The West Coast Prison Justice Society operates Prisoners’ Legal Services, the only clinic in Canada that provides all prison-related legal aid (other than appeals) in its jurisdiction.

People are often in prison because of issues related to poverty, colonialism, mental health or drug use. Prisons often exacerbate these issues, exposing people to violence and harsh treatment, isolation, poor medical care, and other violations of their rights.

Prisoners’ Legal Services works to help people in federal and provincial prisons across British Columbia have their dignity and rights respected.

We assist with issues that affect people’s liberty rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, such as solitary confinement, involuntary transfers, parole suspensions, disciplinary hearings and more. We also assist people in prison with human rights and health care issues to be free from discrimination on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, family status and mental or physical disability is respected.

Our liberty work is funded by Legal Aid BC and our human rights and health care work is funded by the Law Foundation of BC.

Our advocates help about 1,000 people in prison each year, and we have won landmark victories on their behalf.

People in prison in British Columbia can access our services by calling Prisoners’ Legal Services at 1-866-577-5245 (federal) or 604-636-0464 (provincial). Our phone lines are open from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. on weekdays. Our lines are closed on Wednesday afternoons.

If you are interested in making a donation to our organization, please see our donations page.

We can also provide assistance for:

• Conditions of confinement;
• human rights; and
• health care issues.

Services may range from summary advice to legal representation at hearings by an in-house or referral lawyer.