Billing and Payment Information
General Information
Please refer to the Fees Schedule, Dates to Remember page, the Licensing Examination page and the invoice(s) in your online account for information on payment deadlines and amounts. Once you are invoiced you must pay each invoice online by valid credit card, by the required deadline. If your billing date is the same as the payment due date, this is likely because you registered on the deadline date and payment is due immediately upon receipt. Once a payment/registration deadline has passed, you will no longer be able to make payment online and will not be registered for that program/examination. To sit an examination, both the examination and study material fees for an examination must be paid in full by the posted registration deadline.
Please check your online account very regularly. If you complete the licensing process but still have either an outstanding balance or outstanding payments remaining on your payment plan term, you cannot be licensed until the balance is paid in full.
Please refer to the Fees Schedule and Financial Assistance section of the lawyer and paralegal website for more information on fees and financial assistance.
Billing Licensing Process Fees
All invoices will be posted in your secure and confidential Law Society online account once you are billed for any item. Please access this account regularly in order to
- review your account balance;
- make payments online by the required deadline;
- view any new billings; or
- to obtain a copy of your invoice(s).
Your invoices will include a due date for payment. If you do not meet the due dates, you will delay or jeopardize your enrollment, registration and licensure.
Note: Candidates who re-write or defer to a licensing examination in a subsequent licensing year will be billed and must pay for the revised study materials for the new licensing year.
Paying your Fees/Payment Options
All fees are to be paid online with an accepted credit card, by logging into your secure and confidential Law Society online account before the deadline.
It is strongly recommended that candidates make payment several days prior to a payment deadline so that payment is processed and reflected in their account by the deadline. Payments processed by the Law Society typically take two to four business days to be reflected in a candidate's account and slightly longer during peak periods.
If a portion or all of your fees will be paid by a third party, please provide the third party with a copy of your invoice for payment. They must submit the invoice with a certified cheque or money order directly to the Accounts Office of the Law Society, several days before the payment deadline so that your registration is not jeopardized. In these instances where a third party will be paying your fees, payment should be made by certified cheque, money order or bank draft payable to the “Law Society of Ontario” and must be in Canadian funds drawn by a Canadian financial institution. Your Law Society candidate identification number must be indicated on the face of the certified cheque, money order or bank draft. Payments made in foreign funds will not be processed. Please note that these payments may take several days to process so please ensure these forms of payment are received by the Accounts office at the Law Society well in advance of the payment deadline.
Please note the Law Society does not accept Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments, wire transfer payments, pre-loaded credit cards, debit cards or personal cheques as a method of payment.
The following is a list of all payment options accepted by the Law Society:
Credit Card (online)
Candidates must pay fees online via their secure Law Society online account. Payment online may be made with a valid VISA, MasterCard, or American Express credit card. Candidates making online payments will receive a receipt once the payment has been successfully processed. The Law Society is not responsible for delays in processing payments that result from the bank’s decline of a credit card. Candidates will be able to make payment online up until the payment deadline. Once the deadline passes, payment will not be accepted, and candidates must defer their examination sitting to the next available date.
Monthly Payment Plan by Credit Card
Candidates may review the Monthly Payment Plan details available online under "Candidate Supports" for additional information regarding this payment option. Candidates who intend to enrol in the Monthly Payment Plan must enrol by the applicable enrollment deadline. Please review the Monthly Payment Plan information on the Financial Assistance page and the Dates to Remember page for information on how and when to enrol in the plan applicable to your licensing year. Please also review your online account where the Monthly Payment Plan link is available on the left-hand side of your screen once you log in.
Candidates may not select this option if they already have any outstanding fees owing (e.g., licensing process fees, application fee late charges, NSF charges). Candidates who would like to withdraw from the Monthly Payment Plan must pay any fees due prior to cancelling their payment plan.
Fees that can be added to a Monthly Payment Plan include the examination(s), and the experiential training fees (as applicable). All other fees must be paid in full by the due date indicated on the invoice.
Please see sections entitled Fees and Forms and Candidate Supports for further information.
Processing timelines for payments received
Payments submitted to the Law Society are normally reflected in your account within two to four business days (except during peak periods of payment processing , where processing times are increased due to volume).
Late Fees
A non-refundable late filing fee of $100 (plus applicable tax) is applicable for each document submitted past a posted deadline.
Refunds
Candidates seeking a refund must send a written request directly to the Licensing and Accreditation department through their online account. Please allow approximately four to six weeks for refunds to be processed by the Accounts Office.
The following fees are not eligible for a refund:
- experiential training fee for the Articling Program, once a candidate has commenced an articling placement;
- experiential training program fee for the Law Practice Programs, after the posted refund deadlines;
- study materials fee, once the candidate has received access to the materials;
- any application fee;
- administrative fee for any Monthly Payment Plan;
- and Licensing Examination fee, except as set out below.
If a candidate does not attend the Licensing Examination for which the candidate was registered, the candidate's examination fee will not be refunded and will not be applied to a future sitting unless the candidate’s absence has been approved by the Law Society in writing as an “excused absence.” To request an excused absence, candidates must fully complete and submit the Medical Absence Form through their online account.
All fees eligible for a refund are reimbursed to the candidate in the payment format originally provided to the Law Society. For example, a candidate who paid online by credit card would have the refund amount returned to that credit card. In order for a refund to be issued to a third party, the candidate must provide written consent. Notwithstanding this, the Law Society’s banking agreement stipulates that if payments are made using a credit card, a credit must be issued back to the same credit card account.
Refunds for the Law Practice Program/Programme de Pratique du droit (LPP/PPD) (Applicable only to Lawyer Candidates)
Candidates seeking to transfer from the Law Practice Program/Programme de Pratique du droit to the Articling Program may do so within the same licensing cycle without penalty, with written notice to Licensing and Accreditation and the Law Practice Program/Programme de Pratique du droit . Candidates seeking to transfer from the Articling Program to the LPP/PPD in a subsequent licensing cycle are required to pay an additional program fee for the LPP/PPD. Candidates seeking to otherwise withdraw from the Law Practice Program are advised of the following refund deadlines:
| Withdrawal Date |
Experiential Training Fee Refund Policy |
| Within the first 2 weeks of the LPP |
100% |
| After the first 2 weeks but within the first 4 weeks of the LPP |
50% |
| After the first 4 weeks of the LPP |
No Refund |
Specific withdrawal dates can be found on the LPP webpage as they become available.
For further information, please contact the Law Society through your online account.
Rejected Transactions
Candidates paying fees online will be sent a receipt to the personal email address provided at the time of application, once payment is processed successfully. If payment is not successful, candidates must make arrangements to pay fees immediately to ensure their registration or licensing is not jeopardized or delayed.
With respect to the monthly payment plan, the Law Society will notify candidates of a rejected credit card transaction through their online account. Candidates must immediately resolve any matter pertaining to a rejected transaction according to the terms and conditions of the payment plan. Note that candidates may be notified of a rejected transaction on weekends/holidays and should be checking their online account when their payment is scheduled each month to ensure they are aware of a rejected transaction. For more information on the precise date that transactions are processed, please see the Dates to Remember page under the Monthly Payment Plan section as well as your terms and conditions when you enrol in a plan.
A request to defer the processing of any transaction constitutes a stop payment and will count as a non-negotiable/rejected item.
Candidates with a rejected transaction during the term of the payment plan will be permanently removed from the Monthly Payment Plan option and the licensing process fees owing will become payable immediately.
Overdue fees will result in the candidate being ineligible to sit a Licensing Examination or withdrawn from the licensing process for non-payment.
T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate and Other Receipts
Receipts for payments made online are available once payment has been confirmed. Candidates should print receipts for their records at the time of processing. The online payment system is unable to provide a list of past payments made by the candidate. It is up to candidates to ensure they print off or obtain a receipt after each payment is made.
In accordance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requirements, the Law Society will issue the following:
(a) in February of each year, a T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate for the Experiential Training Program (ETP) fee to lawyer licensing candidates who have paid to the Law Society an Experiential Training Program fee in the previous calendar year;
(b) a receipt for licensing examination fees, in the tax year that a licensing examination is completed, to candidates who have paid to the Law Society a licensing examination fee, study material fee and where applicable, an application fee.
The T2202 certificate will include the following fee items as applicable to the lawyer candidate:
Articling Program/Law Practice Program Fee
Articling Application Fee - Articling Abridgement
Articling Application Fee - National and International Articling
The receipt will include the following items as applicable to the candidate:
- Lawyer or Paralegal Licensing Process Application Fee (issued one-time only, once an examination is written)
- Study Material Fee (associated with the licensing examination paid for and written)
- Licensing Examination Fee (for a licensing examination paid for and written)
To ensure prompt delivery of these receipts, you must ensure that you update your mailing address and contact information through your online account to ensure that the information contained in your receipt is current up to the time of your licensing
Replacement tax receipts must be requested in writing from the Licensing and Accreditation Department. Payment for the cost of re-issuing a tax receipt must be received prior to issuing the replacement receipt. Please allow approximately one week for processing.
Inquiries pertaining to these tax receipts may be sent through your online account.
The tax receipt is posted in a candidate’s account if they are in the licensing process at the time of issue. Alternatively, if the candidate has since been licensed, the tax receipt is posted in their licensee portal. If a candidate has been withdrawn at the time of issue, the receipt will be mailed to the last known address on file with the Law Society.
Please print and retain a copy of your T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate and receipts for your records. It is also strongly recommended that you save an electronic copy for future reference, as you will not have access to your online account once you have been licensed.
Please note the T2202 certificate does not include any incidental charges. For more information on what incidental charges are, please see the “Fees and Forms” section of the website in the section called "Fees Schedule."
Contact Information for any Financial/Account questions:
All payments are typically made online or sent to:
Accounts Office
Law Society of Ontario
130 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON M5H 2N6
Payment Inquiries are to be sent to:
Tel: 416-947-5201
email: accounts@lso.ca
NOTE: Specific questions regarding refund requests, invoicing, examinations, scheduling, and deadlines should be directed to Licensing and Accreditation.
Monthly Payment Plan Changes:
Tel: 416-947-3315
email: via your online candidate account
Financial Assistance (licensing process):
Tel: 416-947-3315
email: via your online candidate account
Tax Receipts (licensing process):
Tel: 416-947-3315
email: via your online candidate account or if you have already been licensed, please email licensingprocess@lso.ca
Changes to contact information:
Should be completed online via your online candidate account.