Job Posting: Senior Legal Education Specialist

Location: Greater Toronto Area (this is a primarily remote position with in-person requirements in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area)

Closing date: January 13, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Contract type: Full-time

Start date: February 2025

Hours of work: Flexible. Some evening and weekend hours will be required. 

Salary: $70,000 - $80,000

Benefits: A generous benefits package will be made available following the end of the three-month probationary period, which includes health and dental benefits, AD&D, long-term disability and life insurance. Group and individual professional development opportunities are also provided to staff. 

Paid time off: Four weeks (20 days) of paid vacation and 10 paid sick days per year.   CCHR also typically closes between Christmas and New Year’s Day, providing additional paid days off.

About CCHR 

 CCHR is one of Canada’s oldest charities working to advance the right to adequate housing. Founded in 1987, CCHR has worked tirelessly for over 37 years at the intersection of human rights and housing and is one of Canada’s leading NGOs working in the area of social and economic rights. CCHR works to advance the right to adequate housing by: 

• Serving clients to help them stay housed: CCHR provides free services to tenants facing eviction and human rights violations in their housing, and we are experts in these fields. Each year we provide services to over a thousand tenants, and we are highly effective in ensuring that some of the most vulnerable Ontario renters remain in their homes. 
• Providing education and training about housing rights: CCHR provides public education and training on housing rights and human rights in housing to diverse groups across Ontario, reaching approximately 4,000 people annually. We work with community partners to train individuals and communities about their housing rights and how to assert them, and we engage with landlords to educate them about their obligations as housing providers.
• Advancing rights-based housing solutions: CCHR advances rights-based housing solutions through research, policy development, advocacy and law reform. Notable achievements include setting a legal precedent preventing landlords from discriminating against renters who receive social assistance, launching a constitutional challenge against the federal government for failing to take action against homelessness, and coordinating the Right to Housing Toronto Network (R2HTO).

Working at CCHR 

CCHR is a collaborative and cross-functional team of about 30 motivated professionals working across Canada, linked by our commitment to advancing the right to housing.  Over the past three years the organization has grown fivefold, expanded our work nationally, and developed innovative ways to engage communities, individuals and organizations to support rights-based housing solutions. CCHR launched our 2024-27 Strategic Plan in October, with a goal of tackling Canada’s housing affordability crisis through initiatives that promote affordability, equality and security of tenure across the country. CCHR’s five functional teams (Services; Education; Policy and Law Reform; Research; Communications) work collaboratively in service of advancing our mission.

CCHR’s head office is located at the Centre for Social Innovation (Spadina location), an exciting, shared workspace that houses 250 non-profits and social innovators in downtown Toronto. It is accessible by transit and offers substantial opportunities to network with like-minded people and participate in a mission-driven, innovative community through various events both in person and virtually. CCHR’s team works primarily remotely, and our office offers several workstations which are available to staff who would like to work from the office on a part-time or occasional basis or who are visiting Toronto from their home region.   

About the role

We are seeking a motivated, experienced housing rights educator and/or legal professional with strong skills in public legal education, facilitation, curriculum development, community engagement, and an understanding of Ontario housing law and systems, human rights, and the right to housing. In this role, you will work closely with the Director of Education and Community Initiatives to develop and deliver both in-person and digital educational programming and products for a variety of audiences including a broad spectrum of renters, social service agency staff, and housing providers. You will support CCHR’s mission to ensure that renters understand and claim their housing rights, that service providers can support them in doing so, and that housing providers understand and promote rights-based practices and policies.

In this role, your ability to develop and deliver engaging content across a variety of platforms and juggle multiple responsibilities under tight timelines is essential. If you are a self-starter with demonstrated experience delivering public legal education, developing educational products, working with communities and cultivating respectful and reciprocal relationships with a variety of partners and stakeholders, this could be the right role for you.

Responsibilities include

• Developing innovative and engaging public legal education content, products and programming to build the capacity of a variety of audiences in service of advancing the right to housing and CCHR’s strategic priorities.
• Supporting the development and expansion of CCHR’s housing rights curricula and program offerings to meet the needs of new and evolving audiences across Ontario and Canada.
• Contributing to funding proposals and supporting outreach and business development in service of expanding CCHR’s educational offerings to new audiences across Canada.
• Facilitating public legal education sessions, workshops, presentations and information sessions both in person (in the Greater Golden Horseshoe) and digitally across Ontario and Canada.  
• Supporting the growth of CCHR’s educational programming by undertaking outreach to new audiences and soliciting new clients.
• Developing materials related to public legal education including and not limited to power point presentations, guides, toolkits, e-courses, articles, website and social media content, newsletter content and promotional materials.
• Supporting the development of CCHR’s digital offerings including e-courses and website expansion towards the creation of a knowledge hub for the sector.
• Developing and maintaining relationships with a broad range of community partners and clients including but not limited to service providers, housing providers, government, grassroots groups, and non-profit organizations. 
• Liaising with directly impacted communities to translate community information and direction into concrete strategies and policy recommendations. 
• Supporting the development and administration of CCHR’s public legal education initiatives and programs.
• Maintaining a current understanding of housing laws and systems, housing rights, the right to housing and other topics related to advancing CCHR’s strategic priorities.

Required qualifications 

• A law degree with at least 3 years of experience delivering public education initiatives; or a degree in a related field (e.g. education, community development) with at least 5 years of post-graduation professional experience including outreach, community engagement, public education.
• Strong understanding of the right to housing, human rights, housing law and the barriers facing equity-seeking groups in housing.
• Demonstrated experience building collaborative relationships with community organizations, coalitions and networks, and/or the broader non-profit sector and working in close co-operation with volunteers, community members, legal experts, service providers, academia and/or researchers, and in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Project and program management experience, including sound knowledge of work planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting. 
• Ability to utilize project management skills in   developing and implementing workplans, tracking and monitoring tasks and deadlines, and self-managing tasks and workflow.
• Experience preparing project and program funding proposals.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills in English and an ability to communicate directly with diverse audiences and the general public, producing clear written work on complex issues.  
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft 365  (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams). Proficiency with project management software such as Asana.
• Experience in business development or digital education design is an asset.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, and supporting staff, students and volunteers.
• An Ontario driver’s license and access to a vehicle, as regular local travel to locations throughout the region is required.

Skills and attributes:

• Entrepreneurial and solutions-oriented approach, ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment. 
• Outstanding organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills. 
• Ability to multi-task, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and adapt quickly to change.
• Ability to work accurately under pressure with attention to detail and deadlines, and with minimal supervision.
• Flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate high levels of responsibility and multiple and sometimes shifting priorities.
• Strong strategic thinking skills, political acumen, diplomacy, discretion, tact and good judgement.
• Working proficiency in an additional language is an asset, particularly French.

We recognize and value the unique perspective that people with lived experience of poverty and/or precarious housing bring in addition to the skills and qualifications listed above.   

To apply for this job: 

Applications should include a resume and cover letter in one PDF document submitted by email to with the subject line: Application – Senior Legal Education Specialist.

At CCHR, we believe that a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve strengthens our ability to achieve our mission. We strongly encourage applicants of all genders, racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, abilities, and with a range of life experiences to apply.  

We are committed to full compliance with the Human Rights Code, the Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and all other applicable legislation. We will provide accommodation during the hiring process upon request and information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.  

We thank all applicants for their interest. 

Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.  No telephone enquiries please.