Legal Representation and Psychosocial Accompaniment

Legal representation and accompaniment

Our legal services are a second-line resource: persons with precarious status who need legal representation can be referred to us by community workers.

Using a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, we represent and support migrants with precarious status, from their arrival in Canada through to removal proceedings.

Priority is given to persons who are unrepresented (or inadequately represented) and whose situation is complicated due to their migration history or particular vulnerability.

Our legal representation services are covered by Quebec legal aid or are offered at affordable rates.

Psychosocial Accompaniment

Our lawyers work with the psychosocial worker in an aim to holistically support the persons whom the MJC is representing.

Our psychosocial worker can support our service-users with various needs, including:

• • Support in accessing health care, employment, breaking isolation, etc.;
  • Psychological support related to distress and difficulties linked to life paths and immigration status;
  • Referral to existing complementary resources in the community, following a needs assessment and with the consent of the person concerned.

The psychosocial worker collaborates with the lawyer involved in the file to increase the effectiveness of the accompaniment provided. The psychosocial worker can, depending on need, also collaborate with other actors to offer more comprehensive, multidimensional support to the service-user (community workers, health professionals, etc.).

We use a humanistic and sensitive needs-based approach.

Collaborations

Our lawyers collaborate with other notaries and lawyers who specialize in different areas of the law when the persons whom they represent are dealing with overlapping legal issues (such as criminal law, family law, housing law, etc.).

We also receive essential and enriching contributions from our legal interns who help us to carry out our mission as an organization.