Study Canadian Law

After completing your degree at Bond, your next step is to obtain a Certificate of Qualification from the National Committee on Accreditation (the ‘NCA’) of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. This certificate will state that you have the education and training equivalent to that of a law graduate from an accredited Canadian law school.  At the completion of your program, your transcripts will need to be submitted directly to the NCA and you will submit an online application and provide some other supporting documents (including transcripts from any other universities attended).

The NCA will require you to sit for a minimum of five courses in Canadian law, either completing those courses at a Canadian Law School, or undertaking self-study “Challenge Exams” in each course. The Challenge Exams are by far the most popular option with Bond graduates.

Current graduates have been prescribed five exams only, but future graduates may be prescribed more. The five exams are Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Foundations of Canadian Law and Canadian Professional Responsibility. The NCA offers exam sessions in every month of the year, except December. Note, not all subjects are offered in each exam session. 

Bond offers four of the Canadian Law classes (Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Foundations of Canadian Law) as electives so you will take exams for these classes twice – once at Bond and then again at the NCA. The fifth class (Canadian Professional Responsibility) is also provided by Bond, but it's a seminar and not a graded class.  This is complimentary for Bond students.

An applicant whose application is assessed by the NCA on or after 1 January 2022 will be required to complete a course in legal research and writing offered by a Canadian Common Law Program, approved by the NCA, or complete the NCA legal research and writing module with the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education.  

Once you have the NCA Certificate of Qualification, you are in the same position as graduates from Canadian law schools. So the next steps from this point forward are the same for all law school graduates in Canada.

You will next complete your Articles at a law firm which will continue for up to 12 months (depending on your Province). In most Provinces, you will register with the Law Society as an Articling Student which your law firm will participate in and sign off on the number of hours you complete. Depending on your Province, you may be required to take the Barrister & Solicitor exams, which are open book, all day exams. Some Provinces have Bar Admissions Programs with examinations and skills assessments embedded into them. Once the required number of hours of Articling is completed and any bar admissions program or bar exams are completed, you will pay your licensing fee and be admitted to the Bar (with a ceremony) and can then practice law.

There is a new option that is similar to Australia where you can enrol at Toronto Metropolitan University to complete a Professional Legal Training (PLT) program combined with an internship at a law firm, after which you can be admitted to the Bar. This program is called the LPP – Law Practice Program.