One-time practice fee rebate pilot program

You are eligible to apply for a rebate if you:

Because of eligibility requirements, you may not see the application in your portal if you are a former or disbarred lawyer or currently suspended. Lawyers who are currently suspended administratively 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 the individual rebate will be known. 

For example:

For the pilot program year, $1,000,000 has been set aside from reserves for the program. 

If the number of eligible applicants is 1,000, the rebate would be the lesser of the 2025 practice fees paid or $1,000.

As another example, if there are 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 early October 2026 confirming if you qualified for a rebate and what your rebate will be, with the same information made available in the portal.

The rebate will default to be available as a credit towards your 2027 annual practice fees in early October.

A refund of your rebate can be requested in the one-time practice fee rebate application and will be available once the total amount of rebates is confirmed in mid October 2026, with payment available in November 2026. 

Yes, you can log in to the portal and remove the option of receiving the rebate by cheque. The system defaults the rebate to apply towards your 2027 practice fee invoice. The ability to change the preferred method of payment closes when the application period ends on August 31, 2026.

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

The rebate will be provided as a credit on your account and will be available towards your 2027 practice fees. If you are moving to non-practicing status in 2027, you can request that the rebate be applied first towards your 2027 annual fee for non-practicing membership and the balance will be refunded. 

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.