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Enhancing the Articling Experience for New Legal Professionals

February 4, 2025

Resolution passed at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Bar Association.

WHEREAS the CBA acts to improve and promote the knowledge, skills, ethical standards and well-being of members of the legal profession;

WHEREAS the articling experience is a critical stage of legal training, yet studies reveal significant challenges, including reports of discrimination and harassment1, and a work culture that places high demands for sustained performance that come into conflict with professional-personal balance 2 ;

WHEREAS these factors contribute to high attrition rates among articling students, as noted in the Wellness in the Legal Profession Report, many of whom consider leaving the profession early;3

WHEREAS the Canadian Bar Association launched a survey in October 2024 to gather comprehensive data on the articling experience across Canada; 
profession tôt dans leur carrière3;

WHEREAS engagement with articling students, lawyers, legal employers, and law societies is essential to ensure articling requirements produce competent lawyers who serve the public interest and uphold the law; and

WHEREAS engagement with legal employers is essential to ensure that training articling students remains a viable and effective strategy for recruitment and retention.

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Canadian Bar Association commit to:

  1. Maintain engagement with lawyers and articling students to identify continuing challenges faced during articling.
  2. Engaging, where appropriate, with legal employers to address challenges in hiring, training and retaining articling students, and to develop practical strategies for improving the articling process.
  3. Engaging, where appropriate, with law societies to evaluate articling requirements necessary to maintain high standards of lawyer training and public protection.
  4. Articulating and presenting recommendations based on insights from the Articling Survey and subsequent engagement activities to enhance the articling experience for new members of the legal profession.

1. Law Society of Alberta, 2024 Articling Survey, September 2024, online. 

2. Cadieux, Nathalie, et al. Preliminary Report: A Study on the Mental Health of Legal Professionals in Canada.

Université de Sherbrooke, October 2022, online, at 181-182, 184. See also CBA Articling Survey results. 

3 Supra, note 2, at 179179.

Resolution carried at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Bar Association held in Toronto, ON, February 4, 2025.

Steve Levitt, BA (Hons), LLB / B.A. (spéc.), LL.B. Chief Executive Officer/Chef de la direction

Download the Resolution