Non-Canadian Law Degree – Not Admitted to a Foreign Bar

Step One – Applicant applies to the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) to have the non-Canadian law degree and credentials assessed. Commence this process before immigrating to Canada as it will take time.

In order to be enrolled as an Articled Clerk and admitted to the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society, the applicant must have the equivalent of a Canadian law degree. The NCA will assess the applicant's education and credentials, determine if the applicant has to take any additional courses and/or pass any equivalency examinations in order to make the foreign law degree equivalent to a Canadian law degree.

Note: Nova Scotia, as a province of Canada, is a Common Law jurisdiction. Therefore, the NCA criteria are generally greater for applicants with a Civil Law Degree than they are for applicants with a non-Canadian Common Law degree.

Step Two – NCA issues a Certificate of Accreditation, once the applicant has successfully completed the NCA criteria for the Canadian law degree equivalent. The NCA must send the Certificate of Accreditation directly to the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. The Certificate of Accreditation cannot be provided to the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society by a third party.

Step Three – Applicant obtains an Articled Clerk position in Nova Scotia with a firm, lawyer or organization that qualifies to act as a Principal to an Articled Clerk and submits an Application for Enrolment in Bar Admission Course and as an Articled Clerk. Full details about Articling and Principals are available on the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society website under the Articling section.

The applicant must be lawfully entitled to be employed in Canada in order to apply for enrolment as an Articled Clerk. This means the applicant has to be a Canadian citizen OR have Landed Immigrant Status OR provide evidence of a current work permit or other authorization issued by Canadian authorities.

In order to be considered, the Application for Enrolment in Bar Admission Course and as an Articled Clerk must be complete (all components of the application must be included and the fee paid).

Step Four – Completed application is considered. If no public interest issues are raised by the application, it is approved by the Executive Director and the applicant will be enrolled as an Articled Clerk on the designated date.

If there are public interest issues with the application, it is reviewed by the Credentials Committee of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and a ruling is issued.

The Regulations provide the Credentials Committee with a number of options when considering applications which raise public interest issues. The rulings of the Credentials Committee will depend on the particulars of the application.

Step Five – Upon successful completion of all articling requirements, the Articled Clerk is eligible for admission to the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society.

The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society provides an admission information package to each applicant for admission.