Program directory · Department of Justice Canada
Legal Representation
- Department
- Department of Justice Canada
- Program code
- BNY02 (JUS)
- Core responsibility
- Justice System Support
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Department supports access to justice and the efficient functioning of the Canadian justice system. The Department provides contribution funding to the Provinces and Territories to help ensure that economically disadvantaged individuals have access to legal advice, representation and information for criminal law, youth criminal justice, and immigration and refugee matters. Provinces, territories, or their legal aid service delivery entities also receive funding for the management and delivery of state-funded counsel, which includes court-ordered counsel in federal prosecutions, and legal aid in national security matters. In addition, grants and contributions funding is also made available to other recipients to support: (1) Special Advocates in Division 9 proceedings under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and (2) the prosecution of capital market fraud cases.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Representation | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $1.64B |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to deliver targeted services consistent with federal priorities. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024 | Budget 2024 measure “Criminal Justice Legal Aid”: $440M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2024, PDF page 274 |
| 2024 | Budget 2024 measure “Immigration and Refugee Legal Aid”: $276M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2024, PDF page 274 |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 270,000 | 2019 | — To be published in Legal Aid Canada, 2018-19 Annual Report. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 270,000 | 2020 | — Result to be published in Legal Aid in Canada, 2019-20 annual report. Once published, the report will be available here: https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/request-demande.html. Since the publication of the 2018-19 Departmental Results Report, the Legal Aid in Canada 2018-19 report has been published (https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/aid-aide/1819/index.html). The 2018-19 result f… | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 270,000 | 2021 | — Results for 2020-21 will be published in the annual report for Legal Aid in Canada 2020-21, which is anticipated to be released in 2022. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 270,000 | 2022 | — Results for 2021-22 will be published in the annual report for Legal Aid in Canada 2021-22, which is expected to be released in 2023. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 270,000 | 2023 | — Results for 2022-23 will be published in the annual report for Legal Aid in Canada 2022-23, which will be released in 2024. | No result reported |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 190,000 | 2024 | — Data for fiscal year 2023–24 are not available given that reporting is due in October 2024 for the provinces, and in December 2024 for the territories. Once compiled, the data will be available in the Legal Aid in Canada 2023–24 report, which is anticipated in June 2025. | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 190,000 | 2025 | — Data for fiscal year 2024–25 are not available given that reporting is due in October 2025 for the provinces, and in December 2025 for the territories. Once compiled, the data will be available in the Legal Aid in Canada, 2024–25, report which is anticipated in June 2026. | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2019 | — To be published in Legal Aid in Canada, 2018-19 Annual Report. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2020 | — Result to be published in Legal Aid in Canada, 2019-20 annual report. Once published, the report will be available here: https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/request-demande.html. Since the publication of the 2018-19 Departmental Results Report, the Legal Aid in Canada 2018-19 report has been published (https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/aid-aide/1819/index.html). The 2018-19 result f… | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2021 | — Results for 2020-21 will be published in the annual report for Legal Aid in Canada 2020-21, which is anticipated to be released in 2022. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2022 | — Results for 2021-22 will be published in the annual report for Legal Aid in Canada 2021-22, which is expected to be released in 2023. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2023 | — Results for 2022-23 will be published in the annual report for Legal Aid in Canada 2022-23, to be released in 2024. | No result reported |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2024 | — Data for fiscal year 2023–24 are not available given that reporting is due in October 2024 for the provinces, and in December 2024 for the territories. Once compiled, the data will be available in the Legal Aid in Canada 2023–24 report, which is anticipated in June 2025. | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2025 | — Data for fiscal year 2024–25 are not available given that reporting is due in October 2025 for the provinces, and in December 2025 for the territories. Once compiled, the data will be available in the Legal Aid in Canada, 2024–25, report which is anticipated in June 2026. | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 100% | 2019 | 100% | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 100% | 2020 | 98% The result (98%) remains consistent with that of previous reporting periods, though slightly below the target. Only the Contraventions Act Fund is not fully committed. The Department continues to work diligently toward having provinces, territories, and municipalities sign Contraventions Act administration and enforcement agreements containing language rights provisions supported by the Fund. How… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 100% | 2021 | 98% The result above shows that the percentage of federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to deliver targeted services in support of federal priorities is consistent with that of previous reporting periods. Though slightly below the departmental target, the result remains consistent at 98% despite the COVID-19 pandemic. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 100% | 2022 | 97% The result shows that the percentage of federal funds accessed by provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to deliver targeted services in support of federal priorities. Though slightly below the departmental target, the result remains consistent at 97% despite the COVID-19 pandemic. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 100% | 2023 | 99% The result (99%) remains consistent with that of previous reporting periods, though slightly below the target. Some of the lapsed funds are attributable to historical programs lapses such as the State-Funded Counsel Program and the Special Advocates Program (demand driven by court orders) and Contraventions Act Fund (which is not fully committed). The Department continues to work diligently towar… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 210,000 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 1,000,000 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $149M | $159M |
| 2019-20 | $152M | $194M |
| 2020-21 | $186M | $202M |
| 2021-22 | $184M | $216M |
| 2022-23 | $197M | $243M |
| 2023-24 | $227M | $298M |
| 2024-25 | $161M | $328M |
| 2025-26 | $329M | — |
| 2026-27 | $378M | — |
| 2027-28 | $355M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $295M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 13 | 9 |
| 2019-20 | 9 | 14 |
| 2020-21 | 14 | 9 |
| 2021-22 | 9 | 10 |
| 2022-23 | 10 | 8 |
| 2023-24 | 9 | 9 |
| 2024-25 | 9 | 10 |
| 2025-26 | 10 | — |
| 2026-27 | 11 | — |
| 2027-28 | 10* | — |
| 2028-29 | 10* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $149,013,605 | $151,313,605 | $163,313,605 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $151,605,062 | $163,626,062 | $161,626,062 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $186,161,716 | $184,172,288 | $167,464,164 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $184,389,845 | $167,681,722 | $167,796,446 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $196,611,778 | $166,846,502 | $161,240,899 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $226,846,528 | $161,240,790 | $161,180,790 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $161,161,603 | $160,761,284 | $159,146,963 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $329,339,760 | $299,625,435 | $294,492,106 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $377,775,574 | $354,510,646 | $294,510,646 | ||||||||
| Actual | $158,903,965 | $194,383,979 | $202,163,744 | $215,579,452 | $242,629,882 | $298,376,040 | $327,996,411 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
