Ontario lawyers applaud plan to boost legal aid eligibility, but say more help needed [Video]

The provincial agency that provides legal help for low-income Ontarians is planning to expand eligibility for its services, a move that some lawyers applaud but add it’s only a “first step” toward fixing Ontario’s legal aid system.

Last month, Legal Aid Ontario announced it is planning a three-year increase to financial eligibility thresholds for family and criminal duty counsel and criminal certificate services. It said the move aims to help more low-income Ontarians access legal aid and reduce the backlog in criminal courts.

The current eligibility thresholds are dependent on family size and income. A single person would have to make $22,720 or less to qualify for criminal and family duty counsel, a requirement that increases to up to $50,803 for families of five or more.

The new plan proposes to increase the income threshold for those duty counsel services and criminal certificates to $45,440 for families of up to four people, for …