Joining Canada's Legal Profession
Canada’s Law Societies
Every lawyer in Canada and notary in Quebec is required by law to be a member of a law society and to be governed by its rules. There are 14 law societies in Canada – one in each of the nine provinces and three northern territories which are subject to Canada’s common law legal system, and two in the Province of Quebec whose legal traditions originate from the French civil law system. In that province, lawyers (known as “advocates”) are governed by the Barreau du Québec. Members of the legal profession who practice notarial law have the same legal training as advocates, but are governed by the Chambre des notaires du Québec.
Canada’s 14 provincial and territorial law societies govern over 100,000 lawyers and 3,500 Quebec notaries in the public interest. Each law society is established by provincial and territorial law and has a mandate to ensure that people in its jurisdiction are served by legal professionals who meet high standards of competence and professional conduct.
Serving the Public Interest
A central feature of Canada’s legal system is that the public has the right to obtain legal advice and be represented by a legal profession that is independent of the government. For that reason, our laws provide for the self-regulation of the legal profession. One of the key strengths of Canada’s legal system is the clear distinction between the function of law societies and that of voluntary associations of members of the profession. The function of law societies is to regulate the legal profession in the public interest. It is the function of voluntary associations of members of the profession, such as the Canadian Bar Association, to speak for and represent the interests of their members.
Key Functions of Law Societies
To fulfill their public interest mandate, law societies set the standards for admission to the profession and the conduct of members in their province or territory. They audit and monitor the use of trust funds held by members of the profession. They also investigate complaints and discipline members of the profession who violate the required standards of conduct.
Admission to Canada’s Law Societies
As a rule, Canada’s law societies in common law jurisdictions accept applications for admission from holders of three or four year LL.B. or J.D. degrees issued by a Canadian law school. The Barreau du Québec and the Chambre des notaires du Québec require applicants to have completed an approved three year civil law degree program in Canada.
In 2010, Canada’s law societies approved a new national requirement for Canadian common law degree programs which is in the process of being implemented. To learn more about the new national requirement, consult the Report of the Task Force on the Canadian Common Law Degree.
Individuals whose legal education credentials were obtained outside of Canada, or in a civil law degree program in Canada, and who wish to apply for admission to a Canadian common law jurisdiction, are required to have their credentials assessed by the National Committee on Accreditation.
Applicants for admission to Canada’s law societies are generally required to complete a bar admissions course and examinations, as well as complete a practical training program (known as “articling”) for a prescribed period of time. Upon successful completion of these steps, applicants must also demonstrate that they are of good character before they can be admitted to a law society and be licensed to practice law.
Although the rules of admission are similar for all jurisdictions, details vary from one jurisdiction to the next. Work is underway to for Canada’s law societies to agree upon national admission standards. To learn more about the specific rules and procedures currently applicable for admission to each of Canada’s law societies, you can use the following links: