Consultation on potential changes to the bar admission process

Together with the Law Societies of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS), and the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED), the Law Society of BC is seeking input from the legal profession on a potential new approach to the bar admission process. This consultation is a continuation of the work related to the Western Canada Competency Profile (WCCP). 

There are four opportunities for lawyers and other parties involved in student development in British Columbia (PST) to participate.

For new lawyers (called to the bar in the past three years):

• Thursday, April 16 – 8:30 am to 10 am
• Wednesday, April 22 – 11 am to 12:30 pm

For public sector employers that hire articling students, including the courts:

• Friday, April 24 – 11 am to 12:30 pm

For articling principals from all other workplaces that hire articling students:

• Tuesday, April 21 – 8:30 am to 10 am
• Monday, April 27 –11 am to 12:30 pm

General session for British Columbia participants:

• Thursday, April 23 – 11:30 am to 1 pm

 Participants will be asked to do the following:

• Read a consultation paper related to the WCCP and the new proposed approach to the bar admission process in advance (approximately 30-minute activity). 
• Commit to attending a 90-minute virtual consultation session facilitated by our external consultants, WestRock Measurement, LLC.
• Be willing to engage in discussion with other lawyers and key interest holders during the session.

Submit your expression of interest

If you are interested in participating, please fill out this brief survey by noon on Wednesday, April 1. 

Be sure to indicate each session you could potentially participate in and tentatively block the date(s)/time(s) in your calendar. If there are other people in your workplace who are involved in student development, we invite you to forward this invitation to them.

Selected individuals will be notified by Monday, April 6. Should there be more expressions of interest than we have availability, we will make selections to create the best representation of diverse perspectives across the legal profession.  

If you cannot participate in the consultations, there will be another chance to provide input later this Spring when an Invitation to Comment will be disseminated widely.

We welcome your potential participation in this important engagement.  

The personal information of individuals who choose to express interest in this engagement via completion of the survey will be collected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, RSBC 1996, c. 165, s. 26 (c) for the purpose of planning and/or evaluating a potential new approach to the bar admission process in continuation of the work related to the WCCP. If you have any questions about the collection of this information, please contact consultation@lsbc.org.

Background

In 2024 the Law Societies of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan (the western law societies) collaborated to develop a framework of competencies students would need to demonstrate for bar admission, known as the WCCP. The competencies outlined in the WCCP define the knowledge, skills and abilities that an individual should have at the time they are called to the bar in any of the participating jurisdictions.

Following the approval of the WCCP, the western law societies, later joined by the NSBS, engaged in work and discussions to consider how best to implement the WCCP in the five jurisdictions. CPLED, the organization that administers the common bar admission program for the prairie provinces and the NSBS in the form of the Practice Readiness Program (PREP), was invited to participate in those discussions. As of September 2026, PREP will be the only bar admission training program offered in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Saskatchewan.  

During those discussions, a preliminary concept for a possible new approach for bar admission was explored, grounded in educational best practices and the WCCP competencies. The potential new approach would represent a shift in what is taught and assessed during bar admission training and articling. 

To learn more about the WCCP, please visit Western Canada Competency Profile.