The Northlands Community Law Centre in The Pas officially opened its doors on Sept. 10, restoring a permanent Legal Aid Manitoba presence in the northern community more than four years after a fire destroyed the previous office in March 2022.
Local hub returns after long interim period
Legal Aid staff in The Pas spent the intervening years working from temporary spaces and from home while the province and the organization planned and built a new facility. The new office, located on Cook Avenue near the bridge to Opaskwayak Cree Nation, provides a dedicated space for northern clients and staff, including a multipurpose room and public art pieces created by local artists.
Legal Aid Manitoba chair Jim McLandress and executive staff joined northern staff and community members for the official opening. The ceremony marked the end of a period in which lawyers and support staff improvised work locations and adjusted service delivery for people who rely on Legal Aid for criminal, family and civil legal help.
Staff recall traumatic loss and the improvised response
Supervising attorney Monica Ross described the moment she first learned of the fire: she heard about it online, went to a nearby parking lot and watched while the building and its contents were destroyed, first by flames and then by the water used to extinguish the blaze. She said the experience was traumatic for staff who lost a familiar workplace and client spaces.
"It was quite traumatic for all of us," Monica Ross said, recalling the aftermath of the March 2022 fire.
Legal Aid Manitoba executive director Peter Kingsley, who usually works from Winnipeg, drove north immediately after the fire to support the team and help establish temporary working arrangements. Staff set up operations in basements, borrowed space and made do while continuing to serve clients across the region.
What the new centre offers
The Northlands Community Law Centre is described as a multipurpose facility that will better support client meetings, legal clinics and outreach services. Organizers highlighted the inclusion of artwork by local artists as part of the building's public spaces, signalling an intention to anchor the office within the community it serves.
- Location: Cook Avenue, The Pas
- Opening date: Sept. 10 (grand opening)
- Features: multipurpose room, public art by local artists
| Event | Date |
| Previous office destroyed by fire | March 20, 2022 |
| New centre grand opening | Sept. 10, 2026 |
Significance for northern Manitobans
Restoring a permanent Legal Aid office in The Pas matters for timely access to legal advice and representation in a region where geography, travel costs and limited local services can be barriers to justice. The new centre aims to provide a stable base for lawyers, administrative staff and community-based programming that supports vulnerable residents.
Staff and community leaders framed the opening as both a practical restoration of services and a symbol of recovery. The multipurpose space is expected to facilitate community meetings, intake sessions and legal clinics that were harder to coordinate while staff worked out of dispersed temporary locations.
While the ceremony marked an important milestone, Legal Aid Manitoba officials and northern staff will continue work to ensure services fully resume and that residents are aware of the centre's location, hours and programs. For many clients, the visible return of a dedicated office is a clear sign that a local point of contact and legal support network has been re-established.
The reopening also underscores the role of community ties in rebuilding public services: the new office’s proximity to the bridge linking The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation and its inclusion of local artwork were highlighted as deliberate choices to reflect the centre’s northern mandate and relationships.
As staff settle into the new facility, Legal Aid Manitoba has taken another step toward restoring stable, local legal services for northern Manitobans after a disruptive and traumatic chapter that began with the 2022 fire.
