Legal Resources

This online tutorial helps you learn about Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Plan. It consists of four chapters: about RDSP, getting started, opening RDSP, and other info. Each chapter has a list of questions or topics that you can navigate to directly.

This chapter provides an overview of the ways that criminal law, tort law, and the Family Law Act can address issues of family violence, including through peace bonds and protection orders. It also takes a brief look at some child protection issues.

A general reference for self-represented litigants appearing in Canadian courts. Includes SRL’s rights and responsibilities, family law basics, resolving disputes out of court, legal research and writing, court processes, family violence, and more. Also provides a list of Canadian and BC resources.

Outlines the roles and responsibilities of the client and lawyer so that each knows what to expect from the legal aid contract. Explains what the lawyer’s time on the case includes, change of lawyer requests, and how to make a complaint.

Provides information about the Extended Family Program. Under the program, parents who are temporarily unable to care for their children can ask to have their children placed in the care of family or friends, instead of having them go into foster care.

This guide helps self-represented litigants (SRLs) with reading case reports. It gives advice on how to read and use case law in their legal research and is a companion to the CanLll primer. It includes a glossary of important terms and a list of court abbreviations.

Estate planning can secure the financial well-being of your disabled child or grandchild. This comprehensive guide on financial planning for disabled people in BC covers the definitions of disability, tax benefits, government assistance, estate-planning options like trusts and RDSPs, decision-making support, and available resources.

Explains divorce proceedings in BC. If a divorce proceeding has been started against you, you can do nothing or respond. It explains that a notice of family claim starts a divorce proceeding, and what you need to do if you don’t agree with the notice of family claim.

This site gives an overview of the adult criminal court process but does not cover every situation. The information relates to criminal trials in BC Supreme Courts and Provincial Courts. Includes rights of the accused, investigation and charges, bail hearing, disclosure, and pleading guilty.

This handbook is meant to help you make sense of the current state of play with respect to electronic searches at the Canadian border and at US preclearance zones in Canada, and to provide tools to protect your privacy when travelling with electronic devices.