In 1993, the Canadian Bar Association adopted a Legal Aid Action Plan which focused on two goals: an increase in federal and provincial funding of legal aid services, and the enactment of federal legislation on legal services. This paper provides a knowledge base from which solutions to the legal aid crisis in Canada can be developed.

The paper proposes that the CBA’s platform on legal aid include the following specific points:

• Legal aid is an essential public service, like medical care.
• The crucial role of public funding for legal services that provide access to justice for low-income persons must be affirmed.
• Funding for legal aid plans must be increased, and this increased funding should be linked to compliance with minimum national standards for legal aid services.
• Appropriate eligibility criteria for civil and criminal legal aid coverage applicable throughout the country should be developed.

The federal government should renew its commitment to legal aid by:

• increasing its financial contribution;
• taking a leadership role in negotiating national standards for legal aid;
• creating a national civil legal aid tariff;
• substituting cost-sharing agreements for federal transfer payments in order to hold provincial governments accountable for their spending on civil legal aid;
• undertaking extensive consultations on the legal aid needs of specific groups including women, native communities and persons with disabilities;
• allocating a new and stable fund of money for civil legal aid and making it the responsibility of the Department of Justice;
• promoting and funding pilot projects to foster innovation in legal aid delivery;
• assisting in the information-sharing and coordination of reform efforts among jurisdictions;
• developing and implementing a “legal aid impact statement” to proactively identify federal laws, procedures or policies that affect the demand for legal aid;
• undertaking ongoing research into strategies to implement law and procedures that encourage access to justice and an efficient, integrated justice system; and
• promoting national equity in the provision of legal aid.