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Legal advice - Justice Access Centres

Last updated on September 29, 2022

Justice access centre staff do not provide legal advice, but can refer you to legal advice from a lawyer with a community partner or co-located service in the JAC. Those lawyers may be able to advise you on your problems about:

  • Separation and divorce
  • Guardianship, parenting arrangements or contact with a child/youth
  • Child or spousal support
  • Parenting after separation issues
  • Family Law Act protection orders for prevention of family violence
  • Income security
  • Housing (rental and owned)
  • Employment issues
  • Debt and finances
  • Human rights
  • Consumer issues
  • Wills and estates
  • Employment Insurance (EI)
  • Workers’ compensation
  • Immigration and refugee matters

The advice may include providing you with information about your rights, obligations and legal options specific to your situation. We may be able to help with negotiations, review agreements, prepare court forms and other documents and explain how to represent yourself in court.

We do not provide advice for criminal matters, small claims court forms and filings and personal injury matters.

In Nanaimo, for issues that are unique to Indigenous people, we will refer you to our Indigenous community legal worker.

If you need advice in another area of law or in another region, we may be able to refer you to other advice services, such as the:

If you can’t afford a lawyer, we may refer you to a local pro bono clinic where lawyers volunteer free legal advice about family and civil law issues.