Using AI as an Ontario paralegal: what the Law Society and tribunals expect

AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can save an Ontario paralegal hours on drafting, organizing evidence and preparing for hearings. They can also invent case law, mishandle client information and produce confident answers that are simply wrong. The good news is that you don’t need a new rulebook. The Law Society of Ontario has been clear that the professional obligations you already have apply to AI too.

This guide pulls together what the Law Society, Tribunals Ontario and the courts have said, and turns it into a practical checklist. It’s general information, not legal advice, and these rules change, so always check the current versions linked at the end.

What the Law Society of Ontario expects

In April 2024 the Law Society published Generative AI: Your professional obligations, which applies to paralegals as well as lawyers. It doesn’t ban AI. Instead it maps AI use onto the Paralegal Rules of Conduct you already follow.

• Competence (Rule 3.01). Understand what a tool can and can’t do before you rely on it. The Law Society warns that AI tools “may fabricate or hallucinate information,” and that AI is a tool, not a replacement for your professional judgment.
• Confidentiality (Rule 3.03). Read the tool’s terms of use to see what happens to what you type. Where safeguards aren’t adequate, don’t enter confidential, privileged or identifying client information, redact where you can, and get the client’s informed consent if protection isn’t adequate.
• Supervision. The Law Society compares using AI to getting help from a non licensee employee. You remain responsible for the output, so check it. Firms should set policies on permitted uses and train staff on the tools’ limits and potential biases.
• Telling clients. Where AI use could affect a matter’s outcome, cost or the client’s interests, the guidance says to tell the client, including the risks and how you’re managing them.
• Fees (Rule 5.01). Fees and disbursements must be fair, reasonable and disclosed in a timely way. AI costs passed on as disbursements should be billed at actual cost, and hidden fees aren’t allowed.
• Candour with tribunals (Rule 4.01). You must never mislead a tribunal or misstate facts or law, and that includes anything an AI tool drafted for you.

The guidance also recommends verifying any AI generated information you intend to rely on, with a human doing the checking, and keeping records of your verification steps, prompts and sources.

What tribunals and courts expect

Tribunals Ontario, which includes the Landlord and Tenant Board and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, has issued a Practice Direction on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Tribunal Proceedings. Its message is simple: parties are responsible for the accuracy of the case law and evidence they submit, even if AI helped prepare it, and should verify AI generated information against trusted sources such as tribunal websites, official publishers and CanLII. It also confirms that tribunal members don’t use AI to write decisions.

The courts have gone further in some areas. In the Superior Court of Justice, the Rules of Civil Procedure now require counsel to certify that the authorities cited in a factum are authentic. In Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2965, a factum cited cases that appeared to have been generated by AI and didn’t exist. The court ordered a contempt hearing; it was resolved only after counsel admitted the error, apologized and committed to further training. The lesson for every licensee is the same: if you cite it, you must have read it.

Paralegals mostly appear in Small Claims Court, the Ontario Court of Justice and tribunals rather than the Superior Court, but the principle applies everywhere you appear. Before filing, check whether the court or tribunal has a current practice direction or notice on AI, and follow it.

A practical checklist for your practice

1. Know your tool. Read its privacy terms and settings, including whether your conversations are used for training and how long they’re kept.
2. Keep client identifiers out unless you’re satisfied they’re protected. Use initials or roles like “the Tenant” instead of names, addresses and file numbers.
3. Never cite a case you haven’t read. Look up every authority on CanLII or another official source and confirm it says what the AI claims.
4. Don’t trust figures from memory. Filing fees, monetary limits, notice periods, deadlines and form numbers change. Confirm them on the official tribunal or court website every time.
5. Check scope first. Confirm the matter is within paralegal scope (or FLSP scope) before you start drafting, not after.
6. Review everything as if a junior wrote it, because that’s how the Law Society frames it. You sign it, so you own it.
7. Keep a short record of what you used AI for and how you verified it.
8. Write a simple firm policy covering which tools are allowed, what can be entered, and who reviews AI assisted work.
9. Be upfront with clients where AI use affects their matter or their bill.

Common questions

Can Ontario paralegals use ChatGPT or Claude?

Yes. The Law Society of Ontario hasn't banned generative AI. Its guidance says your existing professional obligations apply: be competent with the tool, protect client confidentiality, supervise and verify what it produces, be honest with tribunals, and bill fairly.

Do I have to tell the LTB or HRTO that I used AI?

Tribunals Ontario's practice direction on AI focuses on responsibility and verification: you're responsible for the accuracy of everything you submit and should check AI generated information against trusted sources. Practice directions change, so check the current version and any tribunal specific notices before you file.

Can I put client information into an AI tool?

Only if you're satisfied the tool protects it. The Law Society's guidance says to review the tool's terms, avoid entering confidential or identifying client information where safeguards are inadequate, redact where you can, and get informed consent where protection isn't adequate.

Can I charge clients for AI tools?

The Law Society's guidance says fees and disbursements must be fair, reasonable and disclosed in a timely way, and that AI costs passed on as disbursements should be billed at actual cost, never hidden.

Sources

• Law Society of Ontario, Generative AI: Your professional obligations (April 10, 2024)
• Tribunals Ontario, Practice Direction on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Tribunal Proceedings
• Law Society of Ontario, Paralegal Rules of Conduct
• Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2965 (summary by McCarthy Tétrault)

This guide is general information for licensed professionals, current as of the date above. It isn’t legal advice. Rules and practice directions change, so confirm the current versions before relying on them.