Resolution of serious legal problems

Proportion of the population who experienced a serious legal problem and who reported the problem as resolved.

This indicator is measured in the Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS). Survey respondents were asked about the serious disputes or problems that they have encountered and the impacts on their lives, regardless of whether or not those disputes or problems required legal help. Topics covered in the survey included the identification of the types of serious problems experienced, the relationship between those problems, actions taken to resolve or try to resolve the problems, access to legal help, costs associated with the legal problems, the level of understanding of the legal implications of the problems, the evolution and status of the problems, and the impacts of the problems on their life including health, family and work.   

For example, the 2021 survey asked whether respondents had any disputes or problems between themselves and another party, for example, a person, business, government, or other entity, in Canada "in the past 3 years". The types of disputes or problems asked about in the survey included:

• A large purchase or service where you did not get what you paid for and the seller did not fix the problem
• Your employer or your job, excluding personal injuries
• A personal injury or serious health issue that occurred at work, in a commercial establishment, in a traffic accident or any other public place
• Your neighbourhood such as vandalism, property damage, threats or excessive noise
• Your house, your rent, your mortgage or rent owed to you
• Money you owe (debt) or money owed to you, excluding rent and housing issues
• Getting social or housing assistance, receiving Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement or other government assistance payments, or problems with the amount received
• Getting disability assistance or problems with the amount received
• Immigration, refugee status or sponsoring a family member's application to immigrate to Canada
• Contact with the police or other part of the criminal justice system, including being stopped, accused, charged, detained, arrested, or with the suspension of your criminal record or pardons
• Contact with the police or other part of the criminal justice system as a victim of or witness to a crime, excluding neighbourhood vandalism, property damage, threats or excessive noise
• A breakdown of your family or relationship such as a divorce or separation, excluding child custody problems
• Child custody or other problem involving parental responsibilities
• A will, or taking care of financial or health issues for a person who was unable to look after themselves
• Poor or incorrect medical treatment
• Civil court proceedings or a letter threatening legal action over a civil matter
• Being harassed
• Being discriminated against
• Other

The respondents were asked if these disputes or problems are serious and not easy to fix.

They were also asked:

What is the current status of your problem with (the most serious problem you mentioned previously)? Would you say:

• Came to a satisfactory or unsatisfactory resolution
• Unresolved: in progress
• Unresolved: too early to say
• Unresolved: dropped or gave up
• Unresolved: currently not being dealt with, may be a problem in the future

• Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS)

• Perceptions of and experiences with police and the justice system among the Black and Indigenous populations in Canada (Juristat, February 16, 2022)
• Experiences of serious problems or disputes in the Canadian provinces, 2021 (Juristat, January 18, 2022)