Thanks to an agreement between the provinces and territories, a person residing in Québec can obtain civil legal aid services in a territory or a province other than Quebec and vice-versa. This is called reciprocity.
To obtain services outside Québec, the person living in Quebec must submit an application to the legal aid office closest to his residence.
The application is then forwarded to the province or territory in question so that financial eligibility and coverage of the required service can be determined under the law of that province or territory.
A person residing in a territory or province other than Québec must complete the attached non-resident application and send it to the Reciprocity Department of the Commission des services juridiques with the documents relating to:
The application is then forwarded to the legal aid office concerned so that financial eligibility and coverage of the required service can be determined under Quebec law.
The contact person for the Reciprocity Department is Danièle Archambault, darchambault@csj.qc.ca, fax: 514-873-7046.
In criminal matters, the person seeking a lawyer must apply for legal aid in the province or territory where he or she has been accused, because there is no agreement between the provinces and territories except for matters under section 745 of the Criminal Code.