Frequently Asked Questions

Thesis: The Master's thesis should reveal that the candidate is able to work in a scholarly manner and is acquainted with major issues and published research on the subject of the thesis. It must make an original contribution to legal scholarship. A good thesis is thoroughly researched, demonstrates rigorous critical thinking and analysis, presents a detailed methodology and accurate results, and includes thorough verification of knowledge claims. The thesis should be between 20,000 and 25,000 words and may not exceed 35,000 words in length (approximately 100-130 pages). It must be of publishable quality and must satisfy a jury of at least two members appointed by the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies in Law and approved by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Research Paper: The research paper is shorter than a thesis and consists of extensive research and a strict methodology. The student must show the ability to work independently in a scholarly manner, just as with a thesis. The paper should offer something original or useful in the field of research it relates to. The finished paper should be between 10,000 and 15,000 words in length (approximately 50-60 pages). The paper will be evaluated on a "Satisfactory/Not-Satisfactory" basis by the research paper supervisor and the second evaluator, suggested by the supervisor.

No pre-evaluation service is available, you must submit an application with the necessary documents for an evaluation to be carried out. Applicants are advised that meeting the basic eligibility criteria does not guarantee admission to the program.

Applicants who applied for admission in a previous year must submit a new application form and pay the fee. Application files are retained for one year. Therefore, if you applied for admission last year, you may request that supporting documents from your earlier file be placed in your current file; however, if you applied more that one year ago, all supporting documentation must be resubmitted. 

Winter and Summer admissions are not available for the LL.M. program.

Subject to availability in the program, strong applications will continue to be accepted after the deadlines. International applicants are advised to apply well in advance of departmental deadlines as immigration procedures can be very lengthy.

Please note that all required supporting documents must be submitted in order in order for your application to be evaluated.

Once you have submitted your application and it has been transferred to uOttawa’s servers, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access uoZone, where you will be able to enter the name of your referees.

We require the submission of two letters of recommendation. Consult specific program requirements.

Given that these are an important part of the admissions process, it is recommended that you think carefully about who will provide a letter of reference.

We invite you to contact your referees two to three weeks before submitting your application to confirm their availability, as well as their e-mail address and professional title, as you will need to provide the name and contact information of your references on the uoZone Student Portal.

• Unless the application requirements for your program states that professional references are acceptable or required, letters of recommendation must come from qualified academic scholars who can attest to and demonstrate your potential for graduate-level study or research.
• Let the individuals know that the University of Ottawa’s letter of recommendation process is done online and is entirely confidential. They will receive a link by email to the secure online system.
• It is helpful to provide the individuals with a deadline in order to ensure they submit their letters of recommendation before the application deadline. Your application will not be considered complete (and thus not evaluated) until all your letters of recommendation are received.
• Letters of recommendation must be in English or French.
• We do not accept letters of recommendation from family members, friends, students, former or current classmates, employees or teaching assistants.
• It’s best to provide academic or work email addresses for those providing letters of recommendation. Email address from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc. are discouraged.

• ​​If you study (or have studied) at the University of Ottawa, you do not  have to submit your transcripts or diplomas for the University of Ottawa.
• If you have studied at other post-secondary institutions, you must upload your transcripts and diplomas through the student portal.
• The submission of all official transcripts of the universities attended including the grading scale is mandatory. This requirement applies to all types of courses and / or programs taken such as: regular programs (completed or not), exchange programs, letters of permission, online or correspondence courses, courses followed as a special student or visiting student, etc.
• Transcripts and diplomas in a language other than French or English must be accompanied by a translation (in French or English) provided by the institution that issued them or by an authorized translator. A copy of the documents in the original language is still required; translation alone is not enough.
• Transcripts and diplomas will be verified to ensure their authenticity.
• In the event that you receive an offer of admission, you must arrange for an official copy of your transcripts and diplomas to be sent to the University of Ottawa.
• Please note that we do not accept third party transcripts (eg WES - World Education Services).
• College transcripts are not required.

If you feel that certain exceptional events affected your academic performance, you can inform the Admissions Committee of these circumstances by enclosing a letter of explanation in your file. You may provide supporting documents where appropriate.

The thesis or research paper proposal provides the Admissions Committee with the necessary information to assess your ability to develop and articulate a research project. Furthermore, the research proposal is used to match you with faculty members suitable for supervising your work, and is an important factor in selecting candidates for admission. It is, therefore, important that the proposal be well structured and carefully written. It is understood that, if admitted, this proposal may undergo significant changes as a result of further research and direction from the supervisor. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will lead to a rejection of your application.

*Please note that we do not provide an example.

For applications to the Master’s program, in any concentration, the description of your Master’s thesis proposal or research paper proposal (500 words) should include the following elements:

• Your full name
• Title of your intended research project
• Research Proposal: Specify your research area and give a description of the particular topic under consideration.
• Preparation: Comment on your background preparation and your suitability to undertake this topic: language abilities (if required), courses and seminars taken, any personal research or experience of note.

For applications to the Doctoral program, the description of your Doctoral thesis proposal (2,000 words) should include the following elements:

• Your full name
• Title of your intended research project
• Research Proposal: Specify your research area and give a description of the research project you would like to undertake during your Ph.D. (definition of the subject, research question, context, methodology and theoretical framework, if known)
• Preparation: Comment on your background preparation and your suitability to undertake this topic: language abilities (if required), courses and seminars taken, any personal research or experience of note.

For applications for admission to the Master of Laws with concentration in Notarial Law, course option, no project to submit.

French and English are the languages ​​of instruction at the University of Ottawa. All future students must demonstrate a minimum level of language proficiency in French or English before being admitted. We do not require skills in both languages.

Candidates with neither English nor French as their mother tongue must meet one of the following criteria:

Have completed a post-secondary diploma in French or English at a university whose language is French or English as one of the official languages ​​of instruction, in a country where English or French is the primary language.

OR

You may be exempted from proof of language proficiency if you submit documentation showing that you have obtained a post-secondary degree in a French or English-language university.

OR

Have obtained a minimum of 2 years full time university degree in French or English from a  North American University.

OR

Have the minimum scores required in one of the following language tests:

English-language program tests

• TOEFL (academic):  Internet-based: 100; Computer-based: 250; Paper-based: 600

    Please note that the University’s institution code is 993 and the department code for Law is 03.

• CAEL : 70
• PEARSON : 68
• MELAB : 87
• IELTS (academic module): 7.0
• CANTEST : 5.0 (listening/reading) and 4.5 (writing)

French-language program tests:

• DELF : Niveau B2
• DALF : Niveau C1 ou C2
• TESTCan: 4.5 (listening/reading) and 4.5 (writing)

No, the LSAT is not required for admission to the Graduate Studies in Law program at the University of Ottawa.

Once you have submitted your application, payed the application fee and it has been transferred to uOttawa’s servers, you will receive an acknowledgement email from the University with instructions on how to access uoZone, where you will be able to upload the required documents. This process can take up to 10 business days.

You do not need to submit official copies of the documents required at the time you submit your application. If you receive an offer of admission, you will need to request an official copy of all your transcripts. These transcripts will have to be sent to the Faculty directly from your previous institutions. International students may submit notarised documents, which must be received in official envelopes, sealed and endorsed by a legal counselor.

• Master's with research paper: minimum of one year (3 terms) full-time; maximum of one year and 4 months (4 terms)
• Master’s with thesis: minimum of one year (3 terms) full-time; maximum of one year and 8 months (5 terms)
• Doctorate: maximum of 5 years (15 terms).

There is considerable variation among individuals.

The tuition fees vary from year to year. For more details, please consult the tuition fees web page and the Estimate the cost of university studies web page.

The University and the Faculty of Law offer a limited number of admission scholarships and financial awards. All eligible applicants will be automatically considered for an Admission Scholarship.

Other financial awards may require that the candidate follow specific instructions and may have specific deadlines. We encourage all candidates to make every effort to obtain assistance from external sources. For more details, please consult the list of Scholarships and Financial Support from the Office of the Vice-Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the list of Scholarships and Financial Support from the Faculty of Law

No, if you are a foreign trained lawyer who wishes to practice law in Canada, you must have your law degree accessed by the National Committee on Accreditation.

Some residence spaces may be available on campus, and there is a wide range of housing in Ottawa and across the Ottawa River in Gatineau. Please consult Housing Services.

This cannot be achieve thru or combined with our graduate programs.  For more information, please visit the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) web site.

The Graduate Studies Committee of the program concerned bases its decision on the sum of all required documents once the application is complete.

To be considered for admission to the master of laws (LLM) program applicants must:

• have an undergraduate law degree (LL.L., LL.B., J.D. or B.C.L.) from a Canadian university or an equivalent foreign law degree;
• have an average of at least 70% (B), calculated in accordance with graduate studies guidelines;
• a particular attention is paid to relevant legal experience, prior research and letters of reference.

Admission to our Master of Laws is quite competitive. Candidates generally considered must hold an undergraduate law degree, unless they have considerable practical and professional experience in the area they propose to research which would justify admission to the graduate  studies in law. Candidates applying with a non-law related undergraduate degree are extremely rarely, if ever, admitted into the program on the strength of a non-law undergraduate degree.

Admission will depend not just on the academic caliber of the candidate, but also on faculty resources. We will not admit candidates whose proposed research proposal fall outside the expertise of our faculty members available to act as supervisors. Candidates are strongly advised to review the online profiles for Faculty of Law professors, and to ensure their research proposals deal with subjects lying within faculty member fields of research expertise. Research topics must have an evident legal focus. It is extremely unlikely that a candidate proposing a topic of pure foreign law, without any international or Canadian comparative element will be admitted to the graduate program.

Exceptionally, a degree from another discipline may be accepted, but only if you have acquired experience in the legal field or legal-related areas, and your proposed research project concerns legal matters. Applicants who are current students in, or recent graduates of, degrees other than those listed above will generally not be considered for admission.

To be considered for admission to the Doctorate in law program applicants must:

• have a master of laws degree (LLM) from a Canadian university or an equivalent foreign law degree;
• have an average of at least 75% (B+), calculated in accordance with graduate studies guidelines;
• a particular attention is paid to relevant legal experience, prior research and letters of reference.
• demonstrated legal research and writing abilities;
• a particular attention is paid to relevant legal experience, prior research and letters of reference.

Exceptionally, a degree from another discipline may be accepted, but only if you have acquired substantial experience in the legal field or legal-related areas, and your proposed research project concerns legal matters.  Applicants who are current students in, or recent graduates of, degrees other than those listed above will generally not be considered for admission.