2 Introduction
2.1 Background to Legal Needs Surveys
a. “Who Are the Right People to Listen To?”Footnote 1
Canada’s justice system is in crisis as evidenced by significant delays across the justice system, increases in costs of legal help, limited eligibility for legal aid, and many communities feeling alienated from the justice system (Farrow 2024). Calling on the legal profession to find solutions in collaboration with other sectors, Farrow argues that:
“[I]t is the public…that needs to be the focus in terms of understanding current justice problems with a view of finding appropriate, innovative, efficient, accessible, and just solutions…these and other voices are the right ones to be listening to when it comes to understanding everyday legal problems and the social context in which people, particularly the most vulnerable and those with the least access to justice, experience those problems.” (Farrow 2024, 8-9, bold ours)
Asking “people directly about problems in their daily lives that may have a legal dimension” are important for governments and policy-makers when designing new legal policies and programs (Savage and McDonald 2022, 4).
The 2021 Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS) takes such a people-centered approach and received responses from more than 20,000 randomly selected residents of Canadian provinces. The survey revealed that 34% of Canadians experienced at least one legal problem in the three years prior to being polled and that while a large majority (90%) found it important to resolve the problem they experienced, only 33% involved the formal justice system in that solution. Lack of knowledge, expressed in a variety of ways (e.g., not knowing something could be done about it, not knowing where to go, etc.), was the most often cited barrier for people experiencing serious legal problems. High cost (37%) or usefulness (41%) were also mentioned as reasons for not contacting a lawyer (Savage and McDonald 2022).
Past legal needs surveys conducted in Canada showed that individuals with social disadvantages are more likely to experience multiple serious legal problems (Currie 2009, 2016) which makes it particularly important to listen to them (Farrow 2024).
This small qualitative study highlights the voices of one such community: Chinese Canadians living in Greater Vancouver or Greater Victoria.
b. A Qualitative Look at Serious Legal Problems Series
In 2020-2021, Justice Canada invited multiple communities to undertake a series of small qualitative studies looking at the experience of minority populations such as 2SLGBTQI+ populations, Black Canadians, persons with disabilities, immigrants and Indigenous people. One such small study “Serious Legal Problems Faced by Immigrants in Victoria and Vancouver, B.C.” was carried out by this research team (Verhage 2022). Another study was completed in 2024 with seniors living in Ontario.Footnote 2 Reports on three additional populations are currently being completed: Muslim populations, Jewish populations and Chinese Canadians.
For this study, a small number of Chinese Canadian individuals were recruited to take part in a 1.5-hour in-depth conversation to enable them to share their story and carefully track the individual’s experience with facing serious legal problems. This qualitative study complements the CLPS and enables us to learn where barriers to justice hinder participants’ desire to resolve a complex legal problem.
c. Background Demographic Data on Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria
Vancouver is a large metropolitan area on the mainland of British Columbia. According to the 2021 Census, the Greater Vancouver region has more than 2.6 million residents with a majority identifying as racialized (55%). Greater Victoria is the capital of British Columbia; it has a majority white population (78%) and includes a relatively small urban core with a larger rural margin around it. It is located on Vancouver Island, which makes the area less accessible and less well-connected to the rest of the province and services than Vancouver. For demographic data on these regions, see figure 1.
Figure 1 – Population Overview for Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria (Statistics Canada 2023)
| Greater Vancouver | Greater Victoria | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | |
| Total Population | 2,607,010 | 100% | 388,475 | 100% |
| Racialized Population | 1,420,270 | 55% of total population | 64,775 | 17% of total population |
| Chinese descent | 512,260 | 36% of racialized population (20% of total population) |
17,385 | 26% of racialized population (5% of total population) |
| Immigrant Population | 1,089,180 | 42% of total population | 73,345 | 19% of total population |
| Birthplace China | 204,825 | 19% of immigrant population (8% of total population) |
6,480 | 9% of immigrant population (2% of total population) |
2.2 Research Questions
The goal of this study was to understand the types of legal problems that people of Chinese descent face in their everyday lives in Canada, to examine the methods that they use to resolve these legal problems, and to look at the economic, social, physical and mental consequences of having to deal with these legal problems. To this end, we interviewed twenty people of Chinese descent living on Vancouver Island and in the Greater Vancouver area. Research questions included:
- What types of serious legal problems have you experienced?
- How have you tried to resolve your problems and what has been the outcome of these efforts?
- Have you resolved your problems through recourse to the formal legal system?
- What barriers have you faced when trying to obtain information and legal advice to resolve your problems?
- What has been the economic, social, physical and mental health impact of these problems on you (and your family)?
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