Community Legal Assistance Sarnia

What Community Legal Assistance Sarnia does

Community Legal Assistance Sarnia (CLAS) is a non-profit community legal clinic headquartered at First Sarnia Place, 201 Front St N, #100, in Sarnia, Ontario. The clinic provides free legal services to low-income residents across a defined service area that includes Sarnia-Lambton and three Indigenous communities — Aamjiwnaang, Bkejwanong (Walpole Island), and Kettle and Stony Point. CLAS is incorporated as an independent, community-based non-profit corporation in Ontario and is governed by a volunteer board of directors elected annually from its clinic members; it is legally separate from Legal Aid Ontario, although LAO is its sole disclosed funder. Service delivery is direct and in-person (plus phone), Monday-Thursday 8:30am-4:30pm and Friday 8:30am-12:30pm, with outreach services available to Indigenous communities and clients facing transportation barriers.

CLAS's service portfolio spans roughly fifteen practice areas covering civil and administrative law, including housing law (evictions, repairs, co-op evictions, harassment), employment and work (termination, wrongful dismissal, ESA, EI), human rights, debt and consumer rights, government benefits (Ontario Works, ODSP, OAS, CPP, CPP-D), healthcare access (OHIP, long-term care, hospital discharge), police complaints, human trafficking, small claims court, victims of crime (CICB, VQRP+), WSIB, and affidavit/notary services. It also runs a dedicated Indigenous justice sub-brand, Baamsedaa ("Let's Walk Together"), staffed by an Indigenous Justice Coordinator who provides culturally appropriate referrals, support, and assistance along the justice continuum. Beyond direct representation, the clinic undertakes public legal education, community development initiatives, and law-reform/test-case activities before municipal councils, legislative committees, and tribunals.

The clinic operates with a small staff of approximately eight — four lawyers, one paralegal, one Indigenous Justice Coordinator, and administrative personnel. All services are provided free to eligible clients, though CLAS may request reimbursement for discrete case-related expenses such as medical reports or court filing fees when a client can afford it. The technology footprint is modest: a WordPress-based website (claslegalclinic.ca) embedding CLEO's Steps to Justice legal information content, supported by Facebook pages for both CLAS and the Baamsedaa sub-brand. Revenue is professional-services funding from Legal Aid Ontario under the clinic's designated service-area mandate, and the organization is not app-enabled, has no disclosed API, and carries no patents, trademarks, or external investment.

Name

Community Legal Assistance Sarnia

Legal name

Community Legal Assistance Sarnia

Website

https://claslegalclinic.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Community Legal Assistance Sarnia (CLAS) is a non-profit community legal clinic that provides free civil-law services to low-income residents of Sarnia-Lambton and three surrounding Indigenous communities in Ontario, Canada, funded by Legal Aid Ontario.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sarnia

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Aid Ontario Funding: Funded by Legal Aid Ontario as a non-profit community legal clinic. Services are provided free to eligible clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CLAS is a non-profit community legal clinic that provides free legal services to low-income residents of Sarnia-Lambton, Aamjiwnaang, Bkejwanong (Walpole Island), and Kettle and Stony Point. Core services include legal advice, form preparation, document witnessing/notary services, and representation at tribunals and courts across civil and administrative legal matters. The clinic also delivers public legal education sessions and operates the Baamsedaa Indigenous Justice Program for culturally appropriate legal assistance.

Product overview

Community Legal Assistance Sarnia (CLAS) is a non-profit community legal clinic that provides free legal services to low-income residents. Rather than a unified software product, CLAS operates as a service organization offering multiple legal assistance programs including: advice and representation for income support (Ontario Works, ODSP, OAS, CPP), housing law, employment issues, human rights, consumer rights, and healthcare navigation. The clinic also operates the Baamsedaa Indigenous Justice Program providing culturally appropriate legal services. Additional services include public legal education, community initiatives, and law reform activities. The organization is funded by Legal Aid Ontario and serves Sarnia-Lambton, Aamjiwnaang, Bkejwanong (Walpole Island), and Kettle and Stony Point communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Baamsedaa – Let's Walk Together: Indigenous outreach program working alongside Indigenous peoples with legal issues who live in Sarnia and surrounding communities. The Indigenous Justice Coordinator provides referrals, support services, appropriate interventions and assistance along the justice continuum.

Products and services

• Free Legal Services for Low Income Residents

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario)coreTechnology or IntegrationCLEO developed the Steps to Justice website which provides step-by-step legal information. CLAS embeds this content on their website and works with CLEO on privacy practices.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Justice Niagara: Community legal clinic in the Niagara Region funded by Legal Aid Ontario, providing free legal services in housing, employment, income support, and human rights to low-income residents. Same operational model and funding source as CLAS.
• Advocacy Centre for the Elderly: Toronto-based specialty legal aid clinic for seniors funded by Legal Aid Ontario, focused on elder law issues including income security, housing, and health care. Comparable niche community legal clinic structure under the same LAO funding umbrella.
• Aboriginal Legal Services: Toronto-based Indigenous legal services organization providing culturally grounded legal aid, including summary counsel and court worker programs. Comparable to CLAS's Baamsedaa program in delivering Indigenous-focused legal services, though at much larger scale.
• Peel (Legal Aid Services): Legal Aid Ontario-funded community legal clinic serving low-income residents in Peel Region with housing, employment, and income support legal services. Comparable LAO-funded community clinic model serving a defined geographic catchment.
• Hamilton Community Legal Clinic: Ontario community legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario that provides free legal services to low-income residents on housing, income support, employment, and human rights matters. Directly comparable as a same-model community legal aid clinic operating under identical LAO funding and governance framework.
• Community Legal Services of Ottawa: Ottawa-based community legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario serving low-income residents with housing, employment, social assistance, and human rights legal services. Closely comparable service mix, funding model, and target population to CLAS.

Broad incumbents

• Legal Aid Ontario: Provincial funder and operator of legal aid services in Ontario. CLAS is independently governed but receives its core funding from LAO, making LAO the strategic anchor for the entire community clinic system.
• Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO): Ontario-wide nonprofit that produces public legal education materials including the Steps to Justice website that CLAS embeds. Functions as an upstream content and infrastructure provider for the community legal clinic network.
• Law Society of Ontario — Law Society Referral Service: Province-wide lawyer and paralegal referral service operated by the Law Society of Ontario. CLAS refers out-of-scope or capacity-constrained clients to this service, positioning it as a broader-system alternative access channel.

Emerging players

• Pro Bono Ontario: Ontario not-for-profit providing free legal advice hotlines and clinics for civil, employment, housing, and consumer matters. CLAS directly refers overflow matters to Pro Bono Ontario, making it both a partner and an adjacent provider of similar services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-legal-assistance-sarnia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Community Legal Assistance Sarnia