Governance of the legal profession in Canada is a matter of provincial and territorial responsibility, but Canada’s law societies have broken down interprovincial barriers so that members of the profession are able to easily transfer from one jurisdiction to another. As a result of national mobility, Canada’s law societies have worked with the Federation to adopt consistent rules and practices to ensure that the public is served by members of the legal profession who are held to the same high level of competence and ethics, wherever they practice in Canada.
National Mobility of the Legal Profession
The Federation is leading a national initiative to expand mobility rights to permit Canadian lawyers to transfer between Quebec and the common law provinces with ease regardless of whether they were trained in Canadian common law or civil law. Learn More.
Model Code of Professional Conduct
The Federation has approved a Model Code of Professional Conduct that has been implemented in whole or in part by all law societies except the Chambre des notaires in Quebec. Over time, it is expected that rules of conduct across Canada will be harmonized. Learn More.
National Discipline Standards
High national standards for law society handling of complaints and discipline matters have been adopted by all law societies and will be implemented on January 1, 2015. Learn More.
Model Rules to Fight Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
To ensure that legal professionals are not unwittingly used by their clients in crimes involving money laundering or terrorist financing activities, all of Canada’s law societies enforce rules developed by the Federation. Learn More.
Canadian Law School Programs
Canada’s law societies have agreed on a uniform National Requirement that graduates of Canadian common law programs must meet beginning in 2015 to enter law society admission programs. The list of currently approved Canadian law school programs is here.
National Committee on Accreditation (NCA)
The NCA assesses legal education credentials obtained outside of Canada, or in a civil law degree program in Canada, for individuals intending to apply for admission to a law society in a Canadian common law jurisdiction. Learn More.
Access to Legal Services
Improving access to legal services is a priority for the Federation and Canada’s law societies. Learn More.
Advocacy on behalf of Canada’s Law Societies
With the consent of Canada’s law societies, the Federation is their voice on specific issues of national and international importance involving justice and regulatory matters. Learn More.
National Admission Standards
Mobility of the legal profession has led the Federation to work on a national initiative to ensure admission standards are consistent across the country. Learn More.
CanLII
CanLII is our free legal research portal, providing access to hundreds of thousands of court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from all Canadian jurisdictions. Learn More.
National Criminal Law Program
The National Law Program is Canada’s largest criminal law conference, annually attracting more than 700 practitioners and judges. The 2019 program will be held in Ottawa. Learn More.
National Family Law Program
The National Family Law Program attracts speakers on cutting edge topics of interest to family law practitioners and members of the judiciary. The next program will be held in Halifax in July 2020. Learn More.