Is Travelling across Canada for law school for you?

First, I’d like to introduce myself as a new writer at Law School Life and Beyond. My name is Daniel Bleiwas, and I am currently entering my second year of law school at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops BC.

I grew up in North Toronto and completed my undergrad at Western University in London, Ontario, which often felt like an extension of the neighbourhood I grew up in. When it came time for me to choose a law school, I jumped at the chance to attend school in the interior of British Columbia, somewhere I had never been before. From looking online at pictures of mountains, ski resorts, and beautiful lakes and rivers, I knew I was in for a unique experience. When I arrived, the university and life in BC exceeded all of my expectations. I can definitely say I had one of the best years of my life. (excluding the last two months when I was trapped inside my apartment due to COVID-19, of course.)

I am writing this article to share my experience of moving across the country for law school. Many people I know tend to stay closer to home for law school compared to their undergrad. I think many prospective law students from Ontario do not consider all the highly regarded law schools in the rest of the country. Therefore, I thought I could provide some helpful information about what school is like in BC. There are several pros and cons of going out west versus staying at home. There are many different factors that are important to future law students; These include recruitment opportunities, education style, work/life balance, and much more.

The culture of TRU Law fits my outgoing personality really well. I met tons of incredible people that I got along with from the very beginning. As one of the smaller law schools in Canada, the environment at TRU law felt like a blend of law school and high school, which is quite rare and unique among law schools. TRU students often hear how law schools in larger cities have so much more going on, but law school there is just a place to go to class and then return home afterwards. I think this often leads to an environment where students feel much more isolated and competitive.

Attending law school in a small town contrasts greatly because so much was centred around having a social environment. Therefore, it helped everyone become close. From countless extracurriculars to the open, social concept of a smaller campus. I felt this was a really invaluable part of my 1L year. As one of the younger students in our class, without any law experience, having lots of support from my classmates was really essential in my success.

All of this is to say I really enjoyed my first year at TRU, and I encourage anyone from around the country to apply. If you are considering attending a law school out of your home province, here are a few helpful pieces of information that may answer any common questions.

A big question I had going into law school in a different province was if the curriculum would differ from was is taught in Ontario. The answer to that is mostly no. Canada’s law society has strict requirements for law schools across the country for each JD degree to be worthy of admission to the bar. Therefore, all Canadian law schools are required to be taught the same core classes based on the same legal principles the law society demands. This leads to a reasonably consistent curriculum at all law schools across Canada. If a prospective law student looked at a syllabus for a 1L course in two separate provinces, the assigned readings and cases analyzed would be very similar. Just anecdotally, I found that when talking to law students back home, it was clear that there was no key area of law, I had not been taught or vice versa.

Moreover, because the law in Canada is mostly federal, and in areas of law under provincial jurisdiction, they are very similar across provinces. It is likely that until students choose particular areas of law in the upper years, it would not be noticeable that they are studying in a different province.

Going specifically into my 1L experience, I found that classes that deal with legal issues under provincial jurisdiction such as contracts, torts, and property, I was taught broad rules and principles handed down from England or the SCC that are consistently applied across the country.

Another aspect of law school that is on every prospective student’s mind is getting a job. For a student from Toronto or another eastern city attending school out west who would want to return home after graduation, this is the one issue that should be on your mind heading in. For law students, there is a formal interviewing process called OCI’s. This stands for On-Campus Interviews. The law school works with firms to develop a plan to hire students. For example, all the most prominent law firms recruit TRU students through this OCI process. However, because of the school’s location, the firms are hiring for their Vancouver or Calgary offices. Therefore, if you are set on returning east after school, you may be on your own to get a job. It is important to note that not every student is hired through this OCI format. In fact, only a minority of students at all law schools are hired through this process.

Consequently, many firms just hire on their own. There are currently TRU alumni working in all provinces, much like there are law students from universities out east working across the country. The critical takeaway is that while one avenue may not be available to get hired, nothing is stopping any student from sending in a resume and getting a job on their own. If you have good grades and good extracurriculars, you will have no trouble getting hired at great firms without going through the OCI process.

With all of this in mind, I would encourage anyone to step outside their comfort zone to attend law school in a new province. I gained multiple new perspectives on many issues, learned so much, and met lots of interesting and unique people that I otherwise never would have gotten a chance to meet. If any prospective law student is considering TRU or travelling far from home for law school, feel free to reach out.