One-time practice fee rebate pilot program

You are eligible to apply for a rebate if you:

If you did not hold a practising status at any time during 2025, you are currently a former or disbarred lawyer or are currently suspended, you may not see the application in the portal. Lawyers who are currently suspended administratively, but otherwise meet the eligibility requirements, will be able to access the application when their suspension is lifted after completing all outstanding requirements and before the application deadline.

Eligible lawyers must meet the total income criteria of equal or less than $65,000 reported on line 15000 of their Canadian T1 personal income tax return for the 2025 tax reporting year.

The rebate amount will be determined after the application period closes, based on the number of eligible applicants. It will be the lesser of the 2025 practice fees paid or a set amount per eligible applicant, up to a maximum of $1000. Generally, the fees‑paid amount applies to those who held practising membership for only part of the 2025 year, while the set‑amount rebate applies to those who were practising members for the full calendar 2025 year.

Once the program closes and the number of eligible applicants is determined, the amount of your individual rebate will be known. 

For example:

For the pilot program year, if a maximum of $1,000,000 has been set aside from reserves for the program. If the number of eligible applicants is 1,000, the rebate to an applicant would be the lesser of the 2025 practice fees paid or $1,000. If there were 2,000 eligible applicants, the rebate would be the lesser of the 2025 practice fees paid or $500.

An email communication will be sent to you by no later than October 15, 2026 confirming that you qualified for a rebate and what your rebate will be, with the same information made available in the portal. If you did not qualify, you will not receive an email.

The rebate will be applied as a credit towards your 2027 annual fee billing invoice which will be issued by mid October 2026.

Alternatively, you may request a refund of your rebate on the rebate application form, and your refund will be issued in November 2026.

If you are moving to non-practicing or retired status in 2027, you can request the rebate be applied first towards your 2027 annual fee for non-practicing or retired membership and the balance will be refunded by cheque.

Yes, you can log in to the portal and remove the option of receiving the rebate by cheque. The system defaults the rebate to be applied as a credit towards your 2027 annual fee billing invoice. The ability to change the preferred method of payment closes when the application period ends on September 13, 2026.

Yes, the rebate is issued to eligible applicants experiencing financial hardship regardless of who paid your 2025 practice fees. 

The rebate may be considered a taxable benefit to the recipient. If it is determined to be a taxable benefit, we will contact with you to obtain the information required for tax reporting purposes and a T4A will be issued.

This is a one-time pilot program for 2026. Once the pilot program has concluded, there will be an evaluation of the pilot program to determine feasibility and viability of any future program. 

It should be noted that any future program would need to be funded from an increase in the annual practice fee, so this would need approval from the Benchers.