Articling Opportunities Across Canada

Ontario Regional Office (Toronto)

Contact Person:
Michèle Adam,
Human Resources Advisor

Telephone: 416-952-1478
Facsimile: 416-973-0531
TDD: 416-973-5354

Mail:
130 King Street West, Suite 3400
Toronto, Ontario  M5X 1K6

Email:
michele.adam@justice.gc.ca

Regions

• Atlantic Regional Office (Halifax)
• Quebec Regional Office (Montreal)
• National Capital Region (Ottawa-Gatineau)
• Ontario Regional Office (Toronto)
• Prairie Region (Winnipeg)
• Prairie Region (Saskatoon)
• Prairie Region (Edmonton)
• British Columbia (Vancouver)
• Northern Regional Office

Ontario Regional Office (Toronto)

Legal Excellence Program - Articling

The Legal Excellence Program at the Ontario Regional Office (ORO) is a joint offering of the Department of Justice (DOJ– ORO) and Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC-ORO).

The DOJ-ORO represents the federal government in a wide variety of matters affecting departments and agencies of the Government of Canada that operate within Ontario. The majority of its 300+ lawyers are litigators practicing in courtrooms and tribunals in matters ranging from multi-million-dollar civil actions, to high profile extraditions, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms litigation and tax appeals involving the major corporations. The work is challenging and opposing counsel are generally from major Toronto law firms. The office’s inventory of more than twenty thousand cases means that lawyers are given a great degree of independence and responsibility early in their careers. In addition to litigation, about 5% of counsel at the DOJ-ORO are solicitors working in the Aboriginal, Business and Regulatory sections of the office.

The PPSC-ORO is home to over 100 prosecutors, making it the largest PPSC regional office in the country. It is responsible for the conduct of federal criminal prosecutions and appeals at all levels of court in the province, in addition to the Supreme Court of Canada. The PPSC-ORO also provides legal advice to police and enforcement agencies in Ontario. Counsel with the PPSC-ORO spend most of their time in court. They conduct routine and complex drug and “white collar crime” prosecutions and appeals. Other prosecutors assist the police or other investigative agencies with wiretaps, seizure of the proceeds of crime, and search warrants.

The Six Rotations

The goal of the ORO is to provide students with excellent training in all facets of criminal and civil litigation, doing so in collegial atmosphere with work-life balance. The articling program offers students the choice to spend time in four of the following six rotations:

• Public Prosecution Service of Canada
• Aboriginal and Business Law Sections
• Tax Law Services Section
• Regulatory Section and Extradition Team
• Immigration Law Section
• Ontario Court of Justice (Criminal Division) Clerkship

Each rotation lasts approximately eleven weeks, during which students assist counsel in all aspects of litigation and solicitor work. Counsel rely on students’ research and writing skills for the preparation of facta and legal opinions to government clients. Students will also have carriage of one or more small claims court files. Many students have the opportunity to work on Supreme Court of Canada cases. As explained in more detail below, the office offers both a Trial Advocacy and Legal Writing programs for its articling students.

1. Public Prosecution Service of Canada

PPSC lawyers conduct prosecutions primarily under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, along with other federal statutes. Prosecutors handle Charter litigation, large-scale proceeds of crime cases, white collar crime cases, large-scale importing cases, and conduct appeals in the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Students have opportunities to conduct summary conviction trials, guilty pleas and attend trials, bail hearings and appeals with counsel.

The PPSC-ORO is organized into a series of teams and sub-offices. Routine federal prosecutions are handled at the Old City Hall and 361 University courthouses by the Old City Hall/Superior Court Team. This team is primarily responsible for street crime drug prosecutions, although other routine cases under other statutes are also undertaken by the team. Prosecutors on this team conduct bail hearings, judicial pre-trials, preliminary inquiries, and trials in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice (including judge-alone and jury trials).

The Superior Court arm of this team handles more serious drug trafficking, possession for the purpose, cultivation, and importing cases. As well, Old City Hall is home to two of Canada’s most innovative justice initiatives: the Drug Treatment Court and the Gladue Court which emphasize restorative justice for drug-addicted and First Nations persons, respectively.

The Anti-Organized Crime Team prosecutes complex cases involving large-scale drug trafficking, drug importing, and drug cultivation. The team is also responsible for Hells Angels and anti-terrorism prosecutions. Most of these cases involve the use of wiretap evidence and evidence gathered outside Canada. Many are also joint prosecutions with provincial crown attorneys.

The Revenue Prosecution Team is responsible for prosecuting cases of financial crime, primarily in relation to offences under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Customs Act, and other federal statutes that involve either the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

The Immigration Prosecution Team specializes in the prosecution of offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. These offences generally concern human trafficking, and offences associated with false documents, such as passport fraud.

2. Aboriginal and Business Law Sections

Aboriginal Law Section

Counsel in the Aboriginal Law Section represent the Minister of Indian Affairs in litigation arising from the land and treaty claims of First Nations. A number of counsel also represent the Minister in claims arising from allegations of abuse in the residential school system. Apart from litigation, a number of solicitors in the section provide advice and carry out transactional work on behalf of the Minister on matters as diverse as surrenders of reserve land, the interpretation of the Indian Act, and the implementation of land settlement agreements.

In this rotation students participate in all aspects of the section’s work, including the provision of legal and factual research, the preparation of legal documents, and assistance at court. Students will also have the opportunity to represent the Minister at the Informal Assessment Process hearings which award compensation to victims of residential school abuse.

Business Law Section

Counsel in the Business Law Section serve a wide variety of client departments, including Transport Canada, Public Works, Foreign Affairs, Industry Canada, National Defence and Heritage Canada.

The areas of practice are diverse, including administrative, tort, contract, constitutional, aeronautical, construction, labour and environmental law. Cases are heard before all levels of federal and provincial court in Ontario, at the Supreme Court of Canada, and before a variety of specialized tribunals. The amounts at stake in certain litigation can run in excess of $1 billion.

Advisory counsel provide opinions and day-to-day advice to the section’s clients on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, including real estate transactions and government procurement.

3. Tax Law Services Section

The Tax Law Services Section (TLS) is composed of three groups: Tax Litigation, Tax Recovery and Customs and Excise.

The greater part of the work in TLS is performed by the Tax Litigation Group and includes representing the CRA on appeals to the Tax Court of Canada under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Employment Insurance Act, and the Canada Pension Plan – as well as on subsequent appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court of Canada. TLS counsel also appear on judicial review applications at the Federal Court arising from decisions of the Minister of National Revenue. Counsel also provide advisory services to the CRA.

The Tax Recovery Group (TRG) represents the Collections Section of CRA in Ontario. Work performed by the TRG includes the provision of legal advice, negotiation, and representation on collections remedies under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Ontario Court Rules, Federal Courts Rules, private security agreements and guarantees. The TRG also appears in the Superior Court of Justice on behalf of the CRA as a creditor on various bankruptcy and insolvency issues and commercial litigation matters such as fraudulent conveyances’ applications, priority determinations, opposition to bankruptcy discharges and proceedings under the Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act (CCAA). Further, the TRG acts on behalf of the CRA on actions against the Crown in tort and contract for malicious collection action and judicial review applications of decisions made by the Minister of National Revenue.

Customs and Excise Group counsel represent the CBSA and CRA in claims launched under the Customs Act and Excise Act and against the Crown in tort litigation. Counsel often defend customs officers accused of Charter breaches in the course of their border search functions. Counsel appear in Federal and Superior court at the trial and appellate levels.

Cases of interest handled by TLS include General Motors Acceptance (whether subsidies from the parent company are income when received or recognized over the life of the contract), Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (whether life insurance companies' deferred realized gains are subject to the tax on large corporations), Canadian Pacific & Shell Canada (Kiwi Loans: whether a corporation can claim the repayment of part of the principal of a foreign loan as interest expense), the CCAA restructurings of Air Canada, Stelco and Philips, as well as insolvency proceedings against many high profile individuals and corporations.

Articling students in the TLS rotation represent the CRA on “Informal Procedure” matters in the Tax Court of Canada. Students conduct their own examinations, cross examinations and make submissions under the guidance of a supervising lawyer. Students may also assist counsel on commercial litigation matters and appear on motions before the Registrar in Bankruptcy.

4. The Regulatory Law Section and the Extradition Team

Regulatory Law Section

The Regulatory Law Section conducts civil litigation and some solicitor's work for a wide variety of clients including the RCMP, Health Canada, Environment Canada, CSIS, Public Safety Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada, National Parole Board, Veterans Affairs, Human Resources Development Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The section’s many clients produce a diversity of legal issues to be addressed by counsel, including administrative law, class actions, contractual disputes, constitutional and human rights litigation, national security law, coroners’ inquests, employment insurance hearings and regulatory offence matters.

The Public Law Group of the Regulatory Law Section provides specialized Crown law litigation services with particular focus on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other aspects of constitutional law. Over the years, the public law group has litigated some of the highest profile Charter issues in Canada, including same sex marriage and the use of medicinal marijuana.

Extradition Team

The Extradition Team handles requests from foreign states for the extradition of accused and convicted persons. The work involves obtaining arrest warrants, conducting bail hearings, responding to Charter applications and attending at committal hearings before the Superior Court of Justice. Counsel also appear before the Ontario Court of Appeal. Many of the cases handled by the section receive significant media attention.

The team also provides assistance to foreign states pursuant to the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act. This work involves obtaining search warrants, evidence gathering orders, transferring prisoners to testify in court proceedings, orders for video-link evidence and examining witnesses on behalf of the requesting state.

5. Immigration Section

The Immigration Law Section (ILS) has carriage of all immigration and citizenship litigation involving its two main clients, the CBSA and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), arising in Ontario. This litigation includes responding to judicial review applications filed in the Federal Court of Canada challenging decisions made by the Immigration and Refugee Board, as well as other administrative decision-makers, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Lawyers in the ILS oppose motions for stays of deportation of non-Citizens, appear before administrative tribunals to address constitutional issues and litigate security certificate cases and civil actions in both the Federal and Ontario Courts. Counsel also appears before the Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

ILS counsel have played an important role in many WWII revocation actions (e.g. Skomatchuk, Fast, Baumgartner, Oberlander, Tobiass, Nemsila, and Vitols), settled the first proposed class action in the Federal Court (Rasolzadeh) and defeated the first motion for certification brought under the Federal Court’s class action rules (Tihomirovs). Over the years, counsel in the section have played key roles in the development of immigration law in Canada. The following Supreme Court of Canada cases (among others) emanated from this section: Singh (1985), Chiarelli (1991), Ward (1993), Dehghani (1995), Chen (1995), Pushpanathan (1998), Baker (1999), Suresh (2002), Hilewitz and De Jong (2005), Almrei and Harkat (2007), and Khosa (2009).

The ILS also provides advisory services to its clients as well as extensive legal training to immigration and visa officers.

Students in the section are asked to draft affidavit material and facta, conduct research and generally assist counsel with preparation for hearing, and attend at hearings to observe and monitor proceedings.

6. Ontario Court of Justice (Criminal Division) Clerkship

The ORO has recently added a rotation of clerking at the Ontario Court of Justice (Criminal Division) (OCJ). Students clerk for judges at one of Toronto’s criminal courts, Finch, College Park or Scarborough. Students are assigned to observe in court and conduct research as directed by the supervising judge. While at the OCJ, students will be under the general supervision and guidance of the Regional Senior Justice. The students assist on a variety of matters, ranging from complex and high-profile trials to more routine matters such as pre-trial conferences, bail hearings, and case management issues.

Additional Articling Highlights

1. Small Claims Court Litigation

So as to expose students to various aspects of the litigation process, including client interviews, trial preparation, pre-trials and a trial itself, students will receive carriage of their own small claims court matters.

2. Trial Advocacy Program

During the course of their articling year, all students will participate in the ORO’s Trial Advocacy Program. This course has one objective - to make the student a better advocate. The course has 10 classroom sessions and involves the preparation of a civil and a criminal file. Each class focuses on a particular advocacy skill (examination, cross-examination, submission, etc.)

The course is taught by seasoned ORO litigators. Each class has at least one guest lecturer, which may include DOJ and PPSC counsel, a Provincial Crown Attorney, leading members of the criminal defence and civil litigation bars, and members of the judiciary.

The course ends with a trial that takes place at one of the local courthouses where a judge of the Court of Justice will preside. Instructors and the judge will provide feedback.

3. Legal Research and Written Advocacy Program

Litigation requires students to move beyond the academic practice of paper-writing and into the practical craft of fashioning legal opinions and arguments. To complement the Trial Advocacy Program, the ORO also offers articling students a Legal Research and Written Advocacy program. The purpose of this program is to introduce students to advanced research techniques and to assist them in developing the skills necessary to draft persuasive facta.

The program consists of four seminars spread over the course of the year. These classes give students an opportunity to explore Crown law, discuss drafting with experienced practitioners and critique legal writing from the perspective of a judge. The students will also have the chance to have their own research memos discussed and evaluated by experienced counsel on a one-on-one basis.

Legal Excellence Program - Summer Students

The ORO generally hires up to fifteen second year summer students annually. Our summer program is designed to initiate students to the practice of government litigation. The students will work one project, or a series of projects, in one of the sections of the DOJ or at the PPSC.

The following are some examples of the work assigned to students in past years:

Public Prosecutions Service of Canada

Students were assigned to work at the Old City Hall Courthouse (the busiest criminal court house in the country) to assist counsel by vetting files, performing legal research and preparing files for trial. Students also had opportunities to conduct trials and guilty pleas. Students were also assigned to work at the Superior Court of Justice Court of Appeal files. This work included research, drafting facta, summarizing transcripts, attending with counsel in court and preparing large litigation files for trial. Students have also worked at the PPSC’s Brampton office on large drug importing trials, as well as conducting summary conviction trials on their own.

Regulatory Law Section

Students have worked on a national class action lawsuit involving members of the Canadian Forces who were allegedly exposed to Agent Orange. This litigation involves simultaneous actions in several provinces. The legal issues include historical claims, negligence, military law, novel causes of action, and the Honour of the Crown. The Public Law Group assigned a student to conduct research, analyze legislation and draft facta in litigation where both Aboriginal and Charter issues were at play.

Immigration Law Section

Students were assigned to draft facta responding to applications for leave and for judicial review in the Federal Court challenging various administrative decisions under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Students also drafted motion materials and assisted counsel on motions to stay deportations from Canada. Whenever possible students were invited to observe court proceedings and given the opportunity to be part of litigation teams on high profile litigation. Students conducted research on a variety of substantive and procedural issues for important litigation files, including high profile security certificate, terrorism and class action files.

Tax Law Services Section

Students were given the opportunity to represent the Canada Revenue Agency on Informal Procedure matters before the Tax Court of Canada, conducting their examinations, cross examinations and making submissions. Students also provided research, managed documents and updated case law relating to various tax litigation or recovery issues, including the liability of directors for failing to remit employee source deductions, the liability of transferees who receive property for less than adequate consideration from a tax debtor, and applications to lift the collection restrictions imposed under the Income Tax Act.

Extradition Team

Students were assigned to assist with legal research and writing, as well as attend hearings on several extradition matters, including the extradition of three Tamil Tigers (which involved a constitutional challenge to the terrorist provisions in the Criminal Code), a forfeiture hearing before the Court of Appeal, and the Schreiber extradition proceedings.

Business Law Section

Students assisted litigation counsel on various files. Students are asked to perform research, review documents, draft memoranda of law and other documents, attend meetings and generally assist with preparation for discoveries and trial.

Aboriginal Law Section

Students provide a variety of litigation assistance to counsel on a number of files, most often on files that are heading for trial. Students are expected to immerse themselves in aboriginal law, while in the process learning much about the history Canada and its aboriginal peoples.