There are seven steps to completing the Ontario Law Accreditation and Licensing process. In this post, I discuss each stage of the process and provide my opinion from my own personal experience as a foreign-trained lawyer navigating the Ontario Lawyer licensing process. For readers who prefer a summary of the steps, please see the image at the end of this post.
Disclaimer
Please note that this post provides the most up-to-date information as at the time it was created. The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) is your primary source of information on how to become a lawyer in Ontario. You should always verify any information you receive accordingly. You may review the LSO’s outline of the process here.
STEP 1: Get Your Credentials
If you are a foreign-trained lawyer – Canadian citizen, permanent resident or foreign national who has completed their legal training outside Canada- or a Canadian civil law graduate, you will need to get your educational credentials evaluated by the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA). Graduates of an accredited common law school in Canada who acquire an LB or JD or lawyers from outside Ontario will not need to go through the NCA process. The NCA is a standing committee of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (FLSC). You can find more information about the NCA credential assessment here.
Once you get your credentials evaluated, the NCA will notify you of the next steps in your assessment. Your assessment will indicate the number of required exams you will need to take. In order to meet the assigned requirements on your assessment, you have the option of (i) completing the NCA open-book challenge exams; (ii) completing the assigned courses at a Canadian Law School; or (iii) doing a combination of both options. The number of challenge exams required with depend on your NCA Assessment.
Challenge Exams
As regards the challenge exams, the exams are graded on a pass/fail basis (i.e you must get 50% to pass). For each exam, the NCA will provide you with exam outlines and sample exams. These resources will help guide you through the process. Please pay attention to the required readings set out in the outline as well as the optional ones. I have found that using secondary sources to bolster your case may be helpful in exams.
Taking Courses
Another option to taking the NCA challenge exams is to take a stipulated number of courses at a Canadian Common Law School or take a specified program of studies at one of the Canadian Law schools (the NCA will need to pre-approve the courses). I fulfilled 90% of my NCA requirements through the Canadian Common Law LLM program at Osgoode Hall Law School by enrolling in the qualifying courses. Please research into the program of your school of choice to ensure the courses you take will be accepted by the NCA. You may contact the NCA to ask further questions or discuss peculiar circumstances as well. The NCA just might have an alternate option that you may pursue. Having completed the courses, you will need to arrange for your law school to send official transcripts directly to the NCA.
Once you pass all required exams, you will be given a Certificate of Qualification that you will need in order to begin the second step of this 7-step process – The Licensing Process Application.
STEP 2: Complete the Law Licensing Process Application
The Lawyer Licensing Process application is an online application. The LSO has created a detailed page that is helpful to read if you will like to begin your application. You may visit the LSO page titled “Completing the Lawyer Licensing Process Application” here. If you make a mistake in your application, you can amend your application by completing and submitting the Application Amendment Form located here.
When you complete and submit your licensing process application, you will receive access to the Lawyer Licensing Process Portal. The Law Society will communicate with you through this portal. Please check it often. Through your portal, you will receive information about the experiential learning component and the licensing exams including registration requirements. You will need to indicate how you will fulfill the experiential learning component (i.e. articling, LPP, Abridgement etc.) and register for the Barrister and Solicitor exams. Once your exam registration is complete, you can order the exam materials for both exams and pay all required fees. Now you are ready for step 3 – writing the licensing exams.
STEP 3: Pass the Barrister and Solicitor Examinations
The licensing exams are open-book exams and take place in June, November and March. Each licensing exam is 7 hours long and is comprised of 240 questions with a break halfway through, at the 3 hour and 30 minute mark. You are permitted to bring in any print materials prepared for the purpose of writing the exams including study materials, notes and textbooks. However, you will not be allowed to take any of the materials you brought in away with you at the end of the exam. So I recommend not bringing in the textbook that you love and treasure.
Writing the licensing exams was by far the most stressful part of the entire process for me. Nevertheless, with good friends/colleagues/study buddies and well prepped materials, I triumphed. I preferred to use an index to study for both exams. However, I had friends and colleagues who used the Table of Content (TOC) provided along with the Materials. I found that I had to review the material and try to look things up using both an index and the TOC to figure out what I was comfortable with. I will definitely write a post dedicated to preparing for the licensing exams to discuss this further.
If you find that you are not ready to take an exam you have already registered for, you may be able to defer your exam depending on how close you are to the exam date. You can request to defer an exam by completing and submitting the Request for Registration or Deferment Form.
Please note that you can write the licensing exams while completing the experiential training component, further discussed in step 4.
STEP 4: Complete Your Experiential Training Requirement
There are two ways to fulfil the experiential training requirement. Firstly, you may gain experience working in a legal environment, through the Law Practice Program (LPP) or the Articling process. Secondly, you could apply for an abridgement if you have had prior legal experience.
Articling
You are responsible for finding your own articling placement. Don’t worry, there are lots of recruitment opportunities for articling positions in the summer. The required duration of placement is 10 months and must be conducted under the direct supervision of an approved articling principal. An approved articling principal is a supervising lawyer who has filed an Application to Serve as an Articling Principal with the Law Society.
Law Practice Program
As a student-at-law in the LPP process, you will need to secure your placement opportunity by either applying to the positions arranged by the LPP or securing your own opportunity. In the event that you secure your own gig, you will need to inform the LPP coordinators about it. This is because they will need to send paperwork to your supervisor and document that you have a placement.
I went through the LPP route and loved it. The first four months of the LPP is the training component and runs from August to December. The second four months form the placement component and runs from January to April. The LPP was a good idea for me because I wanted to practice a little bit of the 7 main areas of law in order to find my preference. I got to do this during the training component. However, I had to overcome the perceived stigma attached to the LPP. I will discuss this further in a separate post.
Once you have passed the licensing exams and completed the experiential learning component, you will receive a notification on your portal to prepare you for the Call to Bar process. The first part of this process is fulfilling the good character requirement.
STEP 5: Be of Good Character
You are required to fulfill the Good Character Requirement in order to proceed in the Law Licensing Process. Good character is first assessed in the Licensing Application. There is an ongoing requirement to self-report if anything changes by completing the Good Character Amendment Form found here.
Don’t lose heart if you answer “yes” to any question, that is the point of the good character review process. According to the LSO website, “Answering yes to one or more of the good character questions does not necessarily mean that an applicant will be refused a licence”. Be honest! Honesty and integrity will take you far.
STEP 6: Pay All Required Fees and Submit All Required Forms
You can make all required payments through your Portal. Please keep an eye on your account balance and get in touch with the Law Society if you are experiencing financial difficulties. Endeavour to get in touch with the LSO at your earliest convenience — there are deadlines to apply for payment plans. For more information on LSO’s Financial Assistance Program, please follow this link.
STEP 7: Get “Called” to the Bar
There are still a few steps to take before attending your Call to Bar Ceremony. Firstly, you will complete a Petition For Call to Bar and Certificate of Fitness Form. Once this is done, you will need to pay a Call to the Bar fee, which will be added to your account (just when you thought fee payments were over right?). Secondly, expect to receive a Call to the Bar Information Bulletin that will provide you with all the information you need to have, including action items. This will include where to Sign the Rolls, pick up tickets, rent/buy/borrow Robes etc.
Tip: If you need extra guest tickets, you may be able to get more. Even though the LSO portal allows for a maximum number of extra tickets, when you get to your Signing of the Rolls appointment, feel free to ask for more tickets at the kiosk. It might be beneficial to pick an earlier date to Sign the Rolls in order to get more tickets. There is no guarantee that you will receive extra tickets beyond what you request for.
Source 2: Click this link to visit the LSO’s guide to licensing examinations.
For more information on fees for the entire process, follow this link.
The image above provides an overview of the entire process – up until your Call to Bar Ceremony.
Other Resources
- Fees and Financial Assistance: You can find a list of LSO’s fees for the entire licensing process here. If you need financial assistance, please visit the LSO Financial Assistance page here to review your options.
- Forms: For a link to LSO’s Forms, please visit this page.
Schedule a 1:1 with Me
If you have further questions and need more personal guidance, you can schedule a 30-minute conversation with me by sending an email to lawlicensingtips@gmail.com. During this conversation, I will answer any process-related questions and provide guidance based on what worked for me during my licensing process. I encourage you to visit the Law Society of Ontario website for up-to-date information.
PS: I conduct virtual notary / commissioning services and can assist in notarizing / commissioning the documents needed during the law licensing process. If you need notary / commissioning services, please send an email to lawlicensingtips@gmail.com.
Quite insightful.
Thank you.