A person eligible for contributory legal aid is entitled to legal services upon payment of a contribution of between $100.00 and $800.00 toward the cost of services, depending on his or her situation. With this type of legal aid, it is possible to know the cost of the legal services in advance.

Determining financial eligibility

In determining an applicant's eligibility, the income, property and liquidities of the applicant and his spouse are taken into account. The Regulation respecting legal aid sets out a scale for each of these elements. When the property scale or liquidities scale is exceeded, deemed income is computed by adding an amount equal to 100% of the excess liquidities and 10% of the excess property to the maximum amount of income giving the right to gratuitous legal aid according to family size and excess income. The deemed income may entitle the applicant to legal aid in consideration for the payment of a contribution. The contribution is calculated in increments of $100, up to a maximum of $800, according to a scale. It must be paid within 15 days following the date of issuance of the certificate of eligibility, but it can be paid by way of staggered instalments over a maximum period of 6 months if the director general of the community legal centre allows it.

Have you checked if you are eligible?

Only the Legal Aid Office closest to the place of residence of the person applying can determine if he or she is eligible.

The eligibility scale for contributory legal aid are as follows:

Annual income schedule (gross)*

*In some remote regions, the amounts in the table above are increased by 20%.

The contribution can be spread over several instalments. If the actual cost of services required is less than expected, the contribution may be partially refunded.