Law360 Canada (June 26, 2026, 1:03 PM EDT) --

Alexandar Pavlov

Graham is in his 50s, he’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. A resident in a shelter for homeless people, Graham desperately needed legal information help. Our team of community justice helpers met with him many times, and we were able to answer to his questions. Now every morning, he and I greet each other as I head off to work.

Graham is one of approximately 2,300 homeless people in the Waterloo, Ont., region. The number is growing. They cannot access traditional legal help. And they are the people we wanted to reach with our six-month pilot project called Community Legal Information Project (CLIP), which is funded by Law Foundation of Ontario.

CLIP is a grassroots community response to the ongoing access-to-justice crisis.

In 2020, I was working as a supportive housing worker in transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, drug addiction and mental health challenges in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Across the region, thousands of residents face legal problems that threaten their housing, income, employment, safety and dignity. Many end up in shelters and other community settings. And most of them never receive help. They are blocked by cost, complexity, long waitlists and inaccessible language. They are losing homes, jobs and parental rights because of a lack of knowledge about their legal rights and responsibilities.

During one of my work shifts at the transitional housing office, I listened to a video about the resourcefulness and efficacy of the community legal information help that is delivered in several U.S. states. Open-minded and experienced lawyers, judges and other legal professionals provide vulnerable groups with resources to empower and then educate themselves. I wondered: “What’s stopping me from creating a community platform for people to connect with legal information resources and suitable referrals?”

I was inspired by the ideas and enthusiasm of the Legal Innovation Zone, a legal tech hub in Toronto that advocates for affordable and accessible access to justice.

In the following months and years, I assembled and organized the network of legal professionals and community workers.

CLIP is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or court representation. Instead, it fills the space before legal advice — the space where most people get stuck. By meeting people where they are, partnering with trusted community organizations and translating legal systems into understandable pathways, CLIP helps residents take the first steps toward resolving their legal issues with confidence and dignity.

This project represents a new community‑rooted model for access to justice.

CLIP was built on a simple but powerful idea: legal information should be accessible, humane and embedded in the places where people already seek help. CLIP operated for six months out of shelters, encampments, churches, a social development centre, Kitchener’s public market and several places of worship. My favourite site was and still is the encampment at the corner of Victoria and Weber streets in Kitchener.

Over the past year, CLIP has partnered with like-minded organizations and groups: not-for profit corporations, shelters and transitional housing programs, newcomer and refugee‑serving agencies, community centres and social service providers. We met people where they were. We were able to pass on a message of courage and hope that they are not left behind. Through these partnerships, CLIP delivered workshops, one‑on‑one information support and community education materials that demystify various common legal issues such as: tenant rights and eviction processes, immigration issues, family law basics, information about criminal law and income supports, human rights and discrimination, and consumer and debt issues.

CLIP does not provide legal advice or court representation but rather ensures that legal information is not an abstract resource — it becomes a practical tool that people can use in real time, in the context of their daily lives. Our community justice helpers, outreach coordinator and the other team members use plain language as a powerful tool of empowerment. Legal systems are notoriously complex. Our team includes internationally trained lawyers from six different countries and all of them brought experience and enthusiasm.

Among the most memorable moments for me as project lead were the meetings with the residents in the encampment at Victoria and Weber streets and at Kitchener City Hall. Instead of asking people to navigate unfamiliar systems, we brought legal information into drop‑ins, faith communities and places of worship. This “embedded” model builds trust and reduces stigma. People are far more likely to ask questions when the environment feels safe and community‑led and when the outreach activities are performed by community justice helpers from the same background and similar lived experience.

CLIP does not replace legal clinics, lawyers or paralegals. Instead, it strengthens the ecosystem by acting as a bridge and helping people understand whether their issue is legal, clarifying what documents they need, connecting them to the right service and listening to their concern. This reduces unnecessary referrals and ensures that legal professionals can focus on the work they are trained to do.

Why does this model matter now? Waterloo Region is experiencing rising housing instability, increased cost of living and a growing demand for legal supports. At the same time, legal clinics and community agencies face capacity constraints. A community legal information help model addresses this gap by preventing escalation of legal problems, reducing pressure on legal clinics, supporting frontline workers who are often asked legal questions they cannot answer, strengthening community resilience through education, and ensuring equity for marginalized and rural residents.

In a time of growing need, CLIP offers a cost‑effective, community‑centred solution. CLIP is a new model for legal information help.

What is the vision for the future? CLIP is poised for growth.

• We want to expand partnerships across Waterloo Region and rural townships.
• We want to develop multilingual legal information pathways.
• We want to connect community members and frontline workers with legal information resources with the help of Community Legal Education Ontario, CanLII and the National Self-Represented Litigants Project and other legitimate and verified legal information resources.
• We want frontline and other community workers, foreign-trained lawyers and people with lived experience to be trained as community justice helpers.
• We want to build a sustainable funding model.

The long‑term vision is clear: a community where every resident — regardless of income, language or background — can understand their rights and navigate legal systems with confidence.

Alexandar Pavlov became a lawyer in Bulgaria in September 1994. He moved to Canada in 2015 and qualified as a certified law clerk and member of the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario. He has been working on a project providing legal information and referrals to marginalized people and low-income families in Kitchener, Ont. since 2021.

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

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