Certifying Internationally Educated Lawyers and Law Graduates
The National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) assesses legal education credentials obtained either 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. The NCA is a standing committee of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. It helps Canada’s law societies protect the public interest by making sure that anyone who earned their legal education and training outside of Canada has knowledge of Canadian law similar to that offered by an approved Canadian common law degree program.
In late 2016, the Federation undertook a comprehensive review of the mandate, structure, policies and activities of the NCA. The goal was to determine whether the NCA program positioned applicants for success in the law society bar admission process, and in legal practice. One of the review outcomes was a recommendation for a competency-based assessment system for NCA applicants. This led to the creation of the NCA Assessment Modernization Committee with a mandate to make recommendations to the Federation for the development and implementation of a competency-based assessment system for candidates applying to the NCA.
A draft competency profile was developed by an appointed Task Force. The draft was refined following feedback from interested parties such as members of the legal academy, members of the legal profession, law societies, and the Federation’s Indigenous Advisory Council.
In March 2024 the competency profile was validated through a large-scale survey distributed broadly to members of the legal profession in Canada, including people who had recently received their NCA Certificates of Qualification. Survey outcomes helped validate the draft NCA Competency Profile statements and informed the priorities of the competencies to be assessed. The competency profile is intended to serve as the foundation for the development of competency-based assessment tools for NCA applicants.
The next step was to identify and develop appropriate assessment tools. In August 2024 the Federation retained the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED) to develop options for assessment tools for the new competency profile and to propose revisions to the NCA Competency Profile to bring it into compliance with the 2024 National Requirement. In the fall of 2025, the NCA Assessment Modernization Committee recommended an assessment framework and a strategic direction to modernize the NCA assessment process. At its October 18, 2025 meeting, Federation Council approved the framework and strategic direction. As the NCA Assessment Modernization Committee’s mandate was completed, the Committee was disbanded. NCA staff will proceed with developing, piloting and implementing the new tools, with the support of an advisory group comprised of law society senior admissions staff and other interested parties.
For more information, please communicate with Yasmine Belharakat at ybelharakat@flsc.ca.