Legal Line is a Federal not-for-profit organization providing access to Canadian laws since 1993. Educating the public about the law is a necessary step in advancing access to justice. We provide easy-to-understand legal answers, written in plain language.

Our 1,600 answers give people the power and confidence they need to make informed decisions that affect everyday life. The information is organized under 42 areas of law, allowing people to easily zero-in on the specific answers they need.

After our Users read the answers relevant to their issue, those who need further help are referred to lawyers, government offices, and other professionals who are experts in the exact topic in question.

Fast Facts

• Over 1,600 legal answers
• Information covers Federal, Provincial and Territorial laws
• Answers organized within 42 major areas of law
• Answers provided in 107 languages
• 32,000 questions answered every day  (11 million in 2018)
• 24 hour telephone information line helped 600,000 callers (2017), and seamlessly rerouted those in need to further help
• Free Guides and Flyers available in 24 languages (including Indigenous: Ojibwa, Cree, Oji-Cree and Mi’kmaq), and in Braille
• Over 3 million Legal Line Flyers and 1 million Guides are delivered annually to our 8,000 partners (government, corporate, agency, professional etc.) who distribute our materials and link to Legalline.ca
• Thousands of relevant Links to valuable government and professional resources, organized by Area of Law and by Province
• Our bestselling reference book, Your Guide to Canadian Law now in its 7th printing (700 pages), and a second book, Your Guide to Ontario Law will be available in late 2018
• 650 consulate offices now participate in Legal Line’s Foreign Embassy Alliance Program (FEAP) providing legal help for Canada’s 250,000 new immigrants each year, in addition to helping the citizens of those nations to do business with Canadians
• Our 710 legal experts help to keep the information accurate, while our Board of Advisors — all experts in their respective areas — assist in directing the future endeavours of Legal Line
• October 2018, our team is excited to introduce a documents library that will provide free downloadable templates

Funding

Since 2015, Legal Line has been a proud participant of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) action campaign. We have created specific objectives and systems to meet the Canadian public’s need for access to justice today and in the future.

Our social and economic sustainability objectives are:

1. Maintain our services and materials as a Free Public Service;
2. Expand and enhance the legal services we currently provide;
3. Provide our Users with access to professional services on their exact issue;
4. Enable the providers of relevant professional services to connect with our Users; and
5. Continue to expand our partnership with the legal industry, government, agencies, professionals, corporations and community offices across Canada.

We are excited to announce that as of January 2018, we have approved advertising and sponsorship on Legal Line. This outsourced funding model will allow us to achieve our sustainable development goals without diverting government funds from other vital services, and without charging the public.

Having achieved our sustainability objectives, Legal Line is now poised for ‘Recognition of excellence in Public Service’ by the UN Public Service Awards Committee in 2019.

Antree Demakos, B.A., J.D.
Chief Information Officer
antree@legalline.ca

“The strongest healing powers in our world are LOVE and JUSTICE“
(Antree Demakos)

“There is no justice without Access to Justice“
(Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin)

“All great things are simple. Many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honour, mercy, hope“
(Winston Churchill)