About Our Legal Clinic
Don Valley Community Legal Services is community legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario. Our services are free.
We are an amalgamation of two grassroots, not-for-profit legal clinics – East Toronto Community Legal Services and Flemingdon Community Legal Services. Both legal clinics assisted clients in their communities for years and amalgamated to officially become Don Valley Community Legal Services on April 12, 2019.
Our catchment area is from Lake Ontario on the south to York Mills/401 on the north, and from Yonge Street/the Don River on the west to Victoria Park Avenue on the east.
East Toronto Community Legal Services was originally incorporated as Riverdale Socio-Legal Services in 1978. The clinic’s name was changed to East Toronto Community Legal Services in 1984 to reflect the expanded catchment area.
Flemingdon Community Legal Services started to help clients in their community in 1980 and was incorporated as a not for profit corporation in 1983.
The amalgamated corporation, Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS), continues the work of both clinics, but now under one umbrella. DVCLS is governed by a Board of Directors to ensure the clinic’s work is guided by input from the communities we serve. The clinic is one of many community legal clinics under Legal Aid Ontario and it is very important that clinics have local boards to help direct the work they do as each community is different.
Our clinic honours the value of our Board members, general members and other volunteers. We have a Community Services Committee that meets monthly, provides community consultation to the Board, and assists with outreach.
Our Board and staff members are listed on separate pages. Please visit the membership page for information on how to become a member or volunteer.
Our website provides information on the types of services and the areas of law that we provide. Please visit our How We Can Help page for more details.
Click here to view our brochure.
Follow us on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) @DonValleyCLS and Facebook.
For free legal advice or information, please call our Intake Line at 416-441-1764 ext. 1.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge our presence on the traditional territories of the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabeg, Attawandaron and Leni-Lunaape, particularly the Mississaugas of the Credit. The place now called Ontario is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and operate in this land. We respect that we operate our services under The Toronto Purchase Treaty No. 13 (1805). We also recognize and acknowledge that we are in the Dish With One Spoon territory. This is an agreement between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Anishinaabeg and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the land and waters of the Great Lakes region.
Zero-Tolerance Policy for Abusive Behaviour towards Staff
Don Valley Community Legal Services is committed to providing a work environment in which all our staff are free from workplace harassment and violence, and treated with respect and dignity. We have a zero-tolerance policy for abusive behaviour towards or in the presence of our staff, and we reserve the right to immediately deny service if our policy is violated.
ETHP Member
We are a proud member of East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), the Ontario Health Team (OHT) serving East Toronto. This is a group of more than 100 community, primary care, home care, hospital and social services organizations in East Toronto, as well as patient/client, caregiver and community advisors, working together to better connect local care and services. Our goal is to build a healthier and more equitable East Toronto – enabling every person and neighbourhood to thrive. Learn more about ETHP.