Event Description
This session is exclusively for graduate law students who are completing the NCA process and who want to practice law in Canada. This session will be recorded and posted on ACE for students who cannot attend in-person. This careers workshop will focus on the logistics of researching and applying to the Canadian legal employers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Ottawa who participate in the “structured recruitment process” for their summer law student and articling student positions. This session will focus on the recruitment cycle for summer 2026 positions (May 2026 to August 2026, with anticipated call to the bar in 2028) and for articling positions starting in summer 2026 (with anticipated call to the bar in 2027). Most of these employers are large law firms and government employers, but some smaller law firms also utilize the structured recruitment process to hire their summer and articling students. The timing of the structured recruitment process will vary depending on the province/city, the type of position, and your status as a candidate (i.e. NCA candidate or Canadian JD law student).
Come to this careers workshop to learn from Jenn Lau, Career Advisor, Graduate Studies about how NCA candidates can navigate and stand out in the structured recruit, and how this sort of recruitment process differs from the “cold-emailing”, the “unposted job search”, and “ad hoc job postings” (and why you should utilize all of these search strategies in your articling job search).
Bookmark the Recruitment & Licensing Reminders page for important dates for the structured recruit for 2026 summer student positions and 2026-2027 articling student positions across Canada.
For recordings on graduate careers workshops on the unposted job search and applying for ad hoc job postings, see the ACE Resource Library.
After you’ve attended this workshop or watched the recording, plan to attend the upcoming careers events to make the most out of your job search:
- Wed, Jan 15, 12:30pm-1:30pm: Graduate Careers Workshop: Making the most out of career fairs and networking events as an NCA candidate (Panel with recruiters + LLM CL alumni)
- Thurs, Jan 23, 6:00pm-8:00pm: CSO Large Employer Career Fair
- Tues, Jan 28, 6:00pm-8:00pm: LLM Taxation student and alumni networking reception
- Mon, Feb 1, 6:00pm-8:00pm: LLM Common Law student and alumni networking reception
- Wed, Feb 26, 6:00pm-8:00pm: CSO Midsize, Boutique, and Government Employer Career Fair
- Graduate Programs
- Graduate Students
- Student Events