How transferable is a UofC JD to working in Ontario?

[legal101]

Hi, 

I will start my first year of law school at University of Calgary and I am from Ontario. I did not get a suitable offer from Ontario and I do plan to return to Ontario after I graduate and even work in Toronto if I get the chance for the 1L/2L recruits. How likely is it that all of this is possible? Will it mostly depend on my grades/application or are there people who have done this?

Please share your experiences and any input. Thank you!

[Ice]

I don't see any reason why you can't work in Ontario after you graduate. Your path may be a little different than those attending a school in Ontario, but if you have decent grades and the usual stuff (resume, interview well, etc), you shouldn't really have a hard time. I think a lot of it will depend on how well you network and the number of job postings you reply to

Everyone I've talked to that went to a school out of province and then returned didn't have a hard time doing so and all gave the same sort of reply as what I just told you. Good luck in your journey

Edited July 10, 2022 by Ice

[Ryn]

2 hours ago, legal101 said:

How likely is it that all of this is possible? Will it mostly depend on my grades/application or are there people who have done this?

Short answer: yes it's certainly possible and done often enough that it's not unusual. The criteria for hiring you is nearly the same as if you were applying locally, with a few exceptions.

Long answer:

It's not uncommon for out of province graduates to end up practising in Ontario. One of your primary hurdles, as mentioned above, will be an Ontario network to assist you with getting hired. That said, it is certainly surmountable with reasonable effort and it happens often enough. In fact, your school probably has resources at its career office to help with this.

The 1L recruit, which I assume by that you mean for summer jobs after 1L, is going to be very difficult for you, even as an in-province student. You may certainly try your hand at applying but please keep in mind that unless you have nearly all A grades, your likelihood of being considered for a 1L summer job is very low. That said, even participating in the process is good practice, so don't take me as suggesting you shouldn't bother applying at all.

For OCIs, which happens during 2L, things are a bit different. Many out of province students apply to Toronto jobs. You may want to apply locally in Calgary as well, despite eventually wanting to work in Ontario. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, you likely don't have to overcome an assumption by a firm that you are a flight risk (i.e., you will return to Alberta after finishing your articles). This is likely less of a concern in an out-of-province -> Ontario situation (versus Ontario -> anywhere else), but may still be a factor in deciding to hire you. Second, many national firms will have a Calgary office, and you may have an opportunity to transfer to a Toronto office at some point if you stick with said firm, assuming you get hired in the first place. All that said, bear in mind that you will probably have to fly to Toronto to participate in interviews (this is assuming there isn't some sort of problem again that prevents in-person interviews).

The above is likely also applicable to the articling recruit.

Finally, even if you don't end up getting a summer job or articling job in Ontario, you can fairly trivially transfer your license to Ontario after you are called in Alberta (though I would certainly review the LSO rules on this to confirm what you have to do).

Edit to add: If you get interviews, you will probably get asked why you didn't go to school in Ontario. You should therefore be prepared for it and come up with a good answer for this question.

Edited July 10, 2022 by Ryn

[legal101]

On 7/10/2022 at 5:46 PM, Ryn said:

Short answer: yes it's certainly possible and done often enough that it's not unusual. The criteria for hiring you is nearly the same as if you were applying locally, with a few exceptions.

Long answer:

It's not uncommon for out of province graduates to end up practising in Ontario. One of your primary hurdles, as mentioned above, will be an Ontario network to assist you with getting hired. That said, it is certainly surmountable with reasonable effort and it happens often enough. In fact, your school probably has resources at its career office to help with this.

The 1L recruit, which I assume by that you mean for summer jobs after 1L, is going to be very difficult for you, even as an in-province student. You may certainly try your hand at applying but please keep in mind that unless you have nearly all A grades, your likelihood of being considered for a 1L summer job is very low. That said, even participating in the process is good practice, so don't take me as suggesting you shouldn't bother applying at all.

For OCIs, which happens during 2L, things are a bit different. Many out of province students apply to Toronto jobs. You may want to apply locally in Calgary as well, despite eventually wanting to work in Ontario. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, you likely don't have to overcome an assumption by a firm that you are a flight risk (i.e., you will return to Alberta after finishing your articles). This is likely less of a concern in an out-of-province -> Ontario situation (versus Ontario -> anywhere else), but may still be a factor in deciding to hire you. Second, many national firms will have a Calgary office, and you may have an opportunity to transfer to a Toronto office at some point if you stick with said firm, assuming you get hired in the first place. All that said, bear in mind that you will probably have to fly to Toronto to participate in interviews (this is assuming there isn't some sort of problem again that prevents in-person interviews).

The above is likely also applicable to the articling recruit.

Finally, even if you don't end up getting a summer job or articling job in Ontario, you can fairly trivially transfer your license to Ontario after you are called in Alberta (though I would certainly review the LSO rules on this to confirm what you have to do).

Edit to add: If you get interviews, you will probably get asked why you didn't go to school in Ontario. You should therefore be prepared for it and come up with a good answer for this question.

Thank you so much! 

From what I have read, many Toronto OCIs/recruits don't actually come outside provinces so I guess I would have to apply through their websites etc. 

Do you know how my chances of participating in 1L summer or 2l recruits will be impacted if I were to transfer law schools after 1st year to an Ontario school?

[Pantalaimon]

9 hours ago, legal101 said:

From what I have read, many Toronto OCIs/recruits don't actually come outside provinces so I guess I would have to apply through their websites etc. 

UCalgary is hosting OCIs for Bay Street this year via zoom: see the list here. I doubt it's a pandemic-only thing, given that public health restrictions are non-existent, but I suppose I can't say with 100% certainty.

[legal101]

On 7/13/2022 at 10:29 PM, Pantalaimon said:

UCalgary is hosting OCIs for Bay Street this year via zoom: see the list here. I doubt it's a pandemic-only thing, given that public health restrictions are non-existent, but I suppose I can't say with 100% certainty.

Im hoping it won't be only for the pandemic time but, thank you so much for this, i'll definitely look into it!