ARCH Disability Law Centre is a specialty legal clinic that provides free legal services to low-income persons with disabilities living in Ontario in a wide range of legal areas.  We are dedicated to defending and advancing the equality rights, entitlements, fundamental freedoms, and inclusion of persons with disabilities.  

We provide free, confidential legal advice and information on specific disability-related areas of law through our telephone service to all persons with disabilities living in Ontario.  

ARCH is a “test case” clinic.  We represent both groups and eligible individuals in important legal cases where a court or tribunal is looking at an issue for the first time, where a court is deciding an issue that will affect a large number of people, or where there is a disability analysis that should be brought to a court to decide the outcome. 

In addition to legal representation, we work to change laws that affect persons with disabilities through our law reform work, provide public legal education to community groups, and support and lead  community projects and capacity building efforts to support these efforts.  ARCH is primarily funded by Legal Aid Ontario, and we are  fortunate to have other funders and funding sources, including donations from the public.    


Our Vision

A society in which laws, policies and legal systems ensure full participation, inclusion, dignity, and equal rights without discrimination for persons with disabilities


Our Mission Statement


ARCH Disability Law Centre, as a specialty legal clinic with a provincial mandate, undertakes to achieve this Vision by: Advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, including the removal of systemic barriers;

Promoting awareness and providing education on the rights of persons with disabilities;

Addressing issues that have a particular impact on low income persons with disabilities;

Ensuring that ARCH’s work has Ontario-wide impact;

Engaging in national disability rights work and influencing the realization of international disability rights norms in Canada and Ontario; 

Continuously developing and utilizing ARCH’s expertise in local, provincial, national and international law as it affects persons with disabilities; and

Addressing the heightened disadvantage and discrimination faced by persons with disabilities, including as a result of other intersecting grounds of discrimination, including gender, race, age, language, place of origin, economic status, sexual orientation, and others. 



Our Values and Principles

ARCH is guided by the following set of core values:

The dignity and worth of all persons with disabilities must be respected;

Persons with disabilities have the right to dignity, equality, self-determination, disability-related supports and full participation in a barrier-free inclusive society;

Persons with disabilities themselves are in the best position to determine their own priorities; and

All persons have a common responsibility to create inclusive communities accessible to all persons with disabilities. 

Additionally, ARCH is guided by the following set of core organizational principles:ARCH operates in accordance with the above core values;

ARCH is a community-based organization, governed by a Board of Directors composed of a majority of persons with disabilities; and

 ARCH is accountable to persons with disabilities in Ontario, its members and its funders.

Our History

ARCH opened its doors in January of 1980 as the first specialist legal clinic in North America run by and for persons with disabilities. Operating until 2005 under the name Advocacy Resource Centre for the Handicapped, the Clinic was created to meet a need for legal support identified by consumer groups and an increasingly active disability rights movement in Ontario and across Canada. (Founding Executive  Director David Baker describes the Clinic’s early days in “ARCH celebrating 25 years”).

ARCH continues to value a collaborative, inclusive approach to what we do , building partnerships with disability communities and self-advocates, legal networks, agencies,  policymakers, and other stakeholders. Among its first major law reform efforts, ARCH was instrumental in forming the Human Rights Coalition which successfully advocated for adding “handicap” (disability) in  as a prohibited ground of discrimination to Ontario’s Human Rights Code. Over the following forty plus years, ARCH has focused on how to most effectively advance the rights enshrined in the  Human Rights Code, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities to make real change in the quality of life and opportunities for persons with disabilities.

ARCH has contributed to significant advances in key concerns of the disability community, including:  mental health law and the right of psychiatric patients to refuse involuntary treatment; removal of voting restrictions at the municipal, provincial and federal levels; implementation of comprehensive disability rights legislation  and accessibility standards; inclusive, accessible adequately funded education; tax reforms to address the additional costs of disability; a transformed understanding of legal capacity and the limits of guardianship;  deinstitutionalization and adequate supports for independent living; availability of legal services to low-income clients with disabilities in inner downtown and rural regions of the province; and the collection of adequate disability-related statistical data on which to base policy.

ARCH continues to build upon progress made over its history to:

  • increase access to justice and legal services for persons with disabilities, especially members of marginalized groups;
  • expand expertise in disability law among the legal community;
  • strengthening the equality rights & access to services that enable full participation in society;
  • break the connections between poverty and disability;
  • advance legal capacity rights that promote personal autonomy and supported decision-making;
  • prevent abuse of vulnerable persons with disabilities; and
  • help persons with disabilities and the broader community know their rights through educational materials and in-person, online workshops and outreach.

More about the history of ARCH’s work can be found in the pages of the Clinic’s periodicals ARCH Type (1981-2000) and ARCH Alert (1984- ), which chart the time, joint commitment and persistence required to make real change in the quality of life and opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Charting the Path Ahead: Strategic Plan 2024-2029

ARCH Disability Law Centre’s Strategic Plan for 2024-2029 outlines our commitment to advancing the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities. Through innovation, advocacy, and empowerment, we are dedicated to creating a more inclusive and accessible future for all.

Visit ARCH’s Strategic Plan Webpage

A Year in Review: ARCH’s Annual Report 2023-2024

ARCH Disability Law Centre’s Annual Report shares the progress we’ve made in supporting the rights of people with disabilities. It highlights our key achievements and the impact of our work over the past year.


Visit ARCH’s Annual Report Webpage