Downtown Legal Services
655 Spadina Avenue M5S 2H9 Toronto, ON, Canada

We’re pleased to announce that Lisa Cirillo will be our new CEO, effective September 8, 2020. Lisa has practiced human rights, education, housing, and family la...w in a wide variety of social justice organizations and has been the Executive Director of Downtown Legal Services since 2010. Read the full announcement: https://bit.ly/2Cd62dN /// Downtown Legal Services University of Toronto Faculty of Law University of Toronto ARCH Disability Law Centre Ontario Human Rights Commission CLEO Legal Rights Law Society of Ontario Ontario Bar Association Federation of Ontario Law Associations - FOLA Precedent Magazine

kicking off our very first "remote" summer term as a #LegalClinic with a new team of students! stay tuned for updates on the reopening of DLS intake services to new clients after our students complete their initial training and orientation #WorkFromHome

Thanks to all who helped get this message out. Absolutely the right call!

Greater Toronto Clinic Housing Advocates call on the Attorney General to halt Sheriff enforcement of evictions, and the Landlord and Tenant Board to stop all eviction hearings, even by telephone.

Katrina from University of Toronto Student Life Programs & Services and DLS housing lawyer Benjamin Ries are back with another video on leasing tips for students looking to rent a place for the upcoming year: https://youtu.be/095CBohjOLc

hey University of Toronto Mississauga students - drop by our table at the UTM Students' Union (UTMSU) O-Week Fair today to learn more about how to access our services!

#CAEH19 blog from our housing lawyer highlights the social justice perspective needed within national housing policy

The Ontario government has classified the DLS student levy and other levies that support valuable student activities and services as non-essential. Make no mistake: these levies are essential to DLS’ ability to serve University of Toronto students. When paying your tuition, make the right choice. #ChooseUofT University of Toronto Students' Union (UTSU) University of Toronto, Graduate Students' Union - UTGSU UTM Students' Union (UTMSU) Scarborough Campus Students' Union - SCSU

University of Toronto Students' Union (UTSU) University of Toronto, Graduate Students' Union - UTGSU UTM Students' Union (UTMSU) Scarborough Campus Students' Union - SCSU

big thanks to our University-Rosedale MPP Jessica Bell who stood in the legislature yesterday and called on the Hon. Merrilee Fullerton & Caroline Mulroney to stop the multiple funding cuts projected for DLS and other student legal clinics across Ontario: https://www.ola.org//parliam/session-1/2019-06-05/hansard

on this month's URent webcast with UofT Housing Services, we get into the details of maintenance and repairs in rental housing

so proud to see DLS alumni Geetha Philipupillai and Louis Century are 2/3 Goldblatt Partners LLP counsel in this important application on behalf of our partners University of Toronto Students' Union (UTSU) University of Toronto, Graduate Students' Union - UTGSU UTM Students' Union (UTMSU) Scarborough Campus Students' Union - SCSU through their union, the Canadian Federation of Students - Fédération canadienne des étudiant.e.s - and fighting for their right to fund student legal clinics like us!

Students, staff and faculty invited!

proud to stand with our fellow Toronto clinic workers today at Toronto City Hall

Get to know your rights as a tenant! We’re LIVE with Benjamin Ries from Downtown Legal Services and Katrina from Housing at University of Toronto Student Life Programs & Services . #uoft

1 landlord, 2 lawyers, 3 international students, 4 years, >$7000: lessons for renters in a hard-fought win

student renters: check out this live webcast tomorrow for an informative chat between Katrina from UofT Housing Services and Ben, the DLS housing lawyer

DLS RI lawyer Prasanna Balasundaram quoted in The New Yorker's coverage of the #STCA challenge his students are working on: "There was no doubt in my mind that these are people who truly face risk..." https://www.newyorker.com//canada-questions-the-safety-of-

Know Your Rights - Housing event at Scarborough Campus Students' Union - SCSU - streaming live now!

come hang with us *right now* in Earth Sciences B142 (basement) with our pals from OPIRG and SBA !

earlier this year, Employment Law Division student Lauren Wildgoose wrote about how the Ontario Government has removed 'Equal Pay for Equal Work' protections from the Employment Standards Act, 2000

DLS alum Hadiya Roderique writes in this month's Canadian Lawyer Magazine about the importance of our clinic to her law school experience, and asks: why isn't clinical legal education mandatory for all law students?

Housing Division #represent at Ryerson University Off-Campus Housing Fair 2019 worth stopping by for a chat before you head out into a stormy rental market! Ryerson University Housing & Residence Life

God rest ye Members of Parliament, please hear our loud dismay, Bill C-75 increases sentences beyond where agents play, Our law students may suddenly be banned from OCJ #NoTidingsOfComfortAndJoy #BillC75 ... CC: Jody Wilson-Raybould, Justin Trudeau, Caroline Mulroney

Final exams and assignments got you #stressed out? Check out this list of resources and two handy tip sheets from our University Affairs division! University of Toronto UTM Students' Union (UTMSU) University of Toronto Students' Union (UTSU) Scarborough Campus Students' Union - SCSU University of Toronto, Graduate Students' Union - UTGSU

the DLS Family Law division celebrates five years of collaboration with Homeless Connect Toronto

from all of us at DLS, happy Wednesday!

background, overview and update on our clients' legal challenge to the Safe Third Country Agreement #SCTA #refugee

hey University of Toronto Faculty of Law students: want to volunteer with our clinic or with Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario - ACTO? Our web application forms are now live.

Housing, legal information, and assistance workshop facilitated by Downtown Legal Services! Students came out for a general overview of off-campus housing, tenant rights, rooming houses, repair and safety issues, and evictions. Photo Credits: Sarah Syed

Is your landlord telling you to get out of your home, apartment, or room immediately, without going through the Landlord and Tenant Board? That's illegal! Scarborough Campus Students' Union - SCSU University of Toronto Students' Union (UTSU) UTM Students' Union (UTMSU)

our executive director Lisa Cirillo quoted RE: the federal bill that threatens our students' ability to defend the criminally accused #a2j

reminder: DLS is closed to the public for Good Friday and Easter Monday

what happens when students & low-income tenants stand their ground against sham evictions, and law students back them up #win

now streaming live

stop in this afternoon to learn about your: Employment rights: 12:30-2pm Rights when stopped by police: 2-3:30pm Tenant rights: 3:30-5pm

our Housing Law division calls for a fair lease that can't be packed with illegal terms by Ontario's landlords

Human Rights Tribunal yesterday, Divisional Court today, Landlord and Tenant Board on Monday #housinghussle

proud to stand with our clients while they resist repeated eviction attempts

DLS attempts to clarify misleading 'purchase or move out' letters from a Bathurst Street landlord

Housing Division in three appearances today at the LTB #team #werk

DLS + Centennial College International Education + Bunz Home Zone = 6,000+ online views of a tenant rights Public Legal Education session. Thanks to our physical and virtual hosts!

Watch the Video Recording: Housing Info Session - Know your rights as a tenant! You've found a place to rent. Now What? Tune in to hear from Downtown Legal Serv...ices as they share important information about: Your rights as a tenant The responsibilities of your landlord Proven methods to handle grievances See more

1L & 2L students at University of Toronto Faculty of Law: reminder that applications to work at DLS this summer are due by noon tomorrow (Monday Feb. 6) via the Career Development Office website

end the #STCA #NoBanNoWall

panel tonight, protest tomorrow, work ongoing "Today, our clinic’s client community stretches across borders and around the globe, as we work to reunite families and seek justice for refugees, migrant workers, and international students alike. We stand with them, just as we stand with our many allies, our fellow legal clinics, partner agencies, and movements that have mobilized in the face of these oppressive events."

DLS endorses the demands of the National Days of Action Against Islamophobia, White Supremacy & Deportations https://goo.gl/oi1czW #NoBanNoWall #AllOut #SeeYouSaturday

DLS Housing Division represent at Ryerson University Off-Campus Housing Fair #wutwut #sauna4giants

live streaming now: employment law PLE at Centennial College International Centre

National Housing Day of Action - march with us this Friday! http://nationalhousingdayofaction.eventbrite.ca/ #right2housing #demonstration

Downtown Legal Services connected with our guests with legal consultations

University of Toronto Faculty of Law students can now apply to volunteer at DLS this year; submit your application online by 4pm this Thursday: https://goo.gl/forms/u851E33h3t4ty95N2 (or find more info at http://downtownlegalservices.ca/student-programs/volunteer/)

#TBT that time we found our family lawyer's grad photo at the #ACCLE conference with Windsor Law / Legal Assistance of Windsor

#TBT our refugee & immigration lawyer Prasanna giving #BlueSteel as a CLASP (Community and Legal Aid Services Programme) student at Osgoode https://t.co/UOu82wGUJd

#TBT our shaggy-headed housing lawyer Benjamin Ries as a DLS summer student in 2008 https://t.co/9EjVQ2yOpz

Wondering if your "dress code" as a server is discriminatory? Check out https://t.co/q20nyvyyBt and visit DLS Employment Law Division

#TBT our supervising criminal lawyer @BellingerKaren as a DLS summer student back in 2001 https://t.co/2ghBbcyTWm

last summer's crew! (12 month limitation period)

IJCLE's annual conference comes to North America for the first time, co-hosted by the Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law... early-bird registration pricing ends April 30 (students pay only $53.60)

DLS Housing division in campus media this week: Ultra Vires article: http://wp.me/p4Zeze-16a and The Varsity feature "Rough rentals": http://var.st/19y