Seven years of school, a licensing year, then anything from legal aid to Bay Street.
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Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $124,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $63,000 at the lower end to about $223,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
7 to 8 years after high school, on the usual route.
$62,500 to $157,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$124,000
Lower end
$63,000
Upper end
$223,000
Job Bank's figures for all lawyers and Quebec notaries in Canada, 2023 to 2024, worked out as a year at 40 hours a week. The median is $59.76 an hour. About 1 in 10 earn less than the lower end and about 1 in 10 earn more than the upper end.
$164,000 in Alberta
Job Bank median for lawyers and Quebec notaries in Alberta, 2023 to 2024, a year at 40 hours a week
The Ontario median is $136,000 and the Quebec median is $107,000. The national median is $124,000.
$93,262 to $228,084
The federal lawyers' pay grid from May 10, 2025, from the first level to the top of the senior counsel level
Published by the Association of Justice Counsel, the union for federal government lawyers.
Roughly, all in
$62,500 to $157,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
This is three or four years of an undergraduate degree, then three years of law school, then a licensing year. The low end is a cheaper undergraduate degree and a law school outside Ontario where tuition can be under $12,000 a year, plus the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) and the licensing fees. The high end is a full four year undergraduate degree and a high tuition school such as the University of Toronto, listed at about $36,000 a year with fees for 2026 to 2027. Most other Ontario schools sit between those two, around $18,000 to $28,000 a year, and the articling year is paid work rather than a bill.
University of Toronto law is $33,700 a year in tuition for 2026-27, about $36,000 with fees. Most other Ontario schools are $18,000 to $28,000. Schools outside Ontario are cheaper, some under $12,000.
Salary
Associates at firms, government and in-house lawyers.
Billable hours
Big firms expect 1,800 or more billed hours a year, which means far more hours worked.
Contingency
Personal injury lawyers take a share of what they win.
Partnership
Owners of the firm split the profits.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Outside Quebec: undergrad, law school, then a licensing year. Quebec has its own route: tap Quebec route to add it.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Strong marks in English, history and any writing-heavy course. No specific requirements.
Bachelor's degree
3 to 4 years
Any subject. Political science, philosophy, history, business and English are common. GPA (grade point average) matters most. Write the LSAT (law school admission test).
Law school (JD, juris doctor)
3 years
Three years at one of about two dozen Canadian law schools. Admission is competitive: a 3.7+ GPA and 160+ LSAT are typical at most schools.
Licensing
About 1 year
In Ontario: barrister and solicitor exams plus 8 to 10 months of articling (or the Law Practice Program). Other provinces have similar bar admission programs.
Called to the bar
Ceremony
You are sworn in and can practise law in that province.
English and writing
Lawyers write for a living.
History, law and civics
Useful background.
Debate or Model United Nations
Not a course, but great practice.
French
Bilingual lawyers are in demand in federal government and Quebec.
Each province has a law society that licenses lawyers, sets the ethics rules and disciplines members. Being called to the bar in Ontario does not automatically let you practise in BC (British Columbia), though moving between provinces is straightforward under the national mobility agreement. Quebec has a separate civil law system and its own path.
In Quebec you go to law school straight after CEGEP (public college), study civil law instead of common law, and replace articling with the provincial bar school and a 6 month internship.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Any stream. Quebec law faculties admit on your CEGEP (public college) grades, so strong marks start to count right after this.
Pre-university DEC (Diploma of College Studies)
2 years
A 2 year CEGEP (public college) program in any field. Social Science is a common choice. There is no LSAT (law school admission test) for Quebec law faculties.
Law degree (LL.B., Bachelor of Laws)
3 to 3.5 years
3 years of civil law at a Quebec faculty such as Montréal, Laval, Sherbrooke or Ottawa's civil law section. McGill teaches civil and common law together, with readings in both languages, usually in 3.5 years.
École du Barreau (the Quebec bar school)
Several months
Apply by late June. Three exams, on applied law, case theory and writing, and ethics, then hands-on work in the school's legal clinic. Tuition is $6,065 for 2026 to 2027.
6 month internship
6 months
Full time, 180 days, under a supervising lawyer or judge. It must be done within 3 years of becoming eligible, and your supervisor recommends you to the bar.
Show French, then join the Barreau
A few weeks
A Quebec high school diploma from 1986 or later counts, even from an English school. Otherwise you pass the French exam of the OQLF (Office québécois de la langue française, the French language office).
Quebec has a second legal profession: the notary (notaire). Notaries take the same 3 year law degree, then a master's in notarial law, a 16 week internship and 15 days of training with the Chambre des notaires du Québec (the Quebec order of notaries). They draw up official deeds, real estate papers and company documents, and handle matters where nobody is in dispute. They do not argue cases in court.
École du Barreau fees for 2026 to 2027, taxes included. Universities charge their own tuition on top.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Clerking for a judge
One year after law school. Prestigious, opens doors to top firms and academia.
A specialty in demand
Tax, corporate, securities, intellectual property and technology law.
An LLM (master of laws)
One year, useful for tax, international or academic paths.
Business or accounting background
Corporate clients like lawyers who understand a balance sheet.
Moot court and law review
Standard resume builders in law school.
Summer positions at firms
First-year and second-year summer jobs often lead to articling offers.
Legal clinic volunteering
Real client experience during school.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Very little of it is in a courtroom. Most lawyers spend their days reading, writing and negotiating: drafting contracts, researching cases, emailing clients, reviewing documents. Litigators prepare for hearings for weeks. Corporate lawyers close deals. Family and criminal lawyers see clients on the worst days of their lives.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Quebec uses civil law, inherited from France. Every other province uses common law, inherited from England. McGill teaches both at once.
Most US states license lawyers once they pass the bar exam. Outside Quebec, Canadian law graduates also spend 8 to 10 months articling under a licensed lawyer, or take Ontario's Law Practice Program. Quebec uses its bar school and a 6 month internship instead.
Compared to nearly 200 in the US. That is why admission is so competitive and why many Canadians study law abroad and then return through the NCA (National Committee on Accreditation) process.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Lawyers first, then the rest of the field. See every career in law and public safety.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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