Evaluation of the Legal Aid Program

2 Program Profile

2.1 Program Description

The overall objective of the Legal Aid Program is to promote access to justice for eligible persons and to promote public confidence in the justice system through federal contribution funding to provinces and territories and/or legal aid plans for legal aid services. The specific objectives are to provide legal information, advice and representation to vulnerable persons, including economically disadvantaged individuals, in order to ensure that their rights to a fair justice process are protected; to enable the federal government to maintain a policy role in access to justice issues. The last objective is to promote a culture of innovation and performance measurement in legal aid, which is key to supporting the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system.

By meeting the above objectives, the Program contributes to the Department of Justice Canada’s core responsibility that individuals in contact with the Canadian justice system have access to appropriate services, thus enabling a fair, timely, and accessible justice system.^{Footnote 2}

Overview of Program Components

The Program has four funding components: Criminal Legal Aid in the Provinces and Territories (and Civil Legal Aid in the Territories);^{Footnote 3} Immigration and Refugee (I&R) Legal Aid; State-funded Counsel; and Legal Advice for Complainants of Workplace Sexual Harassment. The Criminal Legal Aid in the Provinces and Territories (and Civil Legal Aid in the Territories) and I&R Legal Aid components of the Program are cost shared with the provinces and territories.^{Footnote 4}

Criminal Legal Aid^{Footnote 5} provides ongoing contribution funding to the provinces and territories in support of specific policy objectives related to the delivery of legal aid services to vulnerable persons, including economically disadvantaged people; those who are accused of serious and/or complex criminal offences and facing the likelihood of incarceration; and youths charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

I&R Legal Aid provides ongoing contribution funding to the six participating provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador) that deliver I&R legal aid.

State-funded Counsel is provided in instances where a court orders the Attorney General of Canada to provide funded counsel in federal proceedings or where there is a high likelihood that the court will do so. State-funded counsel is also provided for economically disadvantaged persons subject to terrorism prosecutions, security certificates issued under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, proceedings under the Extradition Act where the commission of a terrorist act is alleged, and proceedings under any other legislation involving national security issues that Parliament might enact. The Attorney General of Canada will also provide state-funded counsel when Minutes of Settlement involving Canada require it. Unlike the other two components, state-funded counsel is not cost-shared, but rather the Department provides funding to cover 100% of eligible expenses.

Legal Advice for Complainants of Workplace Sexual Harassment component, which first received funding in 2019-20, supports organizations that provide legal information and advice to persons who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, regardless of their economic status. As noted in Section 1.2, this component is not included in this evaluation.

Program Governance

Overall responsibility for the Program lies with the Department’s Programs Branch. Within the Branch, the LAD is responsible for the delivery of the criminal and I&R components to the provinces, and the delivery of the state-funded counsel component to provinces, territories, and/or legal aid plans. The LAD is the federal policy and program lead for legal aid. It is responsible for developing research and analysis on legal aid; preparing briefing materials and Cabinet documents to seek policy authority and funding approval in response to emerging needs; negotiating, allocating, and managing program budgets and agreements; and fostering and maintaining collaborative working relationships with recipients, including provincial and territorial government and legal aid representatives. The Policy Implementation Directorate (PID) is responsible for the Access to Justice Services Agreements (AJAs) with the territories.

The LAD also provides secretariat support for the PWG. The PWG is comprised of representatives of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments and representatives from each provincial and territorial legal aid delivery agency, and it reports directly to the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Deputy Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety. The PWG is a forum for national information sharing, research, joint policy development, and discussions on matters of shared interest respecting legal aid, as well as a forum for the negotiation of the federal contribution for legal aid.

Table 1 shows the Legal Aid Program planned resources for 2016–17 to 2019–20, which is the period covered by the evaluation. A comparison of planned to actual expenditures is included in Section 4.3.1.

Table 1. Planned Resources for Federal Legal Aid Program (in millions of $)
Funding Components (Contributions)	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20
Criminal legal aid in provinces, and criminal and civil legal aid in the territories	121.39	124.39	127.39	132.39
I&R	11.50	14.20	14.20	27.65^{Footnote * of Table 1}
State-funded counsel	4.15	4.15	3.65	3.66
Total – Contributions funding^{Footnote ** of Table 1}	137.04	142.74	145.24	163.7
Program administration^{Footnote *** of Table 1}
Salary	1.01	1.01	1.01	1.01
Operations and maintenance^{Footnote **** of Table 1}	0.63	0.63	0.63	0.63
Total – Administration	1.64	1.64	1.64	1.64
Grand total – Contributions and administration	138.68	144.38	146.88	165.34
Table 1 footnotes Note of Table 1 Note: Numbers are rounded; as a result, the sum of program administration funding does not match the total. Footnote * of Table 1 The FY 2019-20 I&R total includes Budget 2019 funding. Return to footnote * referrer of Table 1 Footnote of Table 1 The funding for Legal Advice for Complainants of Workplace Sexual Harassment is not included. Return to footnote referrer of Table 1 Footnote * of Table 1 Accommodation and benefits are not included. Return to footnote * referrer of Table 1 Footnote ** of Table 1 The costs to the Department of state-funded counsel cases managed by LAD are included in operations and maintenance. Return to footnote ** referrer of Table 1 Source of Table 1 Source: Department of Justice financial data

Footnotes

Footnote 2

Department of Justice Canada. (2018). Department of Justice—Overview of the 2018-19 Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cp-pm/paa-aap/drfpi-cmrrp/2018/index.htm

Return to footnote 2 referrer

Footnote 3

Funding is provided to the territories for criminal and civil legal aid through the Access to Justice Services Agreements, which integrate federal funding support for legal aid (criminal [adults and youth] and civil), the Indigenous Courtwork Program, and Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) services. The Indigenous Courtwork Program and PLEI services are outside the scope of the Program and are evaluated separately.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

Footnote 4

In 2019-20, I&R was 100% federally funded.

Return to footnote 4 referrer

Footnote 5

This component includes civil legal aid in the territories.

Return to footnote 5 referrer

Date modified:: 2021-12-01

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Evaluation of the Legal Aid Program

2 Program Profile

2.1 Program Description

Overview of Program Components

Program Governance