Providing free legal information and representation to the low income community since 1969.

Pro Bono Students Canada

The PBSC project is a division of Student Legal Services, which is the largest student group at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law. 

The PBSC program provides free legal assistance to non-profit organizations.  Our program consists of groups of student volunteers who are assigned to a project undertaken on behalf of a non-profit organization.  The students work with the organization and a supervising lawyer to produce a report on a particular legal issue that is of interest to the participating organization.  Each project must be set up in the summer months (May until August) so that is able to commence in September of the school year.  

Projects are distributed to the students in September and conclude in May of the following year.  The time commitment required from an organization is minimal. Between the time projects are first handed out and when they are due, students are encouraged to meet with a contact from the organization approximately 1-2 times per semester. 

All of our student volunteers are law students at the University of Alberta.  As law students, we may only provide legal information to an organization, not legal advice.      (This is further explained below.)

Generally speaking, here is list of examples of what PBSC may be able to do for your organization:

·Research legal issues relevant to the organization itself or its clients;

·Prduce reports and policy papers;

·Review by-laws and policies;

Some other examples of past projects include:

·Reports on charitable status issues or reports on how to register as a charitable organization;

·Reports on privacy legislation (Personal Information Privacy Act and Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act);

·Reports on labour/employment and human resources issues.

If your organization has a need for any legal information or research, please contact the PBSC Coordinator at 780-492-8287 or pbsc@ualberta.ca for further information about the PBSC program. 

PBSC Mandate

To provide organizations which serve the interests of the poverty community with access to legal information and to aid lawyers engaged in suitable Pro Bono work.

 PBSC Guidelines

1. Only a non-profit organization (“ORGANIZATION”) may receive the assistance of the Pro Bono Students Canada Project (PBSC).

2. An organization must substantially serve, either directly or indirectly, the interests of the poverty community.

3. The Coordinator of PBSC (“COORDINATOR”) will determine whether an organization will receive the assistance of PBSC.

4. Before receiving the assistance of PBSC, an Organization must provide the Coordinator with satisfactory written confirmation that it cannot afford the assistance of a lawyer and must provide such further confirmation as the Coordinator may request from time to time.

5. The Coordinator may terminate assistance to an Organization at any time upon reasonable notice, to be followed up in writing.

6. Every member (“MEMBER”) of PBSC must also be a member of Student Legal Services of Edmonton (“SLS”).

7. Each member that provides assistance to an Organization must be assigned a supervising lawyer (“LAWYER”), who must be a member in good standing of the Law Society of Alberta.

8. A Lawyer must ensure that his or her Member’s assistance to an Organization is rendered completely.PBSC, the Member and the Organization are responsible for ensuring the assistance is rendered in a timely fashion.

9. No member may act as representative or agent of the Organization in court or otherwise.

10. The bylaws, policies and rules governing the members of other SLS projects will also govern the members of PBSC. 

- Approved: PBSC Subcommittee (Jan 27/03)

Legal Advice Vs. Legal Information?