150+ Free Legal Resources for Start-ups

This is a giant list of 150+ free legal and law-related resources for Canadian start-ups and entrepreneurs. Look below for links to free business law guides, contract templates, student-run business law clinics, as well as online information boards. If you notice a link missing, please contact me here.

Giant list of free legal templates and resources for Canadian startups and entrepreneurs
There are tons of free law-related templates, guides, and information sources for Canadian start-ups online.

Free business law guides

These guides outline general information for businesses in Canada, written by some of the largest Canadian law firms. Some tend to be quite lengthy, but they’re a good primer on issues that may affect your business.

Canada

Alberta

  • Blakes, “Overview of Environmental Regulatory Regime Related to Alberta Oil Sands Activities”
  • Lawson Lundell, “Doing Business in Western Canada”

British Columbia

  • Blakes:
    • “Blakes 20th Annual Overview of Environmental Law and Regulation in British Columbia 2015”
    • “Overview of the Permitting Requirements for LNG Projects in British Columbia”
  • BC Small Business Accelerator Guides (112 guides in total)
  • Lawson Lundell, “Doing Business in Western Canada”
  • Mike Volker, “Starting a Business

Manitoba

New Brunswick

  •   Cox & Palmer, “Guide to Doing Business in New Brunswick”

Newfoundland & Labrador

  • CFIB, Hiring Your First Employee
  • Department of Innovation, Steps to Starting a Small Business

Northwest Territories

Nova Scotia

Nunavut

  • Nunavut Business Guide, “Seven Steps to Help You Start Your Business”

Ontario

  • Canada Business Ontario, “Business Start-up Guide
  • Employment Law Manual: “a brief overview of employment law and the laws of wrongful dismissal”
  • Law Help Ontario: Guides on starting, defending, and ending claims in the Ontario Superior Court
  • Represent Yourself in Ontario Small Claims Court: “information and tips for people who are representing themselves in small claims court.”

Prince Edward Island (PEI)

Quebec

  • Blakes, “Doing Business in Quebec”

Yukon

  • Government of Yukon, “Business Resources”

Free contract templates

Few lawyers draft contracts from scratch; contract templates can provide a helpful framework to build off of. However, you should not use these templates without speaking to a lawyer. Templates may not cover your business’s specific situation. Use them with discretion.

Canada

Ontario

Business law clinics for start-ups

If you’re a student or starting a new business with minimal revenue, you may qualify for free legal advice at a student clinic. These are some business-focused legal aid clinics started by law faculties across Canada.

Canada

  • Connect Legal: “advice for immigrant entrepreneurs”

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Nova Scotia

Ontario

  • IP Osgoode Innovation Clinic (Toronto, ON) is a “needs-based innovation-to-market legal clinic operated in collaboration with Innovation York and Torys LLP”
  • Osgoode Venture Clinic: (Toronto, ON) “provides legal services to early stage entrepreneurial ventures in the financing and equity structuring stages of growth”
  • Queen’s Business Law Clinic (Kingston, ON): “helping entrepreneurs, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations “
  • Ryerson University’s Law & Business Clinic (Toronto, ON): “provides free legal services in a variety of business law matters to entrepreneurs and small businesses who cannot afford to retain a lawyer”
  • Ryerson Law Research Centre’s Legal Clinic (Toronto, ON): provides “advice and information to current Ryerson students (full-time, part-time and CE) and entrepreneurs currently hosted by the DMZ.”
  • University of Windsor’s Law Technology & Entrepreneurship Clinic (LTEC)
  • Western Business Law Clinic (London, ON): provides “small start-up businesses with pro bono legal counsel”

Quebec

Online legal Q&A, FAQ and information

Sometimes, you just need help understanding a single regulation or step in a proceeding. It may not seem like enough to talk to a lawyer about (although you still should if you can), so you can look for the answer online. What follows are a few online Q&A and FAQ boards that you may find helpful.

Canada

Alberta

  • Courtroom etiquette videos for unrepresented claimants
  • Law Central Alberta “linking Albertans to legal help”
  • Law FAQ’s, “a website of the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta”

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

  • Labour Standards: information on employment rules, employee recruitment, hiring foreign workers, and labour standards complaints.
  • Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS)’s Question & Answer

Ontario

Quebec

Saskatchewan

  • PLEA, “Legal information for everyone”

Other free legal resources (not business-focused)

When it comes to legal issues beyond your business (like law suits, immigration, criminal, and landlord/tenant matters), check out the following low-cost resources across Canada.

Canada

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland & Labrador

Northwest Territories

  • Legal Aid (Yellowknife, NWT): “confidential legal services, advice, and representation by a lawyer for residents of the Northwest Territories who would be unable to afford these services.”

Nova Scotia

  • Dalhousie Legal Aid Service (Halifax, NS): provides “legal aid services for persons who would not otherwise be able to obtain legal advice for assistance.”
  • Legal Aid Nova Scotia: “delivers legal aid via a network of 16 community-based law offices as well as 3 sub-offices.”
  • Mi’kmaq Legal Support Network: “justice support system for Aboriginal people who are involved in the criminal justice system in Nova Scotia.”
  • Newcomers to Canada: free information about “criminal law, domestic violence law, family law, general law, human rights & immigration status”
  • reachAbility: Lawyer referral service for persons with disabilities.

Nunavut

  • Legal Services Board of Nunavut “responsible for providing legal services to financially eligible Nunavummiut in the areas of criminal, family and civil law.”

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

  • Pro Bono Quebec: public interest cases, partnerships, duty counsel and information.

Saskatchewan

Yukon