Transcript Requirements
The educational transcript requirements for registering in the Lawyer and Paralegal Licensing Process are as follows:
Lawyer Applicants:
Lawyer candidates must graduate from a common law program offered by a law school in Canada approved by Convocation. Upon successful completion of a common law program, at an approved Canadian law school, the candidate will receive a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or a Juris Doctor (J.D.) Degree and must request that their law school sends the final official transcript directly to the Law Society’s Licensing and Accreditation Department either by mail, via the MYCREDS platform or electronically encrypted to licensingprocess@lso.ca. Electronic submission to the Law Society by the issuing institution is preferred for security and tracking reasons.
Graduates of international or non-accredited Canadian law schools who have applied and successfully completed the NCA requirements are to request that the NCA sends a final official Certificate of Qualification (CQ) notification directly to the Law Society’s Licensing and Accreditation Department through the NCA’s stated delivery method.
Paralegal Applicants:
Paralegal candidates must graduate from an LSO-accredited paralegal education program in Ontario, including meeting the required field placement component. The candidate is required to request that their issuing institution sends a final official transcript directly to the Licensing and Accreditation Department through the issuing institution’s stated delivery method.
General Information:
Final official transcripts must be received by the Law Society directly from the issuing institution and confirm the date of issuance and conferral of the LL.B. or J.D. degree, the NCA Certificate of Qualification or an LSO-accredited paralegal program (as applicable). The paralegal transcript should also confirm the completion of a work placement as part of the degree/diploma requirement.
A transcript or CQ submitted by a candidate is not considered official documentation for the purposes of registration and enrollment in the Law Society’s lawyer licensing process.
It is strongly recommended that these documents are sent by the issuing institution electronically to the LSO to ensure timely receipt and processing and to confirm they were issued directly from the institution. Issuing institutions sending transcripts by mail should note that these should be received by the LSO at least one week before the deadline to ensure that they are processed by the deadline. Issuing institutions should not drop off documents at the LSO building as staff are in a hybrid working environment and cannot retrieve or track these documents on a daily and timely basis.
Licensing and Accreditation Department mailing address for transcripts is as follows:
Law Society of Ontario
Licensing and Accreditation- Transcripts
130 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON
M5H 2N6
Transcripts/CQs must be received by the applicable deadline, or a late filing fee will be applied to the candidate account and the candidate will not be registered to sit the examination. The Law Society is not responsible for documents that are received late whether they are mailed, couriered, or electronically sent; it is up to the candidate to ensure they make the request for a final official document to be sent in time to meet any applicable deadline and discuss this timeline with their issuing institution.
For more information on transcript deadlines or other associated deadlines, please see the applicable lawyer or paralegal licensing process Dates to Remember page and the Examination Deadlines and Dates page.