Canadian Law in a Global Context

Overview

The GPLLM in Canadian Law in a Global Context is directed towards students who have gained their legal education in an international or civil jurisdictions and who wish to receive an education in the Canadian Common Law tradition. Some foreign-trained lawyers and judges, including Canadians who have been trained abroad, engage in the GPLLM in order to gain a robust graduate education in the Common Law. Most enroll in the program as part of their process to become accredited to practice law in Canada. 

Program Length and Structure

The GPLLM is a full-time executive program that is one-year in length and offered in the evenings and on weekends in order to accommodate the schedules of busy professionals. The program consists of three terms (September to December, January to April, and May to August). The schedule offers a deliberate balance between rigorous academic engagement, and respect for your personal and professional commitments. 

The GPLLM consists of a wide variety of courses. Over the course of eleven months, students complete ten courses, including five courses from within their concentration. Students are required to take five courses from within their concentration, including one required course, and can take the remainder of their courses from any of the four concentrations offered.

Students who are admitted to the Canadian Law concentration with fewer than five years of work experience, will only be able to take courses from that concentration.

The program may be completed in one year (three sessions with a F/W/S registration sequence) or through an extended full-time option that allows students to complete the program requirements over two years (six sessions with a F/W/S/F/W/S registration sequence).

Important: The Extended Full-Time GPLLM program contains the same number of course credits as the one-year full-time GPLLM and, as such, may only satisfy a one-year of in-person legal education requirement for NCA purposes. NCA candidates with a two-year in-person legal education requirement, may meet their second-year requirement through one of the following options:

  • Students with more than 5 years of continuous, full-time professional experience (excluding internships), may apply for admission to second GPLLM in Business Law or Innovation, Law & Technology concentrations;
  • Apply for admission to UofT's daytime one-year Master of Laws (LLM) program. This program is highly competitive and only accepts a small number of applicants each year;
  • Consider a second LLM or a Professional LLM at another NCA-approved law school in Canada;
  • Complete a combination of individual law courses from the same or several law schools in Canada to collectively amount to a one-year coursework equivalent. Each course must be pre-approved by the NCA.


2024-25 GPLLM Full Year Course Calendar (PDF)

2025-26 GPLLM Program Calendar (PDF)

Curriculum

The Canadian Law concentration is is curated for the needs of internationally trained lawyers. Offered outside of regular business hours, it offers flexibility to work full-time while earning a graduate law degree, and it opens doors to the Canadian legal market. The program is designed to meet the requirements of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s National Committee on Accreditation (NCA). It is intended for lawyers who have received their law degrees outside of Canada, or have a civil law degree from a Canadian law school, who wish to become licensed to practice in Ontario, or gain a robust understanding of Canadian common law.

Students complete 10 courses over the year, including the option for eligible students to take up to 5 courses from other concentrations, with program approval.  Please see the following pages for course descriptions for the Business Law concentration, and the Innovation, Law & Technology concentration.

Students in the Canadian Law concentration can satisfy the five (5) mandatory courses required by the NCA, which are as follows:

  • Foundations of Canadian Law (required); 
  • Professional Responsibility; 
  • Canadian Criminal Law; 
  • Canadian Constitutional Law, and 
  • Administrative Law.

Students can also take the courses most frequently assessed by the NCA, which are

  • Property Law;
  • Business Organizations;
  • Torts; and
  • Contract Law.

Applied Legal Research and Writing, while not an NCA-assessed course, is also available.

Completion of the degree does not automatically entitle graduates to practice law in Canada or be admitted to the bar of a Canadian province or territory, but at the end of the program, the majority of students are eligible to commence the licensing process through their law society of choice.

While subject to change, typically the method of evaluation includes mid-terms and final examinations, in-class assignment, and participation. 

Please also see Canadian Law - Course Descriptions.