The Law Society of Upper Canada

The regulatory scheme set out in the Law Society's By-Law 4 permits paralegals to practise in what were already permitted areas of practice. Subsection 6 (2) authorizes licensed paralegals to represent someone:

• in Small Claims Court
• in the Ontario Court of Justice under the Provincial Offences Act
• on summary conviction offences where the maximum penalty does not exceed six months' imprisonment
• before administrative tribunals, including the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

A person with a paralegal licence can do the following in the course of representing a client in any of the above-mentioned proceedings:

• give legal advice concerning legal interests, rights or responsibilities with respect to a proceeding or the subject matter of a proceeding
• draft or assist with drafting documents for use in a proceeding
• negotiate on behalf of a person who is a party to a proceeding.

As of May 1, 2007, paralegals are not permitted to appear in Family Court.

Other than under the supervision of a lawyer, paralegals may not provide legal services that only a lawyer may provide, such as drafting wills or handling real estate transactions or estates.

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Anyone in Ontario who provides legal services requires a licence, unless they are exempted under the Law Society Act or a Law Society by-law.

Please consult our up-to-date list of exemptions specifying who does not require a licence.

A person provides legal services if the person engages in conduct that involves the application of legal principles and judgment with regard to the circumstances or objectives of a person. (s.1(5) of the Law Society Act)

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The Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) is responsible for regulating the activities of immigration consultants who are CSIC members and provide immigration advice for a fee. They do not require a licence under the legislation.

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Staff of collection agencies, who work to collect debts owing to clients of their agencies, need a licence to appear in Small Claims Court. Under the Law Society Act, staff of collection agencies working in the normal course of debt collection do not need a licence to carry on that work.

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People who merely serve documents are not providing legal services. Process servers who serve documents for their employers can continue to do so without obtaining a paralegal licence, as long as they are not making decisions about what documents to serve, how to serve the documents and on whom to serve the documents. People who perform these latter actions are providing legal services and will require a licence.

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People whose work is supervised by a lawyer are governed by Rule 5.01 (2) of the lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct. Individuals who prepare documents under the supervision of a lawyer and who are not appearing in front of a court or tribunal do not require a licence. Individuals in this category include law clerks in law firms and independent contractors, such as document preparers and title searchers whose only clients are lawyers.

Non-lawyers appearing in court or before a tribunal will need a licence, even if they are supervised by a lawyer, unless they are appearing on behalf of a lawyer on a scheduling or other related routine administrative matter.

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The matter of who may take affidavits is not determined by the Law Society. The Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act sets out who may take affidavits.

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The Law Society began issuing the first paralegal licences to grandparent applicants who fulfilled all the necessary licensing requirements (including insurance) in April 2008.

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The criteria for applicants applying after October 31, 2007 and prior to July 2010 are as follows:

New paralegal applicants are not able to provide legal services until they are licensed, but are eligible to apply to become licensed as paralegals if they have graduated within three years prior to the application, from a legal services program, which was approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities at the time they graduated.

The program must have had a minimum of 18 courses, the majority of which provided instruction on legal services within the permitted scope of practice of paralegals. The program must have also included a course on ethics/professional responsibility and a field placement of at least 120 hours in a legal environment - such as a paralegal firm, court, tribunal, law firm, etc.

The two types of legal services programs that currently meet these criteria are the court and tribunal agent programs offered by community colleges and the paralegal programs offered by private career colleges. Check the website of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities for a list of approved colleges.

After June 30, 2010, all applicants must have graduated from an accredited legal services program. To date, the Law Society has accredited ten college programs.

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Yes, there is a good character requirement for college graduates. Please refer to By-Law 4 and the Law Society Act for details.

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Yes. The list of accredited college paralegal programs can be found on our website under Paralegal Education Program Accreditation. These programs meet the standards and competencies for paralegal education program accreditation.

All paralegal applicants who apply for a paralegal licence with the Law Society after June 30, 2010 must have graduated from an accredited legal services program.

Colleges interested in obtaining an accreditation package should contact Windy Tong at the Law Society. Only accredited colleges will be entitled to state that they have a program accepted by the Law Society.

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For students in non-accredited programs and/or those who have graduated from a non-accredited program within the three years prior to June 30, 2010, they will only be accepted for the Paralegal Licensing Process until June 30, 2010 provided they:

• submit the Paralegal Licensing Process application by December 7, 2009 (or after this date submit  a late application prior to June 30, 2010), and
• graduate from a legal services program prior to June 30, 2010.

If both conditions are fulfilled, a graduate from the non-accredited program will be permitted to enter the Paralegal Licensing Process for 2010/2011, and will be eligible to write the licensing examination in August 2010, October 2010, or February 2011.

Any individual who applies to enter the Paralegal Licensing Process on or after July 1, 2010, must have graduated from an accredited legal services program.

For students currently enrolled in or are graduates of an accredited program, the June 30, 2010 accreditation deadline will have no effect on your licence application.  Upon successful completion of your program, you are eligible to write the licensing examination.

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Contact an educational institution of your choice to find out the options that are available to you, for example, a Prior Learning Assessment, Advanced Standing, or an upgrade to your current education.  However, if you are applying to a non-accredited educational institution for this consideration, the two conditions set out in the Question 4 above for graduates of a non-accredited program must still be met before you can apply to enter the Paralegal Licensing Process.

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Upon graduation from a Paralegal or Court and Tribunal Agent program, your transcript must show the following:

• The date of graduation must be within the three years prior to the date of application;
• The completion of a minimum of 18 courses, the majority of which must be in areas within the permitted scope of practice of paralegals;
• The completion of a Professional Responsibility and/or Ethics course, and
• The completion of a minimum of 120 hours of field placement.

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Yes, however, applications submitted after 4:00 p.m. (EST) on December 7, 2009, are considered late applications and a late application fee of $75 will apply.

The deadline for late applications for non-accredited program students or graduates is June 30, 2010.

The deadline for accredited program students or graduates is no later than 30 business days prior to a scheduled Paralegal Licensing Process Examination.

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You must complete all of the mandatory requirements, including the field placement, whether you are applying from an accredited or non-accredited program. You can contact your educational institution and ask them to make field placement arrangements for you. If they agree, then your educational institution must approve your field placement in writing, and provide this proof to the Law Society along with your transcript when you apply to enter the Paralegal Licensing Process.  You cannot complete this requirement on your own without authorization and approval from the educational institution.

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The open-book examination contains approximately 130 multiple-choice questions which candidates have up to 3.5 hours to complete. The examination focuses on the Paralegal Rules of Conduct, professional responsibility, ethics and practice management issues.

Reference materials in English and French are provided by the Law Society to applicants who have been approved to write the licensing examination and have paid the examination fee. These are the only resources paralegals require to prepare for and write the examination.

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Please refer to the paralegal licensing examination schedule for dates, locations and times.

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All applicants approved to write the examination receive supporting information, including tips and suggestions on how to best prepare for the examination. The sooner applicants learn their materials and familiarize themselves with the information, the better prepared they will be to write the examination. See Question 9 above for details.

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Yes, the Law Society will provide you with any assistance you may need regarding your special needs requirements.

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Paralegals who provide legal services to the public must carry professional liability insurance in accordance with By-Law 6, Part II, section 12 (1). 

Licensees must provide written proof of their compliance with this requirement to carry mandatory insurance before they begin providing legal services, as well as on an annual basis.

The following companies currently offer policies that meet the Law Society's minimum requirements:

• A.M. Fredericks Underwriting Management Ltd.
• Berkley Canada
• Encon Group Inc.
• Integro Insurance Broker (representing Lloyd's of London)
• Travelers Guarantee Company of Canada
• Tripemco Burlington Insurance Group Ltd.

This insurance is available through your insurance broker. 

The Law Society cannot advise as to the cost of insurance.

Important insurance information for paralegals working under the direct supervision of a lawyer.

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Paralegal services may be provided via a sole proprietorship, partnership or professional corporation.

Licensees are strongly encouraged to seek professional advice on the best business structure for their particular situations.

More information on professional corporations is available in Resource Centre of the Law Society website.

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All paralegal and lawyer licensees are required to keep proper books and records and comply with trust account rules. For paralegals, these requirements will be effective as soon as an applicant becomes licensed.

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Yes, a Paralegal Bookkeeping Guide is available in the Resource Centre  of the Law Society website.

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Maintaining a trust account is a consumer protection practice designed to ensure that client fees are available for refund in the event a paralegal becomes incapacitated or is otherwise unable to provide the paid-for services. As a result, rules on trust accounts are the same as they are for lawyers - and paralegals will be required to comply with the trust account rules as soon as they become licensed.

Licensees who do not receive fees in advance of rendering service and who do not receive other client monies such as settlements, have the option of not establishing a trust account.

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As soon as you become licensed.  However, a transitional period has been granted to grandparent applicants only, applying solely to fees collected prior to licensing, starting on the day applicants receive their licence and concluding on May 1, 2010. This means that funds received by a grandparent applicant prior to his or her licensing may be left in the operating account until the services are provided, but must be transferred to a trust account by May 2010 if the services have not been provided. All other funds received by the applicant after he or she becomes licensed must be placed in a trust account, even if the money relates to a previously existing file.

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As with lawyers, interest on trust accounts will be paid to the Law Foundation of Ontario, with 75 per cent of the total going to Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), as set out in the Law Society Act. Although paralegal services are not covered by legal aid certificates, LAO funds the clinic system which makes considerable use of community legal workers.

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The same rules that apply to lawyers regarding the receipt of cash from clients or third parties will apply to paralegals - a limit of $7,500 - as found in Law Society By-Law 9. This By-Law was established to assist in the fight against money laundering.

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Licensing fees are set by Convocation in the annual Law Society budget. Please refer to the 2010 Paralegal Licensing Fee Schedule for details.

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The Law Society isn't aware of any financial assistance by way of bursaries or government loans/grants available. Applicants may wish to speak to an accountant or tax specialist about their ability to deduct some or all of the fees from their taxes.

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Annual fees are set by Convocation in the annual Law Society budget. Please refer to the Budget Fact Sheet for details.

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The annual fee categories for paralegals are the same as they are for lawyers, as set out in Law Society By-Law 5. These three categories are as follows:

• Paralegal licensees who provide legal services as defined in the Law Society Act, whether they are practitioners or employees, will pay 100 per cent of the annual fee.
• Paralegal licensees who are working but do not provide legal services will pay 50 per cent of the annual fee.
• Paralegal licensees who are not providing legal services and do not engage in any remunerative work or are in full-time attendance at a university, college or designated educational institution, or are on maternity or adoption leave, will pay 25 per cent of the annual fee.

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Paralegals have a prominent role in their regulation, through the Law Society's Paralegal Standing Committee. Five members of the 13-member committee, including the chair, are paralegals. The remaining eight comprise five lawyer benchers and three non-lawyer benchers. These eight members are part of the Law Society's governing body, known as Convocation.

The Paralegal Standing Committee  considers a wide array of issues such as scope of practice and education, as well as any necessary transitional provisions.

Currently, two paralegal members of the standing committee have been appointed to Convocation as benchers, giving them a formal role in the regulation of all legal service providers in the province.

Paralegals will mark a major milestone in March 2010 when they take part in the first election to elect  five of their colleagues to the Paralegal Standing Committee. Licensed paralegals who meet eligibility criteria may stand for election and vote in the province-wide election. Online voting will take place throughout March 2010, ending at 5 p.m. EDT on March 31.

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Yes. The Paralegal Rules of Conduct are based on the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers and on principles found in the 2004 Report of the Task Force on Paralegal Regulation, as well as input from public consultations. The rules are structured around obligations to various parties, including general duties, as well as duties to clients, tribunals, other licensees and the Law Society. Paralegals can also refer to the Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines for assistance in interpreting the Paralegal Rules of Conduct.

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Yes, a process for receiving and investigating complaints has been established, which mirrors the process already in place for lawyers.

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Yes, the Law Society's Compensation Fund helps clients who have lost money because of a lawyer or paralegal's dishonesty.

Contact Us

If you have additional questions about paralegal regulation that aren't answered here, please contact the Law Society at 416-947-3315 or 1-800-668-7380, or send an e-mail to lawsociety@lsuc.on.ca.

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