Our Services
CELA's services include summary advice, referrals, and client intake.
CELA's legal services include client representation, summary advice and information services for the public. Inquiries about representation (see client intake below) usually take place by telephone, or in the course of a brief interview. For summary legal advice telephone inquiries, please call 416-960-2284, ext. 227 or use e-mail to articling (at) cela.ca.
Regarding general questions, please note that as our resources are very limited, we try to provide as much information as possible through the CELA web site. Before calling or sending an e-mail with general questions, please try to determine first if the information is available on-line.
While CELA's summary advice services are free and a part of CELA's mandate, the volume of requests we receive requires that we set priorities. Despite the "Canadian" in the name, as an Ontario legal aid clinic, CELA provides legal services to Ontario residents. Priority is also given to the public, particularly those trying to achieve broad public interest objectives. We cannot provide legal services to private consultants or to those working for profit-making corporations.
A great deal of the information we provide as part of summary advice involves making referrals. We are creating FAQs (frequently asked questions) on an ongoing basis to address the most common types of advice and referrals. CELA's ability to represent clients is limited by a number of factors including our organization's size, and clients eligibility for legal aid. We therefore make numerous referrals to lawyers in the private bar who practice environmental and municipal law. CELA's lawyer referral list is available on-line. Lawyers who are interested in being on the list should contact Sharon Fleishman, Administrative Assistant at sharon (at) cela.ca
If you know or think you need legal representation for an environmental matter, all prospective clients are initially assessed by our articling student. Telephone inquiries are generally preferred to e-mail as staff may need to ask questions necessary to assess particular situations. The articling student can be reached by phone at 416-960-2284, ext. 227 or by e-mail at articling (at) cela.ca. If long distance telephone charges are a concern, CELA can pay for the call, but please do not call our office collect.