What is stopping graduates of ABA-accredited law schools from practicing in Canada?
The Law Society of Upper Canada’s restrictive rules regarding foreign legal education make it difficult for foreign trained law students to gain entrance to the bar. Before a foreign educated candidate may write the bar exam they face lengthy, expensive requirements, ranging from additional exams to 1-3 semesters at a Canadian law school. These requirements effectively deter well-educated students wishing to return to Canada to practice For example, before an ABA-educated law school graduate could write the Ontario bar examinations, she would have to apply to the Ottawa-based National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) for a Certificate of Qualification. Moreover, the NCA likely would require her to complete an additional one or one-and-a-half academic years of coursework at a Canadian common law school, or an additional eight to ten examinations costing more than $500 each, before she could sit for the standard bar examinations.
