Welcome to the New Dial-A-Law

by People’s Law School

Dial-A-Law has changed—and it’s now easier to use than ever. 

Dial-A-Law began as a way to access BC legal information by telephone, featuring recordings written and edited by volunteer lawyers. 

Now, Dial-A-Law has been relaunched with a modern, user-friendly website.   https://dialalaw.peopleslawschool.ca/ is a great one-stop shop for helping people start solving their legal problems.

What’s new

A screenshot of Dial-A-Law's homepage

The new site still cover legal topics in over 130 areas, and its information is still regularly reviewed by lawyers—but now it’s easier than ever to use. All its content is available on the site, in a new format that’s easy to scan. The text has been rewritten at a 7th grade level, making it accessible to a broader range of readers. And audio recordings are available on each page, assisting anyone who needs a little extra help absorbing the information. 

And all this information is still available by phone, with simplified recordings that are now easier to navigate. 

When and how to access Dial-A-Law

The first step of solving a legal problem is understanding the law. Using clear, direct language, Dial-A-Law focuses on what people can do about their legal problems, and makes a great starting point for questions about BC law. 

Dial-A-Law can be accessed online at dialalaw.ca or by phone at 1-800-565-5297 (604-687-4680 in the Lower Mainland). Also find it on Clicklaw and Clicklaw Wikibooks.

About People’s Law School

People's Law School's logo

Funded by the Law Foundation of BC, Dial-A-Law was previously operated by the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch. It was redesigned by People’s Law School, a non-profit society dedicated to making the law accessible to everyone. We provide free education and information to help people effectively deal with the legal problems of daily life. Our resources are available in a variety of formats to meet the needs of people: on the web and other digitalplatforms, in booklets and through classes in communities around BC.

Stay informed:

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2019 Bi-Monthly Update Series: January/February

To keep you informed, here are some highlights of changes and updates made to Clicklaw in January and February:

Jan-Feb | Mar-Apr | May-Jun | Jul-Aug | Sep-Oct | Nov-Dec


Multi-lingual Phone Line for Employment Standards
by BC Employment Standards Branch

This multi-lingual phone line for the Employment Standards Branch offers real-time information about employment rights in more than 130 languages. Employment information will be available for both workers looking to understand their rights and employers wanting to understand their legal obligations. Translators will stay with the caller on the phone to help them get to the information they need. This service is available as a trial to March 31, 2019.

Disability Alliance BC

Legal Services Society

People’s Law School

Dial-A-Law is now a service of People’s Law School. It features free information on the law in British Columbia in over 130 topic areas. The information is reviewed by lawyers and updated regularly. Dial-A-Law was previously operated by the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch. A few of the scripts are:

Tenant Survival Guide
by Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC)

New, revised edition. Available on Clicklaw Wikibooks. Compared to a PDF, the Wikibook is easier to read on screen, fully searchable, and hyperlinked to key forms and resources. It can also be downloaded as an EPUB – a popular e-book standard – and read on an e-reader, tablet or mobile device. This plain-language guide offers tenants a basic understanding of residential tenancy law in BC. It is designed to educate readers on their rights and responsibilities, and help prevent or resolve any problems they may encounter during their tenancy.

Legal Clinic for Sex Workers
by PACE Society

In partnership with the Law Students’ Legal Advice Program and Law Students for Decriminalization & Harm Reduction, we provide free legal advice and representation for sex workers who cannot afford a lawyer. This is a drop-in pilot project currently operating every second Wednesday from January 16th – March 13th 2019 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Pension Division Review Project
by British Columbia Law Institute

This project will make recommendations to reform the law of pension division on spousal breakdown under part 6 of the Family Law Act. Pensions are a complex type of property to divide fairly between spouses, so the law applying to pension division must be regularly reviewed and kept up to date. This project also allows BCLI to build on past work involving pension division.

Health Care Consent, Aging and Dementia: Mapping Law and Practice in BC
by Canadian Centre for Elder Law

The Canadian Centre for Elder Law (“CCEL”), in collaboration with the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia (“The Society”), is embarking on a project which examines the law, policy and practice of consent to health care in the context of aging and dementia. This 16-month project funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia will involve extensive comparative legal research on informed consent and interrelated areas of the law, as well as community and key stakeholder consultation. The work will be informed by an expert interdisciplinary advisory committee and will culminate in a report identifying areas for law and practice reform and at least one plain language educational resource on health care consent rights.

2018 CEDAW Report Card
by West Coast LEAF

West Coast LEAF’s 10th annual CEDAW Report Card grades BC on nine issues impacting women’s human rights, including child protection, a new section this year. The Report Card assesses BC’s record in 2018 in relation to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Stay informed:

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