Starting your career in Toronto vs Vancouver?

[groovy1363]

Hi, 

All things being equal, which city is better to start your career in "big law"? (I mean to start your summer internship, then presumably to articling, then associate and beyond) 

I heard that since Toronto will give you more access to more career opportunities and might be a better place to start your career. 

I also heard Toronto would give you more varied and bigger transactions. Is that really true? It's not like Vancouver is a small city with no big firms or big transactions. 

I also heard that it's easier to move from Toronto to Vancouver than the other way around. 

Would really appreciate your thoughts, thanks. 

 

[JohnsonWest]

In my opinion there is a difference which you seem to be informed about, however I don't think the difference is likely to matter significantly. Vancouver will give you exposure to massive transactions and high-stakes litigation as well. Several associates at national firms in Vancouver have recently made the move to NYC and Cali, which suggests that the Vancouver market is perceived well by some of the largest firms in North America (obviously these associates were able to demonstrate relevant experience in the types of work done by those firms is what I'm getting at). 

If this is something you really want to look more into, you can always canvass the websites of national firms and look at the bios of the lawyers - examples of transactions and litigation will be noted on there, and you can then compare the Toronto and Vancouver lawyers and see if there is a difference in work. 
 

Edited June 27, 2021 by JohnsonWest

[ldi]

I've seen plenty of people going both ways, so based on my anecdotal experience it doesn't seem like it is significantly easier to move from Toronto to Vancouver or vice versa. 

That being said I think Toronto has a few advantages:

• It's a bigger and more diverse legal market. Certain specialty practice areas like competition and foreign investment are mostly based in Toronto. If you think you might be open to these niche areas then Toronto is likely a better place to start your career.
• The compensation is better with an arguably lower cost of living (or at least that was the case when I was starting out - not sure if that's true anymore), which is helpful for paying down student debt. This may be more firm-specific but I didn't get the sense based on conversations with now Vancouver-based classmates and friends that Toronto is significantly more demanding than Vancouver - so you might as well get paid better if you're otherwise indifferent between the two markets.
• Yes, Toronto generally does offer larger and more sophisticated transactions if that's what you're after. It's a double-edged sword, as it's possible you won't see your role on files grow as quickly as it might in Vancouver (but this is also group/firm-dependent as well). But regardless of where you work you will learn transferable skills and people make the transition from Vancouver to Toronto just fine.