Explore our programs to find the one that's right for you.

Consult specific program requirements.

Considerations that might affect the prospects of admission to the LL.M.

Admission to our Master of Laws is quite competitive. Candidates generally considered must hold an undergraduate law degree (LLB, JD, LLL), 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.

The documents required for admission depend on the program you are interested in. Please refer to the list of specific program requirements.

The application process is done entirely online. Create your OUAC Account/Profile and complete the online application.

You will be required to pay a non-refundable application fee when submitting your application.

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 (see step 8). 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.

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. Once you have logged in, you must go in the "Applications" section to have access to the uoDoc: Upload Admissions Documents application where you will be able to upload your documents.

You must upload a full set of documents for each program you are applying to, through uoZone, the student portal. Regarding filenames and file format, please respect the following instructions:

• We highly recommend that you convert your documents to PDF formats.
• File names cannot include parentheses ( ), quotations “ or any other special characters.
• Keep the file name short and relevant to its content.
• Separate words with an underscore ( _ ).
• Make sure to preview your document since you cannot edit or delete once it is submitted.

Please do not download all your supporting documents in one file. Each element of the checklist must have a corresponding document. Otherwise, your request will be considered incomplete. If you submit non-required electronic documents, they will be deleted.

When all the documents from the checklist are uploaded, your file will be marked has completed in your uoZone portal.  Once our verification is done, you could be contacted if some documents are considered as problematic.

This process can take up to 10 business days.

An admission agent verifies that your application is complete (all required documents are received), calculates your average and sends your application to the admissions committee for the final decision.

All applications are reviewed by the Admissions Committee, which recommends your eligibility for the program.

You can consult your uoZone  account at any time to see the progress of the evaluation.

Final decisions are communicated via your uoZone portal, please allow 4 to 6 weeks after your application is deemed complete and under evaluation.

If you are admitted to a program, you will receive an offer of admission via your uoZone account.

No deposit is required to confirm your decision. However, you MUST accept your offer by the date specified on your offer of admission in order to retain your place.

To accept your offer, you must log into your uoZone account. Any conditions of admission specified on your offer must be met before enrolment in your classes.

If you are refused, according to the academic regulation II-1, a refusal of admission by the faculty is final. Admission appeals are only considered on procedural grounds.