Do Canadian Law Schools require disclosure of disciplinary actions (probation, suspension, expulsion) on the law school application?

[HopefulFuture]

To my understanding, law schools in the US require disclosure on their law school apps and there are a ton of worried C&F questions popping up everywhere because of this. I understand that, in many instances, Canadian Good Character requirements are similar and one will not be called to the bar unless the issues have been sufficiently resolved/paid back to society. However, I have barely seen anybody talk about their suspension/expulsions (other than one who got expelled due to Sexual Assault but ended up getting into UBC), do law schools just not care here? 

[canuckfanatic]

It's not that Canadian schools don't care - it's that the job of determining character & fitness belongs to the provincial Law Societies.

I recall during orientation week that the topic of C&F came up, and one prof told all the new students that if they had concerns about passing the Law Society's C&F evaluation they should see him for help.

Edited September 3, 2024 by canuckfanatic

[CleanHands]

I know of a former cop who was fired from the force for being convicted of child luring who is currently articling.

The law societies just want fee-paying members and only give lip service to character and fitness (note: this is commentary, not advice about whether anyone in particular will encounter issues).

[HopefulFuture]

15 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

I know of a former cop who was fired from the force for being convicted of child luring who is currently articling.

The law societies just want fee-paying members and only give lip service to character and fitness (note: this is commentary, not advice about whether anyone in particular will encounter issues).

If I remember correctly, at least 2-3 individuals that were convicted of sexual offences pertaining to minors have publicly passed the Canadian C&F (Good Character) and were called to the bar, these instances were all in Ontario so it's actually not that inconceivable. One was on the news quite recently because of this I think. 

[GreyDude]

On 9/3/2024 at 1:08 PM, HopefulFuture said:

these instances were all in Ontario so it's actually not that inconceivable.

I seem to have missed something. Why is the province relevant here?

[BHC1]

43 minutes ago, GreyDude said:

I seem to have missed something. Why is the province relevant here?

The Ontario law society is notorious for its leniency on the GC requirement. I’m generally a big believer in rehabilitation and forgiveness, but the recent case where they admitted someone who abused children who is still too dangerous to be with children alone and pretended to be a lawyer while unlicensed for years jumped the shark for me.

So I guess it’s relevant because if you’re worried about passing the requirement in Canada, you know where to go.

Edited September 17, 2024 by BHC1

[CleanHands]

10 minutes ago, BHC1 said:

The Ontario law society is notorious for its leniency on the GC requirement. I’m generally a big believer in rehabilitation and forgiveness, but the recent case where they admitted someone who abused children who is still too dangerous to be with children alone and pretended to be a lawyer while unlicensed for years jumped the shark for me.

What kills me is that probably half the population is ineligible for careers in the military, policing, firefighting, etc., for health/genetic reasons alone, and nobody ever seems to care about this or advocate for these people in terms of accommodations or anything. But there are people who act like not allowing specific people to enter specific regulated professions where ethics matter due to their prior unethical behaviour is somehow ruining their life in a completely unreasonable way.

Could we just tell lying chomos to get literally any other job aside from being a lawyer, please?

Edited September 17, 2024 by CleanHands