This simply isn't true. I can only speak for the firm I work for (I'm support staff not a lawyer so I can't answer law questions) but both lawyers and paralegals are billed out at different rates. For example, I'm billed at $125/hr. The attorney I work for is billed at $400/hour. From the sounds of it, many of the people in this thread are being charged a flat fee rate, which generally saves people money over paying hourly, ESPECIALLY if it actually goes to court. There's a lot of research involved for the attorney and a lot of drafting for the paralegal. Much more than you'd expect and much more than I realized went into it when I had a lawyer while going through the process. Many of my "straightforward" cases can take upwards of 20+ hours overall between the paralegal and attorney and so for a WOM I could easily see it getting into 5+ digits if it was billed hourly.
There are ABSOLUTELY lawyers out there that are in it for the money and not to help people, but if you do your research and find a lawyer that cares rather than picking the first person on google or the cheapest option, you're saving money if they're giving you a flat fee.
It's disgusting that Montreal is doing this, but I really wouldn't recommend DIYing a WOM.