Academics Major released its annual list of best law schools in Canada 2018, those rankings are based on Students feedback and graduations rates and graduate’s employment ability after graduation with a law degree from those universities.
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally prepared for legal careers, but they do not grant a license while legal authorities may review their curricula.
As a student looking to pursue a law degree, you must attend a law school that will provide you with the best education and training for the real world and gives you a better chance of being employed after graduation.
Here are the best universities for law in Canada 2018
10. University of Calgary
The Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary is a law school in the ordinary law jurisdiction of Calgary, Alberta. Currently, there are 31 full-time faculties and just over 300 students in the JD program, giving the school one of the most petite class sizes of the Canadian law schools.
With 120 first-year spots and approximately 1500 applicants per year, this law school has an acceptance rate of less than 10%, making it the most competitive in Canada. The graduate admissions (LL.M.) are similarly competitive
First Year Enrolment: 122
Average LSAT: 162
Average GPA: 3.6
Total Applicants: 1,174
Tuition: $12,314.88
9. Queen’s University at Kingston
The Queen’s University Faculty of Law is a professional faculty of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and is regarded as one of the most prestigious legal education institutions in Canada. According to the 2013 Maclean’s Magazine Law School Rankings, Queen’s is tied for third among law schools in Canada.
While the tradition of legal education at Queen’s University heralds back nearly 150 years in 1861, the law school as it currently exists was officially established in 1957.
Faculty members from Queen’s have been honoured with significant teaching and research awards and are recognized nationally and internationally as leading experts in their fields. In addition, past and current professors at Queen’s, such as William Lederman, Toni Pickard, Gary Trotter, Allan Manson, Nick Bala and Don Stuart, are routinely cited in Supreme Court of Canada and other appellate decisions.
First Year Enrolment: 200
Average LSAT: 161
Average GPA: 3.7
Total Applicants: 2,351
Tuition: $19,246.22
8. Dalhousie University
The Schulich School of Law is the law school of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1883 as Dalhousie Law School, it is the oldest university-based typical law school in the Commonwealth.
The Schulich School of Law is the largest law school in Atlantic Canada.
With 500 students enrolled each year (170 in first-year) and a faculty of Rhodes, Fulbright, and Trudeau scholars, the school promises “one of the most prestigious and comprehensive legal educations in North America
First Year Enrolment: 170
Average LSAT: 160
Average GPA: 3.7
Total Applicants: 1,300
Tuition: $18,694.36
7. University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (U of O Law, University of Ottawa Law, or Ottawa Law) is the law school at the University of Ottawa, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the nation’s capital. Established in 1953, the faculty is today divided into civil and common law sections, the two formally recognized legal traditions in Canada.
The faculty is very highly rated and maintains close links with the legal communities in Quebec, Ontario and abroad
First Year Enrolment: 310
Average LSAT: 159
Average GPA: 82%
Total Applicants: 2,600
Tuition: $19,354.97
6. University of Alberta
University of Alberta Faculty of Law is the oldest faculty of law in western Canada, established in 1912, located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The University of Alberta Faculty of Law is known mainly for its focus on the fundamentals of law.
As the first law school in Western Canada, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law significantly established a law practice in Western Canada and is often considered one of Canada’s most respected law schools.
First Year Enrolment: 175
Average LSAT: 161
Average GPA: 3.7
Total Applicants: 1,200
Tuition: $29,967.72
5. University of Windsor
The Faculty of Law is the University of Windsor faculty in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The first class of students graduated in 1968, and the current building was opened in 1970.
The Faculty has grown immensely over the past 50 years, increasing its national profile through its innovations in research and from thousands of alumni across Canada and the world. The 2017 endowment to the Faculty of Law was 10.2 million dollars.
The Faculty is also the current academic host institution of the Canadian Bar Review (CBR), the most frequently cited journal by the Supreme Court of Canada.
First Year Enrolment: 160
Average LSAT: 155
Average GPA: 3.7
Total Applicants: 2,200
Tuition: $18,578.10
4. York University
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University is a Canadian law school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889. It was the only accredited law school in Ontario until 1957.
The school was at the center of the debates over the principles of modern legal education in the 1950s. Osgoode Hall Law School provided many of the founding members of the bar in the prairie provinces.
Today, the law school offers a professional law degree that is accepted for bar admission in every province except Quebec, Massachusetts and New York, three joint degree programs, and Canada’s most extensive graduate program in law.
First Year Enrolment: 290
Average LSAT: 165
Average GPA: 3.67
Total Applicants: 2,577
Tuition: $26,245.78
3. University of British Columbia
Law school is a gateway not just to the legal profession but also to many leadership roles in society. For the past 70 years, the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia has educated leaders in the community and the profession.
The incoming students join a distinguished family of graduates that have excelled in all areas of law and government and have made a significant impact on some of today’s most pressing issues around the world.
First Year Enrolment: 180
Average LSAT: 166
Average GPA: 83%
Total Applicants: 1,664
Tuition: $12,148.80
2. McGill University
The Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. It is the oldest law school in Canada and continually ranks among the best law schools in the world. Its civil law degree is ranked as the best in Canada and consistently outranks Europe, Asia, and Latin America’s top civil law schools.
The Faculty offers the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) degrees concurrently in three to four years, allowing graduates to practice in the Canadian, U.S. and UK common law systems as well as Quebec, continental Europe, East Asia and Latin America’s civil law system. The Faculty also offers the Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) degrees.
First Year Enrolment: 185
Average LSAT: 162
Average GPA: 85%
Total Applicants: 1,271
Tuition: $4,387.88
1. University of Toronto
The University of Toronto Faculty of Law (U of T Law, University of Toronto Law) is the law school of the University of Toronto. The Faculty is widely considered the most prestigious law school in Canada. The Faculty’s admissions process is the most selective of any law school in Canada and is one of the most demanding in North America.
The Faculty has consistently been ranked as the top law school in Canada by Maclean’s since publishing law school rankings. The Faculty offers JD, LLM, SJD, MSL, and GPLLM law degrees.
First Year Enrolment: 208
Average LSAT: 166
Average GPA: 3.8
Total Applicants: 2,199
Tuition: $36,440.3
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