how is the canadian legal market compared to US? Forum

[itachiuchiha]

I visited canada last week and fell in love with toronto! I am now considering moving there and attending a law school like UT, Osgoode, or McGill. I couldnt seem to find the answer to the question about how the legal market is in Canada. Is it as saturated as it is in the US? What would be some of the pros and cons?

[loomstate]

my understanding is that the majority of top students at those schools will gun for jobs in the US because better pay.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Look into the finances/immigration stuff. Are you going to get permanent residency, and how? (Coming to the US to attend school gets you a student visa, not permanent residency - I don't know if Canada is different, but I don't see why it would be.) If not, how are you going to pay for the education? Government loans are generally available only to citizens or PRs of the country in question.

[itachiuchiha]

Look into the finances/immigration stuff. Are you going to get permanent residency, and how? (Coming to the US to attend school gets you a student visa, not permanent residency - I don't know if Canada is different, but I don't see why it would be.) If not, how are you going to pay for the education? Government loans are generally available only to citizens or PRs of the country in question.

I know that schools like osgoode give many US students merit based scholarships. I would be looking to establish permanent residency and practice there.

[LeCanada]

OP you mentioned McGill as an option. They require you to be bilingual in French and English to be accepted, just as a heads up. If you are it would be a great choice. But as much as I love my country and I'd promote coming here to anyone, unless you want to live in Canada or practice law here, you should go to a US school. This would be my recommendation based on the differences in our legal systems/laws and that you'd be able to better network US jobs if you went to a US school. Canada would love to have you though! So if you really want to, look into the schools more and visit some if at all possible.

[itachiuchiha]

is it true that a US JD will allow you to practice in Canada after articling, but a Canadian JD or L.L.B will only allow you to practice in Canada and only in some places in the states?

[Balthy]

my understanding is that the majority of top students at those schools will gun for jobs in the US because better pay.

Really? My impression is the total opposite; most self-select Canada.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yes, although to go from US to Canada, you'd have to get an articling position (which I'm told isn't always easy), and of course you'd have to pass a Canadian bar exam. (Even the states that allow Canadian JDs/LLBs to be admitted may have additional requirements - I know someone with a Canadian JD who had to retake 1L in the US to get admitted.) This http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files ... pGuide.pdf lists the requirements.

is it true that a US JD will allow you to practice in Canada after articling, but a Canadian JD or L.L.B will only allow you to practice in Canada and only in some places in the states?