Legal resources are available for pursuing action related to instances of sexual violence. See below for lists of provincial and local community centres that can help survivors understand the legal options available to them, and move forward with their guidance. Many of the centres included here offer in-person and over-the-phone consultations.
For assistance in navigating these supports, feel free to contact our team over the phone, through email, or by booking an appointment at one of the SVPS Centre offices across the U of T tri-campus.
Finding emergency help
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1. If you or someone else is feeling lost, hopeless, or thinking about suicide, please call 9-8-8 or visit 988.ca for more information.
Province-wide Legal Resources
Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC)
The Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC) gives legal help to people who have experienced discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Independent Legal Advice Pilot
If you are a victim of sexual assault living in Ontario and would like to speak to a lawyer, you may be eligible for up to four hours of free legal advice by phone or video conversation.
Legal clinics in Ontario
A legal clinic is a community-based organization funded by Legal Aid Ontario that provides legal services, including information, advice, or representation. Use this search tool to find one near your location.
Ontario Women’s Justice Network
The Ontario Women’s Justice Network offers accessible information to help survivors of violence and their supporters better understand legal rights in Ontario.
Steps to Justice
Steps to Justice gives reliable and practical information on common legal problems including fillable forms, self-help guides, referral information for legal services, and live chat support.
Mississauga-based Legal Resources
Family Services of Peel
Family Services of Peel provides professional counselling, educational programs, employment support services, support for people with developmental disabilities and their families, as well as support for victims of violence and abuse.
Toronto-based Legal Resources
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic
The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic offers legal, counselling and interpretation services to marginalized and racialized populations of women and gender diverse people who have survived violence.
Downtown Legal Services
Downtown Legal Services is both a community legal clinic and a clinical education program, operated by the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.
Family Service Toronto
Family Service Toronto helps people who are confronted with a variety of life challenges. They assist individuals and families through counselling, public education programs, advocacy work, and more.
Scarborough-based Legal Resources
Scarborough Community Legal Services
Scarborough Community Legal Services assists low-income individuals and groups access justice and protect their legal rights by providing free legal services and working to change systems to benefit people living in poverty.
West Scarborough Community Legal Services
West Scarborough Community Legal Services exists to provide lower-income people access to the legal system and to promote social justice through legal education, advice, representation, advocacy, and community partnerships.
Other Resources
Contact the SVPS Centre
We’re here to help you understand, access and navigate supports such as counselling, medical services, academic or workplace accommodations, financial aid and legal aid.