Pro Bono Students Canada was founded in 1996 with 50 students volunteering for a handful of community organizations. Today, with a PBSC chapter at every law school in Canada, students provide critically important, free legal services to communities in need from coast to coast. Through various projects and placements, law student volunteers at PBSC assist hundreds of public interest organizations,
community groups, government agencies, legal clinics and lawyers working pro bono, as well as unrepresented litigants at courthouses and administrative tribunals. We support projects that serve a number of diverse populations, including low-income Canadians, Francophone communities, First Nations, LGBT communities, immigrants, refugees, religious minorities, racialized Canadians, seniors, artists, women, children and youth. PBSC seeks to engage students with a variety of interests and from a number of different backgrounds. Through their volunteer work, our students increase access to justice and develop valuable, practical legal skills. We regularly create projects in the following areas of law: administrative, constitutional, environmental, corporate non-profit, criminal, family, civil, human rights, immigration, refugee and poverty law. The PBSC Chapter at Osgoode Hall has a variety of projects with organizations and clinics in Toronto. Projects begin in October and last until April. It requires a time commitment of 3-5 hours a week with flexibility during exam time. To be part of PBSC, contact the program coordinators for information and applications. And make sure to come out to PBSC events in September!
