Public Interest Law Centre

“The focus must be on people who need to use the system;
all people, especially members of vulnerable groups.”

—ACCESS TO CIVIL AND FAMILY JUSTICE: A ROADMAP FOR CHANGE, ACTION COMMITTEE ON ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN CIVIL AND FAMILY MATTERS

Advocating for Justice

The Public Interest Law Centre represents groups and individuals on issues affecting the environment, human rights, Indigenous people, consumers and low-income persons. We are here to assist those who are far too often silenced in legal and public policy debates by providing high quality, evidence based advocacy.

Who We Serve

We work to enhance the lives and law for all Manitobans, including:

People with low incomes
Consumers
Indigenous people
Persons with mental and physical disabilities
Immigrants
Prisoners
Senior citizens
The environment

How To Get Help

We take on clients in two scenarios:


Clients	Cases	Financial Rules	Applications
Individuals	Advocacy Unit cases related to residential tenancies and government benefits	Applicant must qualify for legal aid	Apply through Legal Aid Manitoba
Individuals or groups	Public interest cases that will affect groups of Manitobans, such as environmental or human rights	Applicant must qualify for group legal aid	Contact Public Interest Law Centre

French, English, Spanish

We offer legal services in both of Canada’s official languages. We currently have one lawyer who is fluent in Spanish.

Funding

The Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) operates strictly at arms length from government. We are an independent office of Legal Aid Manitoba with additional funding support from:

Manitoba Law Foundation
Pro Bono Public Interest Law Project – firms and lawyers who donate their time to cases
In-kind services
Costs awards
Client contributions
Occasional project grants