Legal Aid Manitoba

What Legal Aid Manitoba does

Legal Aid Manitoba (LAM) is the provincial legal aid organization for Manitoba, Canada, established under The Legal Aid Manitoba Act and funded through provincial government allocations. The organization provides free or affordable legal representation to financially eligible low-income adults and youth across practice areas including criminal defence, family law, immigration and refugee law, child protection, mental health, residential tenancies, government benefits, and poverty law. Service delivery is executed through a network of 12 community law centres spanning Winnipeg, Brandon, Dauphin, The Pas, and Thompson, supplemented by duty counsel services at courts across the province and digital platforms including an Online Application System and the LIRA Online Payment System.

The organization operates two principal divisions: Legal Aid Manitoba (LAM), which provides individual representation services, and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), an independent office founded in 1982 that handles systemic public interest litigation. PILC's casework has produced landmark outcomes including a $330 million Manitoba Public Insurance rebate, the return of 49 persons with intellectual disabilities to community living from institutional settings, and the Families First initiative addressing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in partnership with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. PILC works alongside a pro bono ecosystem that includes the Manitoba Bar Association, Taylor McCaffrey LLP, Myers Weinberg LLP, and multiple community advocacy organizations.

The revenue model is government grant-funded with minimal end-user fees: a $25 non-refundable application fee (often waived for vulnerable populations) and an Agreement to Pay (ATP) program for higher-income applicants, structured on income-based tier pricing across family sizes from $31,500 to $103,500+ depending on household composition. LAM served 103,764 people in fiscal 2024/25 across more than 40 communities, with over 5,000 family and child protection cases opened and 1,000+ immigration matters handled. The organization is not privately held, has no venture funding, and operates as a public service entity with no disclosed revenue figures.

Name

Legal Aid Manitoba

Legal name

Legal Aid Manitoba

Website

https://legalaid.mb.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Legal Aid Manitoba is a provincial government-funded legal aid organization providing free or affordable legal representation to financially eligible low-income Manitobans across criminal, family, immigration, child protection, mental health, housing, and public interest law, serving 103,764 people in 2024/25 through 12 community law centres.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Other Legal Services (54119), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Defense & Legal Aid Services (BPAIAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

Keywords

• Legal aid services
• Public interest law
• Criminal defence representation
• Family law assistance
• Immigration legal services

Headquarters

HQ city

Winnipeg

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government-Funded Legal Aid Services: Legal Aid Manitoba provides free or affordable legal representation services to financially eligible Manitobans. The organization is funded through provincial government allocations to deliver legal aid across multiple practice areas including criminal, family, immigration, child protection, mental health, residential tenancies, government benefits, and public interest law.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Legal Aid Manitoba is a provincial government-funded organization that provides free or affordable legal representation and advice to financially eligible low-income adults, youth, and public interest groups in Manitoba. Services span criminal, family, immigration, child protection, mental health, residential tenancies, government benefits, and public interest law across more than 40 communities through community law centres, duty counsel at courts, and digital channels.

Product overview

Legal Aid Manitoba is a provincial legal aid organization offering a unified portfolio of legal services rather than a technology product. The core offering comprises Legal Aid Manitoba (LAM) providing representation across criminal, family, immigration, housing, child protection, mental health, and government benefits cases, alongside the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) handling systemic public interest litigation. Service delivery is supported by multiple Community Law Centres, an Advocacy Unit, Duty Counsel services, and digital platforms including an Online Application System and Online Payment System (LIRA). LAM serves over 103,000 people annually across more than 40 communities in Manitoba.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Legal Aid Manitoba (LAM) The primary provincial legal aid organization providing free or affordable legal services to low-income adults, youth, and public interest groups in Manitoba across criminal, family, immigration, housing, child protection, mental health, and government benefits cases.
• Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) An independent office within Legal Aid Manitoba that handles significant public interest cases including human rights, indigenous rights, consumer rights, poverty law, environmental protection, and disability rights, contributing to law reform and legal precedents.
• Community Law Centres

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

28 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Manitoba Bar Association - Pro Bono Public Interest Law ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1996Since 1996, the Manitoba Bar Association has operated the Pro Bono Public Interest Law Project under which firms and individual lawyers donate time and services to assist PILC's work. The project has raised over $250,000 for public interest law in Manitoba.
• Taylor McCaffrey LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPro bono partner of PILC that reached an agreement with the Manitoba government in 2015 on behalf of the St. Amant Family Association to amend Manitoba Assistance Regulations and end discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities.
• Myers Weinberg LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPro bono partner represented in basic income advocacy and contributed to North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Conference presentations.
• Consumers' Association of Canada (Manitoba Branch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC has represented this consumer organization in multiple proceedings before the Manitoba Public Utilities Board on payday loan rates and MPIC rebates.
• Manitoba Society of SeniorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresented alongside Consumers' Association of Canada in proceedings resulting in MPIC rebates to consumers.
• Winnipeg HarvestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner in payday loan rate proceedings and basic income advocacy efforts.
• Community Financial Counseling ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner in payday loan rate proceedings before the Manitoba Public Utilities Board.
• Community Unemployed Help CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking with this organization, PILC took the Employment Insurance case of a Manitoba nurse in 2001 that focused political attention on gender inequities in the employment insurance system.
• Community Unemployed Help CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC collaborated with this organization, represented on its Board of Directors, contributing to unemployment and EI benefits advocacy.
• Council of Canadians with Disabilities - Human Rights CommitteeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoëlle Pastora Sala served on the Council's Human Rights Committee, contributing to disability rights advocacy.
• Association des juristes d'expression française du Manitoba (AJEFM)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoëlle Pastora Sala served on the Board of Directors of this French-language legal association.
• Canadian Bar Association - Manitoba Bar Association Aboriginal Law SectionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoëlle Pastora Sala co-chaired this section, contributing to Indigenous law advocacy.
• Karen WhitmanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPro bono partner who worked with PILC to initiate a human rights complaint on behalf of a vulnerable tenant.
• Ronald Dearman (Mayer, Dearman, & Pellizzaro)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPro bono partner who challenged the constitutionality of the City of Thompson youth curfew by-law.
• Self-Help Alliance for Fair Taxation (SHAFT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC represented this group of Winnipeg homeowners in a property tax valuation case in the mid-1980s.
• Barrier-Free ManitobacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC provided ongoing legal advice to this cross-disability initiative that successfully campaigned for the Accessibility for Manitobans Act.
• Community Living ManitobacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC launched a human rights complaint with this organization against the continued institutionalization of persons with intellectual disabilities, resulting in 49 persons returning to their communities.
• Manitoba League of Persons with DisabilitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC helped this organization draft a legal opinion arguing that permits allowing subminimum wages for persons with disabilities violated the Charter, leading to repeal of the provisions.
• People First of CanadaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC represented this organization at an inquest into the death of a Manitoba Developmental Centre resident, presenting arguments for person-centred planning.
• Société franco-manitobaine (SFM)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC intervened on behalf of this community organization to promote language rights of the Franco-Manitoban community.
• Women's Health Rights CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC represented this coalition as an intervener in a case involving a pregnant Indigenous woman, arguing for respecting the woman's autonomy and dignity.
• Association of Foreign Medical School Graduates in Manitoba (AFMGM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC represented this association of over 100 international medical graduates, contributing to elimination of discriminatory licensing regulations.
• Elizabeth Fry SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC represented this organization at a joint inquest into suicides of at-risk youth in custody and participated in human rights mediation on behalf of incarcerated women.
• Assembly of Manitoba ChiefscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC has collaborated with AMC since 2014 on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls initiative, developing 'Families First: A Manitoba Indigenous Approach.'
• Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC responded to pressure from MKO and initiated a court challenge that led to a uranium exploration moratorium and development of a First Nations consultation protocol.
• Barren Lands and Mathias Colomb First NationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPILC took a case on behalf of these First Nations in the late 1980s regarding flooding caused by Saskatchewan Power Corporation operations.
• University of Manitoba Faculty of LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe U of M Community Law Centre is supported by a grant from the Manitoba Law Foundation. PILC staff teach poverty law courses at University of Winnipeg and Robson Hall.
• Manitoba Law FoundationcoreOthersThe U of M Community Law Centre is supported by a grant from the Manitoba Law Foundation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Legal Aid Alberta: Provincial legal aid plan serving financially eligible Albertans with criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal services. Operates under a similar statutory framework and faces comparable funding/capacity dynamics to LAM in a neighbouring Prairie province.
• Nova Scotia Legal Aid: Nova Scotia's provincial legal aid commission delivering criminal, family, and poverty law services to financially eligible residents. Direct statutory peer with comparable service categories and community law centre model.
• Legal Aid BC: British Columbia's Legal Services Society, the provincial legal aid plan providing representation to financially eligible BC residents across criminal, family, immigration, and poverty law. Closest peer in mandate structure, governance, and service breadth, with a similarly strong public interest law component.
• Legal Aid Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan's provincial legal aid plan serving low-income residents across criminal, family, and civil matters. Direct Prairie-region peer sharing LAM's community-based service model and provincial mandate structure.
• Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid: Provincial legal aid plan for Newfoundland and Labrador providing criminal and family law representation to financially eligible residents. Smaller-scale Atlantic Canada peer with similar statutory mandate and rural service delivery challenges.

Broad incumbents

• Legal Aid Ontario: Largest provincial legal aid plan in Canada serving low-income Ontarians across criminal, family, immigration, and refugee law. Direct provincial peer sharing LAM's statutory mandate, funding model, and service categories, but operating at materially larger scale in a more populous province.

Others

• PILC (Public Interest Law Centre) — sister offices in other provinces: Public interest law centres within other provincial legal aid plans (e.g., BC's CLAS, Ontario's ARCH, Alberta's Civil Law Office) perform the same systemic advocacy, test case litigation, and law reform work that LAM's PILC delivers. Comparable as the specialized public interest arm of a broader legal aid scheme.
• Canadian Bar Association - Legal Aid Liaison Committee: National professional association whose Legal Aid Liaison Committee administers the Legal Aid Leader Award Byron Williams received in 2015. Comparable as the national coordinating body for legal aid policy, advocacy, and funding discussions across all provincial plans including LAM.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LAManitoba
• Facebookfacebook.com/127662504008231

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Legal Aid Manitoba