The Community Legal Clinic began as a Pro Bono Committee of the Central Alberta Bar Society, as a Centennial project. In 2004, we gained non-profit status and service delivery began in January of 2005.

The Central Alberta Bar Society membership remains a strong supporter of the Clinic to this day.

With the support of a Community Initiatives Program Grant we were able to add a full time lawyer to the Staff in 2008 and gained full funding for the position from the Alberta Law Foundation starting in 2010.

Over the years we have also developed numerous programs to serve the needs of our community and are very proud of the innovation that brought service to the broader region of Central Alberta through video-conferencing in 2009.

The Clinic remains a leader in service provision by technology today.

Our Tenant Support Program started in 2010 and is another innovation that uses the skills of a Para Legal to help clients with landlord issues.

We learned about the Photo ID program from Calgary Legal Guidance and worked hard to bring that service to Central Alberta in 2009.

In 2013, the Clinic heeded the call to help support people with court matters in Family Law and started the Family Counsel Project in both Provincial and Queen’s Bench courts.

We ran this program for 3 years until December of 2015 when it was handed over to Legal Aid’s management.

Over our 10 year history we have had amazing volunteer support of more than half of the members of the Central Alberta Bar Society as well as been the recipient of their generous financial support.

Many of our current volunteers have been with us since the Clinic opened! We are a proud member of a growing network of legal clinics in Alberta and strive diligently to improve access to justice in Central Alberta.