This is general information, not legal advice, and reflects Ontario law as of September 15, 2026.
The white paper is written for “licensees,” not just lawyers
The Law Society of Ontario regulates two licence classes under the same Law Society Act: lawyers and paralegals (Class P1). Its April 2024 white paper, Licensee use of generative artificial intelligence, uses that statutory word throughout and structures every conduct section as a side-by-side table — the lawyer Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) provision next to its Paralegal Rules of Conduct (PRC) equivalent.
Competence pairs RPC 3.1-2 with PRC 3.01(1). Confidentiality pairs RPC 3.3-1 with PRC 3.03(1). Supervision pairs RPC 6.1-1 with PRC 8.01(3) — plus matched pairs for the licensee-client relationship, fees and disbursements, and discrimination and harassment. Six duty areas, six pairs, not one lawyer-only list with a paralegal footnote.
The Law Society of Ontario's April 2024 generative-AI white paper pairs every lawyer conduct rule it cites — competence, confidentiality, supervision — with its Paralegal Rules of Conduct equivalent in the same table, because both licence classes are “licensees” under the same Law Society Act.Law Society of Ontario, “Licensee use of generative artificial intelligence,” April 2024
That means an independent paralegal — licensed to appear at Small Claims Court, the Landlord and Tenant Board, or on summary Provincial Offences matters without a supervising lawyer — carries these duties directly, not just through being supervised. For the full walk-through, see our complete guide to the LSO's generative-AI guidance.
Where the symmetry stops: the 2026 attestation layer
Guidance is one thing; a checkbox is another. Since the 2026 filing cycle, Legal Aid Ontario requires roster lawyers to confirm annually, on the Lawyer Self-Report, that they comply with the LSO's generative-AI guidance. LAO's own December 2025 in-brief is worded for “roster lawyers” throughout — no parallel paralegal attestation appears in its published materials, despite paralegals doing roster-eligible legal aid work. That's an open item, not a confirmed gap; LAO wasn't contacted directly.
Enforcement reads the same way. Law Society Tribunal AI-hallucination discipline so far is two 2026 lawyer cases — Mazaheri and Lee — and zero paralegal-specific ones. But the Tribunal's own reasons in Lee note that counsel “were unable to provide us with any Ontario cases that address penalty when a lawyer or a paralegal has relied on an AI document containing hallucinations.” The Tribunal treats the question as identical across licence classes — enforcement, not the rule, is what's lawyer-heavy so far.
Don't treat AI competence and confidentiality as a lawyer-only item if you're an Ontario paralegal — the white paper's structure says otherwise. If you take Legal Aid Ontario roster work, watch for a paralegal-equivalent attestation. DROZlegal's litigation drafting tools hyperlink every cited authority to its live CanLII record as a draft is generated — a lawyer or paralegal still verifies and signs, every time. See our breakdown of whether the LTB and HRTO require AI disclosure for a related Ontario AI-scope question.