“With The Law Foundation of Ontario’s funding, Lakehead Law students are able to engage in meaningful Aboriginal legal education activities such as learning on the land in the Fort William First Nation as part of the Sugar Bush teaching with community knowledge holders. As a law school, we hosted the Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School for a Law Day to introduce First Nation students from remote communities to the possibility of pursuing a career in the legal field.

Our law students received support for summer opportunities such as interning for the Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corp. assisting with reviewing court services and a third year law student who spent her summer as a Justice Intern at the Nokiiwin Tribal Council where she conducted legal workshops to communities, assisted in the development of a regional Access to Justice strategy, and drafted a proposal to implement the strategy to the Ministry of the Attorney General.

As a contributor to our Lakehead University Community Legal Services Clinic, the funding is instrumental in the work of our law students representing low-income clients, a majority of whom are Aboriginal, involved in a variety of legal matters from Landlord-Tenant Law to Provincial Offences. The clinic can be a beacon of hope for those without representation in a time of great need.

We are deeply grateful for the Foundation’s support making these legal initiatives possible.”

– Angelique EagleWoman, Dean,
Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University 

“The Law Foundation of Ontario’s generous support enables Osgoode to fulfill its mission to provide experiential legal education, accessible justice, and advance the public interest. In 2006, with a Foundation grant, Osgoode launched Canada’s first Public Interest Requirement (OPIR) under which every JD student engages in at least 40 hours of legal related public interest placements. In 2012, Osgoode added to OPIR with the Praxicum, which ensures that all JD students participate in clinical and intensive programs that bring together innovative ideas in law with law in action.

From Parkdale Community Legal Services, a leading voice in the clinic system in Ontario for over 45 years, to CLASP, the Mediation Intensive Clinic, and Osgoode’s newest clinical programs in Investor Protection with FAIR, and Feminist Legal Advocacy in collaboration with the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, the Foundation’s support has made possible enduring community partnerships, outstanding opportunities for diverse law students, and better access to justice for those in need. The Foundation has been instrumental in other organizations that enrich Osgoode’s academic community, from Law in Action within Schools (LAWS) to the Law Commission of Ontario. In all these (and other ways), The Law Foundation of Ontario has provided the spark and sustaining energy for Ontario’s Law Schools to build progressive communities of learning while improving the communities around them.”

– Lorne Sossin, Dean,
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

“Thanks to funding from The Law Foundation of Ontario, a number of students had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the needs of the population in terms of access to justice and the financial and administrative barriers that people face on a daily basis.

As part of the Centre de justice de proximité de l’Outaouais, the students were also able to develop transferable skills by collaborating in the organization of a large event, le Salon Accès Justice, where the population had access to free legal information and in preparing 32 radio segments and 27 newspaper articles on legal issues. One student was involved with the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario in the improvement of a virtual library (Jurisource.ca), which lists thousands of legal resources concerning the practice of law and legal terminology, in order to fill the lack of legal tools adapted to the realities of French Common Law and English Civil Law. The research and census work completed by the student was an important contribution.

The Foundation’s contribution helps to create awareness among law students around the many challenges facing access to justice while informing and helping people who truly need the support.”

– Céline Lévesque, Dean,
Civil Law Section, University of Ottawa

“The funding provided by The Law Foundation of Ontario has played a crucial role in our ongoing expansion of experiential learning opportunities oriented to access to justice. Through courses and fellowships, our students have offered Free Law events at a local shopping mall, assisted street-involved people in defending against ‘nuisance’ ticketing, supported environmental justice seekers and international human rights advocates, and helped guide low-income community members, refugee claimants, individual tax-payers, small charities, and budding entrepreneurs through legal forms and processes. Students attest to the benefit of these courses in opening their eyes, shifting their perspectives, and deepening their knowledge and skills. But for these courses, the people served would have no legal help.

Beyond experiential learning, the Foundation’s funding also contributes to our efforts to foster diversity in the legal profession, which, in turn, can enable access to justice. The funding sustains a variety of academic, social/cultural, and professional development support programs aimed at ensuring the success of Indigenous students and others from groups and circumstances that are underrepresented in the legal profession. Many of these students go on to be legal assistance providers and leaders in their own communities.

We are proud of our students’ contributions to access to justice, at law school and beyond. And, we are profoundly grateful for the invaluable support of The Law Foundation of Ontario.”

– François J Larocque, Interim Dean,
Common Law Section, University of Ottawa

“At Queen’s Law, experiential education is a key part of our mandate, and we cannot overstate the value of the support provided by The Law Foundation of Ontario. With the Foundation’s help, the Queen’s Law Clinics provide a central resource for access to justice in Kingston and region, providing low-income residents with the legal help they need. The Clinics also provide a tremendous learning opportunity for our students, allowing them to get hands-on experience in a wide range of legal issues.

Along with advancing access to justice, it is also vital that our legal profession reflect the diverse society in which we live in. The Foundation’s support of our Education Equity program means that we can provide essential support services to all our students, including those from diverse backgrounds, thereby ensuring that all of our students are given an equal opportunity to thrive.”

– Bill Flanagan, Dean,
Queen’s Law, Queen’s University

“The Faculty of Law and The Law Foundation of Ontario share a commitment to access to justice, diversity, and experiential learning. Thanks in significant part to the Foundation’s generosity, we are able to offer our students a wonderful experiential opportunity with our well-developed clinical programs. As one example, Downtown Legal Services serves to both benefit the broader community by delivering much-needed legal assistance to low-income clients and provides our students with a hands-on learning opportunity.

The Foundation’s support also enables the Faculty to offer pipeline building programs that increase the diversity of the justice sector. One such program, Law in Action Within Schools, offers educational programs, support, and mentorship for marginalized high school students. It serves to expose young minds to the importance of law in structuring society and opens up the possibility of future legal studies to those who might not otherwise have regarded this as a realistic path to pursue.

With the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report, our Faculty has placed increasing emphasis on Indigenous matters, including supporting our Indigenous students. The role of our Indigenous Initiatives Office, which receives significant funding from the Foundation, has expanded in response to the TRC’s Calls to Action. We are proud of what the Office has accomplished and what is planned for future years, and are very grateful for the Foundation’s support.”

– Edward Iacobucci, Dean,
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto

“The Law Foundation of Ontario’s support is critical to the legal clinics housed at Western Law. Not only do these clinics provide experiential education to our students, but more importantly, they teach our students the value of pro bono legal work and a spirit of community service. Western’s Community Legal Services Clinic and our chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada involve students in the provision of legal services to a range of community organizations and unrepresented parties. This is especially important in the fields of family law, eviction prevention, and small claims.

Our students also provide assistance to those with physical and mental disabilities, youth at risk, victims of domestic violence, and cultural organizations. This work brings students face-to-face with community members whose personal circumstances are vastly different than their own, helping them to develop the sense of empathy that is vital to our profession. Through the Foundation’s funding, Western Law is able to improve access to justice and other services within London and the surrounding community, and to ensure that the next generation of lawyers appreciate the serving nature of our profession.”

– Erika Chamberlain, Dean,
Western Law, Western University

“Access to Justice – or A2J – is one of Windsor Law’s two primary institutional themes. The Law Foundation of Ontario funding has been crucial in supporting our A2J outreach in Southwest Ontario and beyond. This outreach takes several forms, including coaching self-represented litigants through the National Self-Represented Litigants Project and establishing active partnerships with local First Nations in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report. Our outreach allows us to assist vulnerable people in our community while, at the same time, providing quality experiential and clinical learning opportunities for students.

Windsor-Essex is a significant gateway for refugee and immigration clients to enter Canada and also hosts a significant population of migrant workers, a precarious and underserved group who often do not have access to provincially funded settlement services. Very tangibly, the Foundation allows one of our clinics, Legal Assistance of Windsor, to have a full-time immigration and refugee lawyer. We also use the Foundation support to hire student caseworkers during the summer at a sister clinic, Community Legal Aid. These students learn client-centred and community-based lawyering during the summer and then mentor their peers during the academic year. This multiplies the effects of the Foundation funding.”

– Christopher Waters, Dean,
Windsor Law, University of Windsor