Canada’s largest lawyer regulatory body on Thursday approved a five-year “regulatory sandbox” pilot program that will permit individuals who are not lawyers and businesses not owned by lawyers to deliver innovative technological legal services to the public without fear of regulatory entanglements.

The report, approved by the Law Society of Ontario, notes artificial intelligence and other technological advancements are providing new ways for people to find legal information, navigate legal systems, generate legal documents or predict outcomes. Those advancements have only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic with the forced adoption of digital tools in both the private and public spheres.