The Office of the Registrar has a strong interest in ensuring that the requirements of the Licensing Process are directly and logically connected to the competent provision of legal services, and that persons who wish to provide legal services in Ontario are not effectively barred from qualifying because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability (hereinafter "enumerated grounds").
The goals of Support Services are:
- To coordinate and provide support that improves the learning environment for Paralegal candidates;
- To provide accommodation for Paralegal candidates who are unable to comply with a requirement, qualification or factor of the Licensing Process because of their belonging to an enumerated ground, by adapting the conditions or requirements OR by providing alternative ways for the individual to meet the conditions or requirements, insofar as they do not impose undue hardship on the Law Society.
To ensure that Support Services is assisting each Paralegal candidate in a manner best suited to her/his needs, it is the Paralegal candidate's responsibility to:
- Advise Support Services of the need for accommodation related to one of the enumerated grounds;
- Make his or her needs known to the best of his or her ability, preferably in writing, in order that the person responsible for the accommodation may consider the request for accommodation;
- Answer questions or provide information regarding relevant restrictions or limitations, including information from health care professionals, where appropriate, and as needed;
- Participate in discussions regarding possible accommodation solutions;
- Cooperate with any experts whose assistance is required to manage the accommodation process or when information is required that is unavailable to the Paralegal candidate;
- Meet agreed upon academic and licensing standards once accommodation is provided;
- Work with the accommodation provider on an ongoing basis to manage the accommodation process;
- Participate in discussions about her or his disability or condition with designated staff, as appropriate;
- Inform accommodation provider of any changes in circumstances.
All Paralegal candidates who require an accommodation while in the Licensing Process must complete the Request for Special Needs Accommodation and return it to the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information
Paralegal candidates have a responsibility to provide sufficient information about their accommodation needs in order to facilitate the accommodation, and Support Services has a responsibility to only require information from the Paralegal candidate that is reasonably necessary to the provision of accommodation. In the context of disability related accommodation, the Paralegal candidate will be required to provide medical confirmation that the disability exists, but will not generally be required to explicitly inform Support Services of the specific type of the disability, or provide specific medical information, such as a diagnosis, where that information is not reasonably necessary to the provision of accommodation.
Paralegal candidates may choose to provide Support Services with more detailed information about their condition, including a specific diagnosis, where this information will facilitate the accommodation process.
In some circumstances, Support Services may have a reasonable basis for requesting additional information such as further confirmation or diagnosis from a qualified health care professional. In these cases, the information will be requested from the Paralegal candidate, and a Paralegal candidate's delay in responding to the request will result in a delay in the provision of accommodation.
Paralegal candidates are therefore encouraged to disclose as much detailed information about their condition as they feel comfortable doing.
Paralegal candidates are also reminded that all information received by Support Services related to the provision of accommodation will be kept strictly confidential, separated from all other records of the Paralegal candidate held by the Law Society, and will only be used for the purpose of providing the Paralegal candidate with accommodation.
Please direct any questions or concerns to:
Support Services Coordinator - Accommodations and Financial
Office of the Registrar, Support Services
Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West
Toronto ON, M5H 2N6
Tel: (416) 947-3315 Fax: (416) 947-3403
E-mail Special Needs