Aboriginal Legal Services
2 lawyers · Established 1990 · City of Toronto
One of 2,345 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 54 handling Indigenous Law.
Accepts Legal Aid
Accepts Legal AidAbout Aboriginal Legal Services
Aboriginal Legal Services is an Indigenous-controlled community legal clinic based at 211 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. It was established on February 21, 1990, as a spin-off of the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, and it operated for its first 25 years as Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto before shortening its name in 2015, the same year it moved into its current Yonge Street office from an earlier address at 415 Yonge. The clinic is funded in part by Legal Aid Ontario, the Indigenous Justice Division of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, the Ontario Arts Council, the Law Foundation of Ontario, and United Way of Greater Toronto.
Its core work runs through a legal clinic, a courtworker program, and Gladue services, alongside the Community Council, a restorative justice program guided by Indigenous elders and traditional teachers that has held hearings since March 1992. A separate division, Giiwedin Anang Council, handles family and child welfare related programs, including supervised access and youth mentoring. Beyond its Toronto office, the clinic staffs satellite locations across Ontario, including Barrie, Brantford, Guelph, Hamilton, North Bay, Ottawa, Peterborough, Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Catharines, Sudbury, and Windsor, mostly through Gladue writers and caseworkers.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- Established February 21, 1990, as a spin-off of the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, with a founding board that included Mark Stevenson, Mike Sherry, Murray Klippenstein, Grant Wedge, Wanda Whitebird, and Carol Montgagnes.
- Held its first Community Council hearing in March 1992; by the end of 1994 the program had processed 214 cases.
- Intervened at the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Gladue (1999) and R v Powley (2003), cases that shaped the legal recognition of Indigenous rights in sentencing and Metis harvesting rights.
- Its courtworker program reached 2,000 clients by 2009.
- Shortened its name from Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto to Aboriginal Legal Services in 2015 and relocated from 415 Yonge Street to its current office at 211 Yonge Street.
- Represented the applicant in Gehl v Canada (2017), a case that led to changes in the Indian Act's registration provisions.
In the community
- Partners with Make Music Matter on the Culture to Wellness program, which has released music from the Toronto collective Zoongde'e, including "Shout Over Silence" (2024) and "Shake the Rattles" (2025).
- Hosted a memorial in 2022 for children who died at residential schools, following the discovery of unmarked graves in 2021.
- Giiwedin Anang Council, the clinic's family and child welfare program, received the Anishinaabemowin name North Star during a winter ceremony in 2010.
- Signed a memorandum of understanding with Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services in Australia in 2015.
- Co-hosted the First National Conference on Aboriginal Justice Post-Gladue in 2009.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
LGBTQ+ friendlyFees & payment
Legal aidLawyers 2
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 2002 · median 24 years in practice 1 of 2 lawyers
- Law schools
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law 1 of 2 lawyers
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
The clinic's Toronto office is Suite 500 at 211 Yonge Street, a stretch of the downtown core a few blocks from both Old City Hall and College Park. Those two buildings aren't incidental to the address: Aboriginal Legal Services helped open the first Gladue Court at Old City Hall in October 2001, and later helped open a Gladue Court at College Park in June 2006, the third Gladue Court the organization helped establish, and its own Gladue program has worked alongside those courts from the downtown core ever since. The office moved to 211 Yonge from an earlier location at 415 Yonge in 2015, the same year the organization shortened its name from Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto to Aboriginal Legal Services.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Aboriginal Legal Services?
- Aboriginal Legal Services is an Indigenous-controlled community legal clinic in Toronto, established in 1990. It's funded in part by Legal Aid Ontario and the Indigenous Justice Division of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, so its clinic and courtworker services don't run like a typical fee-charging law firm.
- Does Aboriginal Legal Services prepare Gladue reports?
- Yes. Gladue reports have been part of the organization's work since its Gladue Court program began in 2001, and it currently supports Gladue writers and caseworkers out of satellite offices across Ontario, including Barrie, Brantford, Hamilton, Ottawa, and Sudbury.
- What is the Community Council program?
- The Community Council is a restorative justice alternative to the mainstream criminal court process, guided by Indigenous elders and traditional teachers. It has held hearings since March 1992.
- Can Aboriginal Legal Services help with a child welfare or family matter?
- The clinic's Giiwedin Anang Council division focuses on family and child welfare related programs, including supervised access and youth mentoring, for Indigenous families in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding regions.
- Does Aboriginal Legal Services only serve Toronto?
- Its head office is at 211 Yonge Street in Toronto, but Gladue and courtworker staff also work out of satellite offices in Barrie, Brantford, Guelph, Hamilton, North Bay, Ottawa, Peterborough, Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Catharines, Sudbury, and Windsor.
- How do I contact Aboriginal Legal Services?
- The Toronto office can be reached at 416-408-3967 for intake, or toll free at 1-844-633-2886, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. Email intake requests aren't accepted; clients need to call or visit in person.
Where to find them
211 Yonge Street, Suite 500, Toronto ON M5B 1M4 · 416-408-3967
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