# Law Foundation of Ontario

Law Foundation of Ontario is a Foundation based in Toronto, Canada.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Toronto, Canada
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 110 Spadina Avenue, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M5V 2K4
- **Founded:** 1974
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** lawfoundation.on.ca
- **LinkedIn:** https://ca.linkedin.com/company/law-foundation-of-ontario

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Law Foundation of Ontario was established under the Law Society Act in 1974. The Foundation funds access-to-justice initiatives across Ontario and Canada, operating with a governance structure that ties it directly to the province's legal establishment — three of its five trustees are appointed by the Law Society of Ontario, the remaining two by the Attorney General. The Foundation's capital base is a statutory carve-out: interest earned on lawyers' and paralegals' mixed trust accounts held in Ontario financial institutions. This funding mechanism makes it a perennial, non-taxpayer source of legal-aid financing. Under Ontario law, Legal Aid Ontario automatically receives 75% of the Foundation's annual net income from those trust accounts. The remaining 25% is deployed through grant programs supporting legal education, public legal research, and law libraries. The Foundation also administers two named pools: the Class Proceedings Fund, which finances complex litigation, and the Access to Justice Fund. Governance sits with a five-member board. In 2025, Gerald Chan, a partner at Toronto litigation boutique Stockwoods LLP, became Board Chair. Lisa Cirillo serves as Chief Executive Officer, responsible for day-to-day grantmaking and administration. The Foundation operates from a single office in Toronto and maintains a professional membership in Philanthropic Foundations Canada. The Foundation is the founding partner and primary funder of the Law Commission of Ontario. What distinguishes the Law Foundation of Ontario is its statutory funding model and mandatory allocation. Unlike most foundations, it neither fundraises nor manages a discretionary endowment — its revenue is set by the flow of pooled trust-account interest, and the majority of its annual distributions are legally prescribed rather than board-directed. This makes it a permanent, formula-driven conduit between the practice of law in Ontario and the public legal-aid infrastructure.

## Sectors

- Legal Services
- Access to Justice
- Education

## People

- Gerald Chan — Board Chair
- Lisa Cirillo — Chief Executive Officer

## Questions

### Where does the Law Foundation of Ontario's funding come from?

Its primary funding is the interest generated on lawyers' and paralegals' mixed trust accounts held in Ontario financial institutions. This is a statutory entitlement, not a discretionary endowment or fundraising model, making the Foundation a permanent fixture of the province's legal-financial architecture.

### How is the Law Foundation of Ontario governed?

A five-member board of trustees governs the Foundation. The Law Society of Ontario appoints three trustees, and the Attorney General of Ontario appoints two. Gerald Chan, a partner at Stockwoods LLP, has served as Board Chair since 2025, with Lisa Cirillo as CEO.

### What is the Foundation's relationship with Legal Aid Ontario?

The relationship is statutory. Under Ontario law, Legal Aid Ontario automatically receives 75% of the Foundation's annual net income derived from mixed trust accounts. The Foundation retains the remaining 25% for its own grant programs.

### What is the Class Proceedings Fund?

The Class Proceedings Fund is administered by the Foundation and provides financial support for legal costs and disbursements in certified class-action lawsuits in Ontario. It is designed to improve access to justice by offsetting the financial risk for plaintiffs pursuing complex litigation.

### Does the Foundation make grants outside Ontario?

While the Foundation's core statutory mandate and funding derive from Ontario's legal profession, its grantmaking includes projects of national scope across Canada, particularly in areas of legal research, education, and access to justice.

### Who runs investment decisions at the Law Foundation of Ontario?

The Foundation does not function as a traditional institutional investor with a CIO-led portfolio. Its grants are funded from a legislated flow of trust-account interest, not from returns on a discretionary endowment, so there is no distinguishable investment committee deploying capital into asset classes.

## Related profiles

- [Law Finance Group](https://altss.com/profile/law-finance-group-management-company)
- [Lawley Retirement Advisors](https://altss.com/profile/lawley-retirement-advisors)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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