On April 11, the Ontario government announced a provincial budget that included $133 million less funding to Legal Aid Ontario this year. The province said in the budget it hopes to save $164 million each year starting in 2021 on legal aid. Then, earlier this summer, Legal Aid Ontario announced that 22 per cent of its initial budget cuts would be focused on immigration and refugee services. The reduced legal aid budget sparked protests from legal groups throughout the summer.

The Canadian Bar Association said in a statement that proper legal aid funding is an “ongoing access to justice issue in Canada” and that without it, refugees risk deportation.

“This money, along with funding earmarked in the federal budget for legal aid for immigrants and refugees, is a necessary commitment if Canada is to continue calling itself a humanitarian country, founded on the rule of law,” said CBA President Ray Adlington in the statement.

On Monday, prime minister’s office said that the one-time investment in legal aid will bring participating provinces up to 100 per cent funding for this year “as we work on the long-term sustainability of legal aid.”

“It will also help address an increase in asylum claims, so that claims for refugee protection continue to be determined fairly, efficiently, and in accordance with the law,” said Trudeau’s office.