Our newest Self-Represented Litigant (SRL) Intake Report was written by NSRLP Research Assistant Eunice Yong and Project Manager Dayna Cornwall, with supervision by Executive Director Jennifer Leitch.
This report collates and analyzes data from Intake Forms completed by SRLs between July 1, 2023, and August 30, 2025, with a total of 354 respondents. (We note with interest that this is nearly 100 more respondents than our last intake period, which covered roughly the same length of time – this growth is very encouraging.) This data is imperative to the function of the NSRLP. It is instructive and useful for its own sake, and it informs the rest of our work, including further research studies into particular issues affecting SRLs, the development of practical resources for litigants, and our advocacy efforts to increase access to justice on a systemic level.
As with previous intake reports published by the NSRLP, the data tracks the core demographics prevalent within the SRL population (gender, income, education, age, ethnicity, language, etc.), and their legal system experiences (type of law, court, use of services and resources, etc.). The results continue to be quite consistent with Julie Macfarlane’s original SRL Study (2013), with our previous Intake Reports (2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2024), and with the results of similar studies conducted in other countries.
This data period saw the addition of several new questions to the Intake Form survey: whether respondents identify as LGBTQIA2S+; whether they identify as neurodivergent; whether they are a newcomer to Canada; and if and how they have used artificial intelligence (AI) in preparing their cases. Because these questions were added in the midst of this data period, the number of responses is smaller in comparison to the rest of the data reported here – nevertheless, there are some interesting early trends, and we look forward to more robust numbers in our next Intake Report.
As always, we include direct quotes from SRLs sharing not only their experiences in the legal system, but also tips and best practices for others.
We sincerely thank the hundreds of self-represented litigants who contribute their time and energy to filling out our Intake Form – not only those whose information is included in this report, but those who have shared and continue to share their voices with us since 2011. All of our work rests on the experiences and information you so generously trust us with.