Services in Ontario - Human rights complaints

The centre gives free legal information and advice to people who have experienced discrimination. They can:

• help you fill out an application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
• give legal advice about how to deal with discrimination
• provide legal representation at mediations and hearings, in some situations

They have an online tool that can help you figure out if your situation might be discrimination.

During the COVID-19 situation, many community legal clinics are no longer meeting with people in person, but will provide services over the phone. Call ahead for more information.

Legal Aid Ontario funds community legal clinics across Ontario to give free legal services to people with low incomes. Lawyers, community legal workers, and law students can help people with some legal problems, like social assistance, housing, and workers’ rights.

To get help from a clinic:

• your legal issue must be one the clinic deals with
• you must live in the area the clinic serves
• you must have a low income

Most clinics also give brief advice or what’s called “summary advice”, without asking about your financial situation. If your local clinic can’t help you, they may be able to refer you to someone in your community who can.

LAO has 4 free regional advice lines that give legal information and advice in French over the telephone to people living in:

• Eastern Ontario
• Northern Ontario, and parts of central Ontario including:
  • Barrie
  • Parry Sound
  • Muskoka and Kawartha Lakes regions
• Greater Toronto Area
• Southwestern Ontario

The advice lines do not help with family law or criminal law matters. 

CERA is an organization that works with tenants mainly by telephone and email. Their staff are not lawyers or paralegals.

Tenants facing eviction can get information about the eviction process and services that can help them. CERA’s human rights services include helping tenants who:

• are being discriminated against when looking for housing
• are being harassed
• need accommodation for a human rights reason, such as a disability
• want general information about human rights or the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

The centre gives workers free information and advice. Call them to get:

• information about your rights at work
• help figuring out how to deal with an employment problem

The Ontario Legal Information Centre offers a free 30-minute meeting with a lawyer to anyone in Ontario by telephone or in person at their Ottawa office in any area of law in English or French. You may have to leave a message, and a lawyer will call you back.