The JD Program

Source: https://law.ucalgary.ca/future-students/our-jd-programs/jd Parent: https://law.ucalgary.ca/

Review application requirements

Contents

• Full-time program
• Part-time program
• Upper-year students
• Tuition and fees

About the program

Our JD program will fully prepare you for the ever-changing legal marketplace by providing all the substantive knowledge and hands-on skill you need for success.

Full-time program

Your first year

The first year of the program provides the foundation for life-long learning in law and consists of a series of compulsory courses.

Students must achieve satisfactory performance (C or higher, or CR) in the following courses:

• Foundations in Law & Justice I & II
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Legislation
• Property
• Torts
• Crime

Upon completion of your first year, you will have a solid introduction to legal analysis and the integration of doctrine, skills and policy.

First-year course descriptions

View sample first-year course timetables

Your second and third years

Second-year mandatory courses

• Administrative Law
• Civil Procedure
• Evidence
• Ethical Lawyering
• Negotiation

Third-year mandatory course

• Advocacy

View upper-year course descriptions

Additional mandatory requirements

You must achieve satisfactory performance (C- or higher) in courses taken to satisfy the following elements, and you must submit a Written Declaration to the Office of the Associate Dean attesting to the completion of these elements:

• Upper-year writing requirement
• International requirement
• Theoretical Perspectives requirement

In the Winter term of your second year, and in third year, you have many opportunities for specialization and the ability to take clinical courses to develop your skills in a practical setting.

Additional information

• Full-time upper-year JD students must register for at least 12 credits per term, to a maximum of 18, and for at least 31 credits per year, to a maximum of 36.
• Over the second and third year of the program, students must complete at least 62 credit hours.
• Credit minimums and maximums may only be exceeded with prior approval of the Office of the Associate Dean, and approval is only given in the most exceptional circumstances.

Part-time program

You can complete the JD program in six years of study, rather than three. As a part-time student, your first year is divided over two years of academic study.

You must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Admissions Committee that special circumstances exist to justify part-time legal studies within one or more of the following categories:

• exceptional family circumstances, including single parent obligations that require a student's presence at home to care for children or other dependents, or that require the student's continued employment;
• personal or family health problems; or,
• another personal hardship, disadvantage or special challenge that does not come within either reason stated above.

Please note that work or financial considerations cannot be considered for admission on a part-time basis without other extenuating circumstances, as outlined above.

First year of study

• Foundations in Law & Justice I (3-week block course at the beginning of September)
• Foundations in Law & Justice II (3-week block course at the beginning of January)
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts OR Torts

Second year of study

• Legislation
• Property
• Crime
• Contracts OR Torts

You will have the option of continuing as a part-time student or changing to full-time status after completing your 400-level (first year) classes.

Upper-year students

Transfer students

Students who have completed their first year of study at a Canadian common law school and have written the LSAT may apply to the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary to complete two years of legal study and receive their JD from the University of Calgary.

• Applicants who are admitted as transfer students must successfully complete at least two years of study at the law school in order to be entitled to a JD from the University of Calgary.
• Space limitation in the law school will be a factor in admitting applicants; in some years few or no transfer applicants will be admitted.
• Applications to transfer will not be accepted from applicants who are not studying at a Canadian common law school, or from applicants who have already completed more than one full year at a Canadian common law school.

Letter of Permission students

Students who have completed at least one year of study at a Canadian or US law school may apply to study law at the University of Calgary for one year or one semester.

Letter of Permission students may be required by their home institution to complete certain courses while they are at the University of Calgary. The availability of those courses must be confirmed with prior to enrolment, as space is not always available in those courses. It is the sole responsibility of the student to ensure that all graduation requirements from their home law school are satisfied.

Space limitations in the law school may be a factor in admitting LOP applicants, which means in some years not all otherwise qualified LOP applicants will be admitted, even those with compelling personal reasons or extenuating circumstances that make finishing their legal studies at UCalgary Law highly desirable.

Applicants should also be aware that due to space constraints, the following compulsory courses may not be taken by Letter of Permission students:

• Any 400 level law course
• Law 503: Administrative Law
• Law 505: Civil Procedure
• Law 507: Evidence
• Law 510: Ethical Lawyering
• Law 508: Negotiation
• Law 602: Advocacy

International exchange students

Students from international law schools that have signed an official exchange agreement with the University of Calgary may apply to study at the University of Calgary as exchange students for one semester or one year.

Space limitations in the Faculty will be a factor in admitting applicants.

Exchange applicants pay tuition to their home institution, except for certain incidental fees.

Applicants should also be aware that due to space constraints, the following compulsory courses may not be taken by Exchange students:

• Any 400 level law course
• Law 503: Administrative Law
• Law 505: Civil Procedure
• Law 507: Evidence
• Law 510: Ethical Lawyering
• Law 508: Negotiation
• Law 602: Advocacy

First-year admissions

Learn about first-year admissions

Applying as an upper-year student?

Learn about admission requirements

Tuition and Fees

Tuition for the 2026-2027 academic year (First-year students)

More info about tuition and fees Scholarships, Bursaries & Financial Aid

I chose UCalgary Law because the faculty's expertise in natural resources and energy has no other competition in Canada or elsewhere in the world.

Kenryo Mizutani, JD'20, international student from Japan

Questions?

Please contact the Student Services and Admissions Office:\ law@ucalgary.ca | 403.220.4155