About

PBSC National

Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC), external link, opens in new window provides legal services without charge to organizations and individuals in need in Canada. We are the only National law student program in Canada, the only national pro bono program in the country, and the only national pro bono service organization anywhere in the world.

PBSC has chapters at 22 law schools across Canada. Each year, about 1,600 PBSC volunteers provide approximately 140,000 hours of free legal services to over 400 organizations, courts and tribunals across the country.  PBSC partners with hundreds of public interest organizations, legal clinics and lawyers working on pro bono files. PBSC regularly creates projects in the following areas of the law: administrative, civil, constitutional, corporate non-profit, criminal, environmental, family, human rights, immigration and refugee, and all areas of poverty law. Together, our law student volunteers serve communities from coast to coast, working to increase and enhance access to justice by offering high quality, professional legal assistance.

PBSC at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law

The Pro Bono Students Canada Lincoln Alexander School of Law Chapter launched in May 2021, at the end of the law school’s inaugural year. The Lincoln Alexander School of Law, opens in new window Chapter provides free legal support to people and communities across Ontario, with a focus on the Greater Toronto Area and rural communities in Ontario that have historically experienced a lack of service. Our focus on technology places us in a position to support communities outside of the immediate vicinity of the law school, which will increase the impact and reach of PBSC projects. 

In addition to partnering with public interest organizations, we collaborate with the PBSC Chapters at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School to develop joint projects that have a positive impact on the broader community. A number of Student Volunteer projects will be available for Lincoln Alexander School of Law students, including legal research and writing, public legal education, and clinics. Student Volunteers frequently produce research memos, help folks access services, and create plain language resources and presentations on a variety of areas of law. For more information on our active projects, please visit our Projects page.