What are the goals of PBSC?

To encourage students to volunteer in their communities, to provide students an opportunity to put their skills into practice, and to assist law students in assessing viable career options.

Why participate in PBSC?

• You will gain practical legal experience while working with public interest and non-profit organizations
• You will have the opportunity to use your skills to make an important contribution to a not-for-profit organization
• You will help provide access to justice for under-represented groups, which is an important community service
• You will learn about career opportunities in public interest law

What kind of work can I do during my PBSC placement?

• Client intake and interviewing
• Contribute to advocacy work
• Draft manuals for internal use at an organization
• Perform public legal education, including presenting workshops and writing brochures
• Produce policy or background papers
• Provide legal information for clients
• Provide litigation support to lawyers working pro bono on a particular case
• Research legal issues relevant to an organization’s work
• Update materials, including conducting by-law research

What must I commit to?

• You will be matched with an organization that meets your interests and goals. You have the option to accept or decline the placement.
• Once you have accepted a placement, you are expected to contribute 3-5 hours per week during the school year (exam periods are excluded).
• You must also participate in training sessions and complete periodic monitoring.
• The pro bono work of law students must be uncompensated. This means that the student receives neither monetary compensation nor academic credit for work performed as part of this program.

How do I get involved?

PBSC Volunteers - Call for applications for 2025-2026 will be open in late August.

Executive Team - Call for applications for 2025-2026 will be open in late August.

The Executive Team is a group of students that assist the Program Coordinators with the management of the PBSC Program. 

The Chief Justice Richard Wagner Award was introduced in 2019 to recognize those select PBSC volunteers (at the University of Ottawa) who demonstrated the strongest commitment to ending Canada’s access to justice crisis. 

The award was named after The Right Honourable Richard Wagner, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada as he is a strong advocate for access to justice. At the 2018 PBSC Launch Event, the Chief Justice stated: "Ultimately, [access to justice] is about getting good justice for everyone, not exceptional justice for a lucky few. It’s a democratic issue, it’s a human right issue, it’s even an economic issue."

Students, organization supervisors, and lawyer supervisors are all invited to participate in the nomination process.