I heard the good news today straight from the horse’s mouth. The Ontario government has promised to give LAO some more money sometime in the future. That means that LAO may be able to raise the financial eligibility criteria (that is, is the level of annual income above which you do NOT qualify for Legal Aid assistance, which is currently set at just about 50% of the official poverty level) in increments over a number of years so it may then come close to today’s poverty level. However, if you manage to qualify for a legal aid certificate the rate of pay to lawyers is so low that no lawyer can continue to stay in business on just a legal aid practice. So, if you are charged with a criminal offence you now probably have enough information to answer the question.