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How to apply for legal aid

To apply for a legal aid lawyer to help you with a family, criminal, or immigration problem, or to get legal information or advice, come into a legal aid office or courthouse location, or call our Call Centre. Please note that you can't apply for legal aid online.

Before you visit or call, please read the following:

Applying by phone

If your area doesn't have a legal aid office or if you can't get to the office, you can apply for legal representation over the phone by calling our province-wide Call Centre:

604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver)
1-866-577-2525 (toll free, elsewhere in BC).

Hours:

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays

Please have all of your financial and court information handy when you phone (see the list below under Applying in person). To take your application, Call Centre staff will ask you for complete and true information about your legal problem, income, savings, and assets. You will need to provide proof of the financial information you give by fax or by dropping it off later at the closest office.

Applying in person

To apply for a legal aid lawyer to represent you, it's a good idea to phone your local legal aid office or check this website to find out the office hours. For office phone numbers and hours, see Where to find legal aid services. If the person on the phone tells you to come into the office, you'll need to bring proof of your income with you.

Proof of income can include one or more of the following:

  • two recent pay stubs,
  • a recent welfare stub, or
  • a recent income tax return or bank records (if you're self-employed or seasonally employed).

You'll also need to bring:

  • proof of the value of your assets — like your car, boat, or RRSPs, and
  • any papers you have about your case — like court orders or papers related to your criminal charge.

To take your application, a staff person will ask you for complete and true information about your legal problem, income, savings, and assets. If you don't have all the documents we need, we will tell you what to do next.

Need help in another language?

When you phone the Call Centre, you will first hear recorded messages describing legal aid services. These messages are available in six languages: Cantonese, English, French, Mandarin, Punjabi, and Spanish.

The messages explain that if you need services in languages other than English, you should tell the staff person who answers what language you speak so they can arrange immediate access to a telephone interpreter. Interpreters are available for more than 100 languages.