collageAre you taking about pursue a law degree in Canada? Then you will need to know the easy way to get into one of the Canadian universities. You can benefit from taking a closer look at this information because it provides answers to various questions students ask about how to get into law school in Canada.
Becoming a lawyer is a dream career for many people. It is a highly respected job that pays well and offers excellent stability, often regardless of how the overall economy is doing. While the benefits of becoming an attorney are great, the path to enter this field is quite difficult. Students need to complete their undergraduate courses, go through law school, and finally, pass the BAR exam.
For most aspiring lawyers, the first truly difficult obstacle in their education is actually getting into law school. Top law schools are extremely demanding when they determine who they will accept. For generations, this meant that students not only needed to complete their undergraduate courses with a high GPA but also score very well on the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test).
While many law schools still require potential students to take the LSAT and submit their scores, there is a growing trend away from this requirement. Today there are several highly respected law schools that no longer require this specific type of test, and more schools are following suit each year. If you dream of being a lawyer but do not want to take the LSAT, you will need to learn more about the schools that do not require it, and what alternative requirements they may have.
Law Schools In Canada Without LSAT
As you can see, the LSAT is not necessarily the gatekeeper test that it once was in the legal community. While you can certainly enter many highly respected law schools without ever taking this test, you should ask yourself if this is a good idea. If you are in a position where you can take the LSAT test, it is likely a good idea to at least give it a try. Even the schools listed above will be happy to accept your scores when considering your application.
If you perform better than expected on the test it can help you to get into the school you desire. If you do not perform very well, you do not have to submit your scores and can use one or more of the alternative options that schools accept.
Another reason why you might want to consider taking the LSAT is because the American Bar Association will only accredit law schools if they admit a maximum of 10% of an entering class using an LSAT alternative. If you are applying for a school that is getting a high number of other applicants using an alternative, it will be more difficult to be accepted.
Knowing All Your Options
All future lawyers need to be able to perform extensive research, look at competing facts, and make informed decisions. If you want to attend law school, make sure you take the time to really look at all the details related to the LSAT and the schools that you will be applying to. Deciding whether or not to take this iconic test is going to have a major impact on your application process and what school you attend in the years to come.
McGill
This is straight from their Faculty of Law’s website
McGill is arguably one of the best law schools in Canada due to it’s age, national outreach and Supreme Court clerkships. So although you do not need to do the LSAT to apply, most applicants who don’t are still highly established in other areas such as their education(high cGPA, masters degree, academic achievements), work history, and extracurriculars.
However, looking at the Accepted 2015 threads for McGill, there were many accepted applicants who did not apply with an LSAT that had relatively average stats.
Ottawa
Considering Ottawa is located in Canada’s capital, it is no surprise that this law school has a similar policy to McGill about the LSAT and Bilingual/Francophone students. Unlike McGill that has one dual bilingual common law program, Ottawa splits applicants into French JDs and English JDs with both streams able to take courses in the other language. In one way this is a good thing because technically there is a smaller pool of applicants to compete against. Alternatively, this can be seen as a bad thing, because you are competing strictly with french students so your bilingualism will not be a direct advantage.
cheapest law school in canada
Canada offers some of the best law courses globally. Some of the colleges are very affordable without compromising the quality of education. Here are the cheapest law colleges in Canada you can consider to study abroad:
- Brandon University
- Université de Saint-Boniface
- Dominican University College
- Canadian Mennonite University
- The Memorial University of Newfoundland
- University of Northern British Columbia
- The University of Calgary
- The University of Saskatchewan
- Simon Fraser University
Law Courses in Canada after 12th
Just wrapped your class 12th boards and aiming to study law in Canada? Here are some of the most popular law courses in Canada after the 12th for you:
- Certificate in legal administrative
- Diploma in law clerk
- BA law and society
- Diploma in paralegal studies
- Community and Criminal Justice
- Jurisprudence and Critical Perspectives
- Property Laws
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Cyberspace Law
- Canadian Constitutional Law
- Intellectual Property
- Environmental Law in Practice
- Business Organizations
- Administrative Law
- Equitable Remedies
Eligibility
International students are required to check admission requirements to get into a law program in Canada:
- For undergraduate courses, a bachelor’s degree is required in a related field of study with an upper second class or 60-69% score.
- For postgraduate programs, a bachelor’s degree is required from an accredited, recognized higher education institution across the world. Students must have also passed the LSAT exam with a score of 160.
- Students must also have proof of English proficiency through IELTS or TOEFL.
- Apart from these requirements, students must submit their Personal Statement, Statement of Purpose, and CV/ Resume.
how to get into law school in canada
Step 1
Get Your Canadian Undergraduate Pre-Law Major
Most Canadian law schools require that you have a bachelor’s degree or have completed 90 credit hours (three years) towards a bachelor’s degree, prior to entering law school. Check the LSAC Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools for your chosen school’s admission policies regarding undergraduate education.
Accreditation
Because Canadian education is regulated on a provincial level, there are no national accreditation bodies for Canadian colleges and universities. Government organizations recognize certain colleges and universities within their jurisdiction. There are certain national associations that establish quality standards and regulate colleges and universities, including:
- Alberta Ministry of Innovation and Advanced Education
- British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills & Training
- Association of Commonwealth Universities
- Degree Quality Assessment Board of British Columbia
- Campus Alberta Quality Council
- Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario
- Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance
- Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
- Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (Ontario)
If your undergraduate institution is accredited by one of the above-mentioned organizations, you should be assured that Canadian law schools would accept your undergraduate education as valid.
Requirements and Standards
Again, each Canadian law school has its own requirements and standards regarding the undergraduate education you must complete before applying to law school. Most have credit requirements, while others may require certain courses to be taken. Check with your chosen law school’s policies for more information.
Degree Options
A Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) in any field (or acceptable work towards such a degree) is usually sufficient for entry into a Canadian law school. Check with the individual law school that you are interested in attending for its policies.
Step 2
LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in Canada
You must pass the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, before you will be accepted into any LSAC-member Canadian law school. This standardized entrance test is given four times annually.
How to prepare
You can access free study materials, such as practice tests and sample questions and answers, at the LSAT website. Other preparation material for the LSAT in Canada includes:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in Canada:
- LSAT Prep Courses, Oxford Seminars, Locations Across Canada
- LSAT Prep, Richardson Prep Center, Toronto
- Official LSAT Prep, Khan Academy, online
Exam content
There are three key areas tested on the LSAT:
- Reading Comprehension – Long, complex passages resembling information you will encounter in law school and in the law profession are presented. You must answer questions based upon your ability to understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions from these passages.
- Analytical Reasoning– Your abilities to see relationships and draw conclusions are tested here.
- Logical Reasoning– You must identify the strengths and weaknesses in given arguments in this section of the LSAT.
Although not scored as part of the LSAT, you must also produce a writing sample on a given topic. This will be sent to the law schools to which you apply for their review.
Application process
Applications for the LSAT are taken online. The LSAT is given on Mondays and Saturdays in November, January, March, June and July. Examination centers across Canada include:
- Alberta:
- Bow Valley College, Calgary
- University of Calgary, Calgary
- University of Alberta, Edmonton
- Grande Prairie Regional College, Grande Prairie
- Burman University, Lacombe
- University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge
- British Columbia:
- British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby
- North Island College, Courtenay
- Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops
- University of British Columbia-Okanagan, Kelowna
- Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo
- Ashton Testing Services LTD, Vancouver
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver
- Camosun College-Lansdowne Campus, Victoria
- University of Victoria, Victoria
Receiving Your Score
Your LSAT score, which will be between 120 and 180, will be mailed to you three weeks after the date of the exam.
Step 3
Go to Law School in Canada
The next step in the process of becoming a Canadian lawyer is to go to law school. View the LSAC Official Guide to Canadian Law Schools for application procedures for the law school in which you intend to apply for admission. There are 24 law schools in Canada, each of which offers a professional law degree in one or both of Canada’s law systems. Two legal traditions exist in Canada: French civil law, dominant in Quebec; and English common law, dominant in all other provinces and territories. If you intend to practice law in Quebec, you must graduate from a Quebec law school. If you intend to practice in an English common law jurisdiction in Canada, you must graduate from one of the common-law schools in the other provinces/territories. Canada has mobility agreements among the provinces/territories that allow lawyers licensed in one common-law jurisdiction to practice in another common-law jurisdiction.
Application process
Ontario Law Schools
If you are applying to any law school in Ontario, you must apply online through Ontario Universities Application Centre. Instructions will be given on what is needed, such as undergraduate transcripts, letters of recommendation, community involvement, personal statement, and LSAT scores, when you apply.
Law Schools in Other Provinces
Each law school has its own admission policies and requirements. Check with your individual law school for its expectations.
Accreditation
The Law Society of Ontario
The Law Society of Ontario requires that you graduate from a law school approved by Convocation in order for your law education to be provincially recognized. All schools listed under “Law Schools in Canada” below are approved by Convocation.
Barreau du Québec
The Barreau du Quebec requires that you graduate from a French civil law school in order to become a licensed lawyer in Quebec. Approved law schools offering French civil law degrees include:
- Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec
- University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ontario
- Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec
- Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec
- McGill University Faculty of Law, Montreal, Quebec
- Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, Quebec
All other law societies
Other provincial law societiesrequire that you graduate from a Canadian common-law university. All schools below except McGill University are common-law schools.
Law Schools in Canada
Law schools in Canada offering English common law degrees include:
- Alberta:
- University of Alberta Faculty of Law, Edmonton
- University of Calgary Faculty of Law, Calgary
- British Columbia:
- University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law, Vancouver
- University of Victoria Faculty of Law, Victoria
- Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law, Kamloops
- Manitoba:
- University of Manitoba -Robson Hall Faculty of Law, Winnipeg
- New Brunswick:
- University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law, Fredericton
Two law schools in Canada outside of Quebec also offer French civil law degrees:
- University of Ottawa Droit Civil, Ottawa, Ontario
- Université de Moncton Faculté de Droit, Edmundston, New Brunswick
Online Law Degrees
- View Online and Campus Law and Legal Studies Programs
- (For students who choose to focus on a subset of law other than an attorney.)
Foreign law schools
If you attend a foreign law school and wish to become a Canadian lawyer, your education must be approved by the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA). You must submit your qualifications and experience in law to the NCA. The NCA will then determine what, if any, further coursework you must complete at an approved Canadian law school prior to licensure as a lawyer in your province. You may also be asked to complete examinations in order to qualify for licensure. If you qualify, you will be issued a Certificate of Qualification, which you may use to seek entry to your province’s law society.
Degree Programs
You must complete a Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) program or Juris Doctor (J.D.) program in order to qualify for bar membership in any Canadian province or territory. This generally takes three years to complete.
Step 4
Complete Your Province’s Bar Admission Course and Articling
The next step in becoming a Canadian lawyer in all provinces is to complete your province’s Bar Admission Course. This differs a bit from one province to the next, as you will see below.
Ontario (Law Society of Ontario)
Ontario requires applicants to complete the Barrister Licensing Examination and the Solicitor Licensing Examination. Both are self-study, open-book exams. The Barrister Examination tests your knowledge of Practice Management Issues; Litigation Process; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Problem/Issue Identification, Analysis and Assessment; Establishing and Maintaining the Barrister-Client Relationship; Ethical and Professional Responsibilities; and Knowledge of Ontario law, Federal legislation and Case Law. The Solicitor Examination tests your knowledge of Ontario, Federal and Case law, along with all policies, procedures and forms; Ethical and Professional Responsibility; Establishing and Maintaining the Solicitor-Client Relationship; Practice Management; and Fulfilling the Retainer. Each exam takes seven hours to complete and can be done online.
After finishing this step, you must complete Experiential Training. This may be through a Law Practice Program or Articling Program. The Articling Program involves a 10-month placement with a principal (licensed lawyer) who must approve of your work. The Law Practice Program involves a four-month training course and four-month work placement.
Additionally, you must satisfy the Good Character Requirement under the Law Society Act. This simply means that you must answer questions about your character by completing an application.
Once you have completed all of these steps, you will be called to the Bar of Ontario. Calls are held every September and January in Toronto and June in London, Ottawa and Toronto. There, you will be conferred with the degree of Barrister-at-Law, receive a Court Certificate of Qualification, and will be sworn in and enrolled.
easiest law school to get into canada
Easiest law school to get into Canada to get admission in Canada are as follow :
- Willamette University
- Concordia Law School
- Roger Williams University
- John Marshall Law School
- Southern University
- Appalachian School of Law
- Thomas Jefferson School of Law
- Southern Illinois University – Carbondale
- Western Michigan University, Cooley Law School
- Canadian Law School Ranking
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