3. Get legal help
Question & Answer
Can a landlord ask me to stop smoking medical marijuana?If your landlord’s refusing to let you smoke or vape medical marijuana in your unit, think about getting legal help to work out a solution with your landlord.
Here are some organizations that work in the area of human rights.
Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)
The Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) is an organization that works with tenants mainly by telephone and email. Their staff are not lawyers or paralegals.
CERA’s human rights services include helping tenants who:
- need for a human rights reason, such as a
- want general information about human rights or the of Ontario
Human Rights Legal Support Centre
You can contact the Human Rights Legal Support Centre
(HRLSC) to get free legal advice and support. The HRLSC will let you know if you have a strong case for the Human Rights . The amount of support they give you depends on your case, the type of issue you’re facing, and your personal situation.
The HRLSC can sometimes speak to your landlord on your behalf to help resolve your issue without submitting an to the Tribunal. Visit the HRLSC website to see how they can help, or call 1-866-625-5179.
Legal clinics
Community legal clinics (CLCs) provide free legal services to people with low incomes. A CLC may be able to help you with certain human rights issues related to housing or employment. You can search for a CLC in your area using your postal code.
There are also Specialty clinics that provide free legal services on certain human rights issues to specific people with low incomes. Some of the specialty clinics are:
- ACE, for seniors
- ACTO, for tenants
- ALS, for Indigenous people
- ARCH, for people with disabilities
- BLAC, for Black people
- CSALC, for Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian people
- CSSP, for Spanish-speaking people
- HALCO, for people living with HIV
- IWC, for people injured at work
- JFCY, for young people
- SALCO, for South Asian people
- WHSLC, for non-unionized workers
For additional help contacting a CLC or a specialty clinic, you can call Legal Aid Ontario at 1-800-668-8258 or 416-979-1446. TTY users can call 1-866-641-8867 or 416-598-8867.
Pro Bono Ontario
Pro Bono Ontario offers free legal advice for tenants who are facing legal issues. Call 1-855-255-7256.
Lawyer Referral Service
Many lawyers work on cases. For help finding a lawyer, you can use the Law Society’s online Lawyer Referral Service or call 1-855-947-5255
Ontario Legal Information Centre
The Ontario Legal Information Centre offers a free 30-minute meeting with a lawyer to anyone in Ontario. You can talk to a lawyer by telephone or in person at their Ottawa office, in any area of law, and in English or French. You may have to leave a message, and a lawyer will call you back.
JusticeNet
JusticeNet is a not-for-profit organization that helps people access legal services when their income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford legal fees. If your net family income is less than $59,000, they refer you to a directory of lawyers, paralegals, and mediators who provide help at reduced rates depending on income.
You must register and pay a $25 fee to use the website. This fee may be returned to you if you don’t find a professional to work with.
