Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) offers free legal resources in Chinese. See descriptions below and visit cleo.on.ca for more information. 1. CLEO’s Family Law Series These family law publications offer clear explanations of key topics in custody, access, parenting plans, child and spousal support, and property division. Click here to read and/or download any of these publications: http://www.cleo.on.ca/en/resources-and-publications/pubs?language=zh-hans (Available online only). An Introduction to Family Law in Ontario This resource identifies the main issues that can come up when relationships end. It includes information about marriage and divorce, living together, and domestic contracts, and explains how decisions can be made through agreement, mediation, court, or arbitration. Separation and Divorce: Child Custody, Access, and Parenting Plans Discusses different custody and access arrangements, how to get help to work out a parenting plan, and how judges and arbitrators make these decisions if the parents cannot agree.
Separation and Divorce: Child Support Discusses how to calculate the amount of child support to be paid and how to enforce payment, with information about parents who are on social assistance.
Separation and Divorce: Spousal Support Discusses the factors that affect whether spousal support must be paid, the amount to be paid, and for how long, and how to enforce payment, with information about spouses who are on social assistance.
Separation and Divorce or Death of a Spouse: Property Division Explains the basic rules for property division between separating married spouses, including special rules about the matrimonial home and what happens to property if one spouse dies, with information about the different situation of common-law spouses.
2. CLEO’s Your Rights Your Language Series Additional CLEO resources are also available in Chinese on various topics including children’s aid, criminal law, housing law, and employment law. Click here to read and/or download any of these publications: http://www.cleo.on.ca/en/resources-and-publications/pubs?language=zh-hans (Available in print, online and audio format). Children’s aid: Information for parents This resource offers information to help parents who are dealing with child protection agencies. It outlines when an agency might contact a family, how to respond if contacted, what the agency might do, what to do if the agency takes a child away, and where to get help in many languages. Criminal charges in Canada and your immigration status This resource offers basic information about what being charged with a crime in Canada can mean for a person’s immigration status. It explains what a removal order does and what can be done to protect one’s status and stay in Canada. Does your landlord want you to move out? This resource offers basic information about what tenants need to do if they do not want to move out or be evicted, what happens at a Landlord and Tenant Board hearing, and where to get referral information in many languages.
Has your child been charged with a crime? This resource offers basic information about what a parent can expect if a child under the age of 18 is charged with a crime. It includes sections on the kind of lawyer the child needs, relating to the child’s lawyer, keeping the child in school, how the child’s records can affect their future, what to do if asked to pay for damage the child has caused, and where to get help in many languages. Renting a place to live This resource offers basic information to tenants about how much rent a landlord can charge, deposits and payments a tenant might have to make before moving in, and other rules landlords and tenants must follow. There is also information about discrimination, moving out, taking legal action if a landlord breaks the rules, and where to get referral information in many languages. Your rights as a worker This resource offers basic information about workers’ rights: what they are and who has them. It also includes information about discrimination, workplace accommodation, taking legal action, and where to get help in many languages.
