Your rights, in plain words.
For everyone, local citizens and immigrant communities alike. Describe what is happening the way you would tell a friend. Plainright explains the law that applies, the steps to take, the deadlines that matter and where to find free help.
Immigration: what you need to know now
New asylum eligibility rules under Bill C-12, new permanent residence fees and the 2026–2028 levels plan. Pick your situation or ask about your own case.
Accident, delay or cancellation? What to do now
Car accidents in every province, delayed and cancelled flights, uninsured drivers and injuries at work: the first steps, the deadlines and who pays.
Choose your topic
Pick the area that fits your situation. Each one opens a list of topics, with an answer, a letter or a lawyer one tap away.
Plainright provides general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Laws change and depend on your facts; for decisions with serious consequences, speak with a licensed attorney or a legal aid organization.
Explain a document
Scan a page with your phone, upload a photo, PDF or Word file, or paste the text of any document: a lease, job offer, contract, court papers, a government or immigration notice, a bill or a collection letter. Plainright explains what it says in plain language, clause by clause, flags anything to look at closely and lists the deadlines.
Write a letter
Many problems are solved by a clear, polite letter that cites the law. Choose a letter, fill in the facts, and Plainright drafts it for you to review, edit and send.
Know your rights
Reliable overviews of the situations people face in daily life, from work and housing to health, family, money and the police. Start from what is happening in your life, or browse every area of law.
What is happening in your life?
Every area of law Browse all law topics
Every area of law, in one place.
Choose the topic that matches what is happening. Search, browse by area or from A to Z, and save the topics that matter to you. Each topic leads straight to an answer, a letter, a document check or a lawyer near you.
Immigration, explained clearly
Family sponsorship, Express Entry and provincial nominees, work and study permits, refugee claims under Bill C-12, citizenship and removal, with IRCC forms, deadlines and official sources. Rules changed in 2026; this page was last checked on .
Choose your situation
Forms finder
| Form | What it is for | Who files it |
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Deadlines you cannot miss
| What | When | Source |
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How the law works
The building blocks behind every answer: where law comes from, how common law and precedent work, how courts are organized, and the core ideas of contracts, torts and property.
Time limits to claim in Canada
Statutes of limitations. Exceptions exist, so confirm your deadline.
| Type of claim | Deadline | Source |
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Landmark Supreme Court of Canada cases
Legal terms in plain words
Law libraries
Read the law yourself. These free, reliable libraries hold the statutes, regulations and court decisions that Plainright cites, for Canada, the provinces and immigration law.
What changed in the law
The latest updates from IRCC, the courts, federal agencies and the provinces that affect everyday legal questions, in plain words, with who is affected and a link to the source. Updated every week; last update .
Lawyers and free help near me
When your situation is serious, urgent or involves a court deadline, speak with a licensed attorney or a nonprofit legal service. Press one button and Plainright lists three to six highly rated law offices and the immigration help centers and legal aid offices near you, in every province and territory.
How law offices are selected
- Open and operating according to its current public business listing.
- Rated 4.5 stars or higher from at least 25 reviews; low-rated and thinly reviewed offices are never shown.
- Practice match: the office's listing or its own website must name your type of problem.
- Reachable: a published phone number and website are required.
- Nearby: within about 40 km of the location you give.
- No middlemen: referral directories and lead-generation sites are excluded.
- Fair ranking: offices are ordered by rating weighted by the number of reviews, so a few five-star reviews cannot outrank hundreds of strong ones.
- No payment, no referral fee: no office can pay to appear or to move up, and you pay nothing to see them.
How help centers are selected
- Immigration and refugees: legal aid refugee services, community legal clinics and settlement agencies near you, plus official finders for licensed lawyers and consultants.
- Everyday legal problems: legal aid societies, legal services programs, court self-help centers, bar association programs and law-school clinics near you.
- Left out: unlicensed consultants, tax and "multiservice" shops, insurance agencies and help centres rated below 4 stars.
- Every province and territory: all ten provinces and three territories, with detailed official finders for Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta.
Listings and ratings come from Google; office websites are checked automatically. Always confirm a lawyer's licence with the provincial law society, or a consultant's licence with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, before hiring.
Find help near you
When your situation needs a person, these organizations can advise or represent you, often at no cost.
Helpful services
Free to use. Plus when you need more.
Plainright is free to download and free to use every day. Plainright Plus adds unlimited questions and the tools that save time and money. Emergency and safety help is never behind a paywall.
Free
- 10 questions a month with full answers
- Know Your Rights library, Immigration center and News
- Lawyers and free help near me
- The talking guide and ten languages
- Emergency, arrest and detention answers: always unlimited
Plus
- Unlimited questions and follow-ups
- Document explanations with clause flags
- Letters drafted for common disputes
- Immigration document checklists and deadline reminders
- Saved case folder and priority answers
- Law office matching included
Family
- Everything in Plus for each member
- Shared household case folder
- Reminders for each family member's deadlines
- Ideal for families going through immigration together
In the iPhone and Android apps, subscriptions are billed through the App Store or Google Play. On the web, payment is processed securely by Stripe. Prices are in Canadian dollars, plus applicable taxes. You will get a reminder before a free trial ends and before an annual renewal.
One-off tools
No subscription needed. Included in Plus.
Six months of Plus, free, when money is tight
If you are going through financial hardship, you can get Plainright Plus free for six months through an organization that is helping you: the Together and Stronger Foundation, the Global Human Capital Reinsertion Initiative, a legal aid office, a charity or a community organization. The organization gives you a one-time code. There is no card to enter and nothing is charged when the six months end.
- 1. Ask the organization helping you for a Plainright hardship code, or apply below and we will connect you with a partner.
- 2. Enter the code under "Have a code?". Plus opens right away.
- 3. Each person can use one hardship code. Plainright never asks for income documents; the partner organization confirms need.
Redeem a code
Hardship codes, gift codes and discount codes. Each code works once.
Always free
Answers about arrests, CBSA detention, domestic violence, eviction lockouts and other emergencies; free help centers near you; the law library and news. Plainright never charges to fill in or file immigration forms. People facing financial hardship can get six months of Plus free through a partner organization.
Plainright for your members
Offer Plainright Plus as a benefit to employees, union and credit-union members, international students, insurance customers or the families you serve. Group pricing from $1 to $3 per member per month, or an annual licence, with your own welcome page.
Advertise your practice
Flat-fee sponsored listings by practice area and city, always labelled "Sponsored" and shown apart from the ranked results. Never pay per lead or per client. Opening after review under law society advertising rules; never per lead or per client.
Sponsor a know-your-rights guide
Fund a guide, a workshop or a translation for a community. Sponsored content is labelled, and Plainright keeps full editorial control.
We never sell your data
What you tell Plainright about your situation is never sold or shared for advertising. Ads, if ever shown to free users, are never targeted and never appear on immigration-status, arrest or emergency screens.
My questions
Questions you ask are kept in this browser so you can return to them. Nothing here is shared.
Legal help made for everyone
Most people facing a legal problem never speak to a lawyer, usually because of cost. Plainright closes that gap with clear, careful explanations and a direct path to real help when it is needed.
How it works
- You describe the situationIn your own words and your own language, with the place where it happened.
- Plainright identifies the law that appliesThe answer names the statutes and rules it relies on, so you can verify them.
- You get rights, steps and deadlinesWhat you are entitled to, what to do first, which deadlines apply and what documents to gather.
- You know when to bring in a professionalEvery answer says when a lawyer is worth it and lists free and low-cost help.
Trust and safety
Plainright is a legal information service, not a law firm. It does not give legal advice or represent anyone. In an emergency, call 911.
Immigration matters should be handled only by a lawyer, a Quebec notary or a licensed immigration consultant. Never pay an unlicensed "ghost consultant".
Contact
contact@plainright.orgPrefer to talk? Use Talk to us at the bottom of the screen or request a call back.
Privacy policy
Last updated 4 November 2026. Plainright Canada is operated by IntelExpats LLC. Our privacy officer can be reached at privacy@plainright.org.
The short version
- We never sell your personal information and do not use it for advertising or tracking.
- You need a free account to use the guide and the tools; reading the law topics is open to everyone. Your account holds your name, email address and password (stored only in encrypted, hashed form). Contact details are used only for the purpose you give them.
- You can access, correct or withdraw consent, and complain to the Privacy Commissioner.
What we collect and why
- Questions and documents you submit, to generate an answer, with your consent.
- Case summaries sent only to the law offices you choose, with your express consent.
- Contact details for accounts, subscriptions, call backs and hardship applications.
- Approximate location only when you press "Use my location", rounded to about 1 km and not stored.
- Payment and tax records, as the law requires.
Artificial intelligence
Answers and the on-screen guide are produced by an AI system. Your questions are not used to train AI models, and no decision about you is made solely by automated processing.
Service providers and transfers
We use providers who process data for us under contract: an AI model provider, Google Maps Platform, Stripe, Apple and Google (payments), Formaloo (forms), Dialora (voice) and our web host. Some are located outside Canada, mainly in the United States, and your information may be accessed there under local law. Law offices you choose receive your case summary directly.
Retention
- Questions: deleted within 30 days unless you save them to an account.
- Case summaries: not stored after delivery; a minimal log is kept 12 months.
- Account and invoices: while the account is open, then as tax law requires.
Your rights
Under PIPEDA and provincial laws, including Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (Law 25), you may access and correct your information, withdraw consent, and in Quebec ask for portability and deindexing. Use the data request page or write to privacy@plainright.org; we reply within 30 days. You can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, in Quebec, the Commission d'accès à l'information.
Minimum age
Plainright Canada is for people aged 14 and older.
Security and breaches
Encryption in transit, limited access, and notification of breaches that create a real risk of significant harm, as the law requires.
Terms of use
Last updated 4 November 2026. Agreement between you and IntelExpats LLC, operator of Plainright Canada.
1. AI legal information, not legal advice
Plainright Canada provides general legal information generated with artificial intelligence. It is not a law firm, does not give legal advice and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Information may be incomplete or out of date. Consult a lawyer, Quebec notary or licensed paralegal for your situation. In an emergency, call 911.
2. Law offices and help centers
Listings follow published criteria and are not recommendations. No referral fees are charged; sponsored content, if any, is clearly labelled with who paid for it.
3. Your use
You must be at least 14. Do not misuse the service, submit unlawful content or scrape the app.
4. Subscriptions and cancellation
Prices are in Canadian dollars; applicable taxes are added at checkout. Subscriptions renew until cancelled, and you can cancel online at any time, effective at the end of the period. We remind you before a free trial ends and before an annual renewal. In the apps, subscriptions are managed in the App Store or Google Play. Hardship codes never turn into paid plans.
5. Liability
To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect losses or decisions made on general information. Nothing here limits rights you have under provincial consumer protection laws, including Quebec's Consumer Protection Act.
6. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the province where you live. Contact us first at contact@plainright.org.
7. Language
These terms are available in English and French. Les parties ont exigé que ces conditions soient aussi offertes en français.
8. Contact
IntelExpats LLC · contact@plainright.org
Your privacy rights
Ask for deletion, a copy of your data, correction, or to withdraw consent. We reply within 30 days.