AS a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus, a series of Canadian and BC government policies have been announced that change individual rights and responsibilities regarding everyday life and work. There are new COVID-19 policies related to health, work and employment insurance, housing, utilities and more. Due to the fast-moving situation, new policies are announced almost daily. 

On Wednesday, the Justice Education Society (JES) launched LegalHelpBC.ca to provide British Columbians with answers to COVID-19 legal questions.

“People have a lot of questions about COVID-19”, said Sonia Poulin, CEO of JES. “We created LegalHelpBC.ca to assist British Columbians during these challenging times”. 

LegalHelpBC.ca gathers current information from more than 20 organizations, providing an online gateway for people to understand their changing legal rights and responsibilities due to COVID-19.  Topics include: health and safety, work, housing, family, and more. 

The site also features Ask JES, a live help information and referral service. In addition to searching COVID-19 questions and answers on the website, users can ask their own questions. Ask JES provides personalized legal help by phone, live chat or text weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. During offline hours, users can leave their phone number or email address to get an answer to their question the next business day.

Development of LegalHelpBC.ca is funded by the Law Foundation of BC and JES. Along with announcements from Government of Canada and various BC Government agencies, the site consolidates information available from Legal Service Society, Peoples Law School, PovNET and many other BC legal services organizations.

“LegalHelpBC.ca reflects the strength of public legal education and information sector in BC,” said Poulin. “A range of organizations are working hard to provide legal information and services during COVID-19. LegalHelpBC.ca provides British Columbians with a starting point to get answers to their COVID-19 legal questions.”