updates and CRM updates to ensure remote and hybrid services can function seamlessly	LAO worked on upgrading infrastructure necessary to shift from an in person service environment to a hybrid service delivery model.	Ongoing (permanent)		Clients: Uninterrupted access to LAO.
Ontario - Service delivery
COVID enhancements	LAO aimed to ensure that clients and lawyers were supported throughout the pandemic by introducing the following measures: Waiver of financial eligibility testing for in-custody criminal clients; Increased compensation for bail hearings for block fee and tariff matters in recognition of longer bail hearings; Reinstatement of coverage for block bails; Waiver of merit testing for bail reviews; Introduction of coverage for Myers detention reviews; Provision of an additional two hours of coverage for mandatory Judiciary Pre-Trials in both the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice; Introduction of dedicated phone lines to connect in-custody individuals directly duty Counsel; Coverage for Temporary Absence Permits for individuals in provincial and federal Institutions.	March 2020 until LAO’s board removes the enhancements (temporary)		Clients: improved services and access to justice, reduction in in-custody population, reduction in unnecessary court appearances; Justice system partners: reduced and more meaningful appearances, fewer in-custody appearances, fewer adjournments for administrative purposes, increased representation and efficiency.		LAO aimed to ensure the most vulnerable clients had access to services during the pandemic. LAO aims to keep assisting the courts by ensuring that bail supports are available and that clients are afforded legal representation at the earliest opportunity.
Support for Judge-led Intensive Case Management Court (JICMC) and Lawyer applications for JICMC	LAO supports the Judge-Led Intensive Case Management Court (JICMC) with time-limited certificates for accused individuals without retained counsel whose matters are more than twelve months old and who have had their cases adjourned to the JICMC. Clients do not need to contact LAO directly; their lawyer will initiate and complete the application on their behalf. No financial testing is applied to these certificates.	October 2021 and ongoing (temporary)		Clients: ensure limited but timely representation is available in JICMC courts without the need for eligibility testing and without submitting an application to LAO.		Increased access to representation and increased efficiency in JICMC courts.
Virtual Case Management Court services (VCMC)	Representation is provided across most locations in virtual case management court (VCMC). The VCMC pilot program saw 2 per diem duty counsel attend case management in 8 locations has ended and has shifted more toward staff taking on the role. Duty counsel continues to attend VCMC and will assist clients in a breakout room as required. This was not a service that was provided pre-pandemic but will remain part of DC programming until further decisions are made by the executive.	Ongoing (temporary)		Client: provided easier access to legal aid.		In response to the pandemic and the lack of in-person services available, LAO aimed to ensure clients had access to legal aid.
Increased call centre hours	LAO launched a pilot project extending the hours of operation of the contact centre from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. These extended hours were introduced in response to the pandemic in order to improve services and become more accessible to clients. Once demand for the service was no longer needed LAO resumed regular business hours 8 am to 5 pm.	2021 to 2022 (temporary)		Client: provided easier access to legal aid.		In response to the pandemic and the lack of in-person services available, LAO aimed to ensure clients had access to legal aid beyond "normal" business hours.
Manitoba - Technological
Investing in technology	Decrease travel time and cost; digitizing files, providing equipment to staff, etc.	On-going (permanent)	Clients, counsel, staff.		More efficient service provision.
Pilot project to access to legal aid	Allow applicants / clients in rural communities and on reserve alternative methods to contact legal aid and their counsel from their home town/city/reserve.	Delayed to 2023-24 (permanent)	Applicants, clients.		Access to legal aid for applicants and clients.
Manitoba - Service delivery
Increase in private bar capacity	Incentivize private bar to take more cases.	2021-22 to 2023-24 (temporary)	PB, clients		Quicker turnaround of cases; clearing the backlog.
Address backlog of cases	Increased enhanced duty counsel to facilitate early disposition of cases.	2021-22 to 2023-24 (temporary)	clients, PB, courts		Quicker turnaround of cases; clearing the backlog.
Work from home access	Provide staff with cell phone access to work from home.	2021-22 (temporary)	all stakeholders		Services continue uninterrupted.
Offsetting client payment holiday	To allow clients to manage their financial obligations during COVID.	2021-22 (temporary)	clients		Services continue uninterrupted.
Saskatchewan - Technological
Hire IT Manager	Modernize and digitize Legal Aid Saskatchewan’s (LAS) IT infrastructure in order to meet the demands.	October 2021 to no end date (permanent)	Applicants and staff. Clients/applicants will benefit with an individual managing the IT for LAS.		Improved IT services with someone directly responsible for managing IT.
IT cloud processing and migration. Implement O365 and Support.	Modernize and digitize the IT infrastructure in order to meet the demands.	June 2021 to no end date (permanent)	Applicants and staff. Clients /applicants will benefit with better access with staff through better IT.		This initiative is intended to move the organization from processes that are either paper or hybrid paper/electronic to more electronic-based processes.
Additional enhancements to Legal Aid Information Database	Modernize and digitize the IT infrastructure in order to meet the demands.	December 2020 to no end date (permanent)	Applicants and staff. Clients/applicants will benefit with better access with staff through better IT.		This initiative is intended to move the organization from processes that are either paper or hybrid paper/electronic to more electronic-based processes.
Saskatchewan - Service delivery
Hire Term Lawyer Positions	To reduce waitlists and backlogs for criminal legal aid services.	September 2021 to March 2024 (temporary)	Clients/applicants will benefit with more prompt legal services.		Reduced wait times and backlogs
Contract Private Bar (PB) to assist with backlogs due to Covid	To reduce waitlists and backlogs for criminal legal aid services.	April 2021 to March 2024 (temporary)			Reduced wait times and backlogs
Digitize Private Bar processing review	To modernize and digitize the PB processing.	February 2022 to October 2022 (temporary)	Improve process for payment and management of private bar.		Better oversight of payments in a timely fashion.
Restructuring of head office staff for administrative support of improved service delivery	To improve management, oversight and risk management.	April 2021 to no end date (permanent)	Applicants and staff/private bar. Clients/applicants will benefit with additional support from head office for the service delivery by staff and private bar lawyers.		Improved overall management of the legal aid system.
Strategic Planning exercise (consultant fee only)	To establish priorities to meet the service delivery initiatives	July 2021 to September 2022 (temporary)	All stakeholders.		A robust 5 year Strategic Plan including implementation plan and metrics.
Alberta - Technological
Modernize and enhance systems and equipment - including client record and case management	Simplify systems, enhance capabilities - including improved support for remote/virtual work.	Ongoing (permanent)	Clients, private bar, and staff.		A modernized and enhanced system and equipment that better supports client record and case management, and remote/virtual work.
Alberta - Service delivery
Improved client access to legal aid services	Allow clients better access to services - wherever they live in Alberta.	Ongoing (permanent)	Clients.		Allow clients better access to services - wherever they live in Alberta.
British Columbia - Technological
Technology Grant - Criminal only	Many lawyers who do legal aid do not have the technology necessary to best serve clients and the courts remotely from their homes. They are concerned about meeting face-to-face with clients during the pandemic and need online access to courts. A technology grant allows them to purchase equipment for essential remote communication. Remote communication with clients, other lawyers and the courts requires improved bandwidth, data capabilities, hardware and software and technological support. Payment parameters: a one-time payment per lawyer; eligibility is based on the lawyer having taken a minimum number of contracts during the fiscal year (2021/2022) and making a commitment to be available to take a minimum number of contracts during the current fiscal year (2022/2023); the payment amount is scaled based on the lawyer’s seniority (junior lawyers receive the highest payment).	2021-22	Lawyers with eligible criminal representation contracts and duty counsel equivalent contracts.		Provided regular legal aid lawyers with resources to acquire hardware and software necessary to adapt to increasingly digital and virtual court processes.
British Columbia - Service delivery
Virtual Bail - partially funded with federal pandemic recovery funding	Support Provincial Court to transition to remote bail hearings province-wide: Introduction of regional duty counsel. Improved coordination between justice participants: Crown, Court Services, Defence counsel, LABC (intake), duty counsel on the MS teams channels created by the office of the Chief Judge for virtual bail, as well as by email. Balanced work loads so the 4 duty counsel scheduled in each geographic region (so far the North and Interior) can assist each other to cover all detainees where there are conflicts or high volumes in 1 location – previously we’d have to appoint ad hoc duty counsel for smaller locations, often after some delay. LABC (Intake, local agents, duty counsel team in HO) provides increased support for duty counsel – providing information about detainees and prioritizing legal aid applications from detainees – to try to connect clients to counsel before they are released. The planning process has allowed LABC direct access to Court, Crown, Corrections, and Sheriff services, with ACJ coordinating this, so that our suggestions and recommendations for improvements are communicated directly to others, leading to quite prompt changes/improvements. This is a much more responsive system than before and LABC’s advice has been welcomed and has resulted in improvements for our clients (re communications with counsel, timely bail, content of bail packages).	April 2021 and ongoing.
Northwest Territories - Technological
Additional laptop and webcams	To support remote appearances.	Permanent	Clients and counsel.		Increased access to representation.
Northwest Territories - Service delivery
Creation of weekend bail assignment	Access to faster bail, avoid detention in crowded facility.	Throughout 2021-22 (temporary)	Clients, administration of justice.		Releasable clients spend less time in remand.
Additional counsel assigned to bail court as remote appearances more time consuming	Reduce pressure on staff lawyers.	Throughout 2021-22 (permanent)	Clients, staff lawyers, administration of justice.		Support smooth operation of bail court, earliest possible release for clients, address staff burnout.
Serious case isolation travel period cost	Ensure serious matter could proceed.	2022-03-01 (temporary)	Client, administration of justice.		Trial was able to proceed.

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Legal Aid in Canada – Detailed data tables, 2021-22

Table 1 – Legal aid plan revenues, by type of revenue, annual, 2021-22

Table 2a – Legal aid plan expenditures, by type of expenditure, 2021-22

Table 2b – Total administrative and other costs, 2021-22

Table 3 – Legal aid applications received, by type of matter, 2021-22

Table 4 – Legal aid applications approved for full legal representation, by staff and private bar lawyers, annual, 2021-22

Table 5 - Refused legal aid applications, by reason for refusal, all legal aid matters, 2021-22

Table 6 – Refused legal aid applications, by reason for refusal, criminal matters, 2021-22

Table 7 – Refused legal aid applications, by reason for refusal, civil matters, 2021-22

Table 8 – Applications for full legal representation, approved and refused, by self-identified Indigenous population, criminal and civil, and province/territory, 2021-22

Table 9 – Duty counsel services, by type of matter, 2021-22

Table 10 – Duty counsel service expenditures, by type of matter, 2021-22

Table 11 – Appeal applications, approved and refused, for legal aid services, by criminal and civil matters, 2021-22

Table 12 – Incoming and outgoing civil legal aid cases processed under the Interprovincial Reciprocity Agreement, 2021-22

Table 13 – Legal aid clients, by age, gender, and type of matter, Canada, 2021-22

Table 14 – Indigenous legal aid clients receiving full legal representation and summary services, by gender and type of matter, 2021-22

Table 15 – Criminal legal aid cases by type of offence and in-year expenditures, adults, Canada, 2021-22

Table 16 – Criminal legal aid cases by type of offence and in-year expenditures, youth, Canada, 2021-22

Table 17 – Immigration and refugee legal aid certificates and expenditures, by province/territory and type of lawyer, 2021-22

Table 18 – Legal aid service delivery by private bar, staff, and other lawyers, 2020-21

Table 19 – Legal aid plan personnel as of March 31, 2021

Table 20 – Criminal legal aid funding to address pressures resulting from COVID-19, 2021-22