Our History 

Our roots go back to the late 1960's when a group of seminary students received government funding to facilitate community-based organizations in dealing with the social issues of the inner core of Vancouver.  A law student group was part of this.  The project was to last for only one summer, but it expanded into a fulltime program known as the Inner City Project and ran up until 1971.  From this law student group the Vancouver Community Legal Assistance Society evolved and was incorporated as a Society in 1971.  In 1988, we changed our name to the Community Legal Assistance Society to reflect the expansion of our services to people throughout the province. Since its inception in 1971, CLAS has expanded from a staff of five to a staff of over 35 who currently operate five programs.