The Law Societies of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan worked on a project to identify and validate the competencies needed for entry to legal practice. This initiative resulted in the development of the Western Canada Competency Profile (WCCP), which will inform lawyer training and education, including bar admission program development and experiential learning opportunities in the coming years.
While the WCCP has been approved by all four western provinces, it is not being implemented at this time.
We are sharing the WCCP now to keep the profession updated on our work around lawyer competency and to share the final product resulting from the validation survey that was disseminated last year. For the time being, students will not be assessed at the time of bar call based on the competencies listed in the WCCP, nor are principals responsible to integrate the competencies into learning plans. No action is required from articling students or principals at this time.
The WCCP is the first step in a larger initiative and it will take time to fully implement. There is a significant amount of work that still needs to be done with the WCCP, particularly around where and how these competencies will be acquired and the appropriate method of assessment for these competencies.
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| Western Canada Competency Profile |
About the WCCP
The purpose of the WCCP is to develop a framework of competencies for individuals to demonstrate at entry to legal practice that is consistent across the four western Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The WCCP serves as a foundational document that will help the law societies build a better system for lawyer competence moving forward. It will create a common benchmark for performance across all bar admission requirements that didn’t previously exist.
The WCCP establishes a foundation that will allow us to explore the following opportunities:
- Work with existing bar admission programs to evaluate which competencies they currently address and where they could be adjusted to best align with the WCCP.
- Evaluate current articling systems/experiential learning activities to understand which competencies should be acquired during this term.
- Develop better guidance for principals about the competencies students are expected to obtain through experiential learning and how principals will be expected to assess those competencies.
- Explore alternative experiential learning options that would provide students with the tools to develop the required competencies of the WCCP.
The WCCP will not serve as an additional layer of requirements for an articling student to meet. Rather, it will be used to evaluate and improve the bar admission process going forward.
Next Steps
More information will be shared as we work towards developing guidance and resources to implement the WCCP over the next few years.
We will update the profession as we make progress, and there will be opportunities for engagement with the profession as we begin to evaluate bar admission programs and experiential learning activities, but this process will take time. Nothing is changing overnight.
If you have questions about the WCCP in the interim, read our FAQ below or contact Education.
About the WCCP
The Law Societies of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan worked on a project to identify and validate the competencies needed for entry to legal practice. This initiative resulted in the development of the Western Canada Competency Profile (WCCP), which will inform lawyer training and education, including bar admission program development and experiential learning opportunities in the coming years.
The finalized WCCP was approved by the Law Society of Alberta Benchers at the April 25, 2024 board meeting and was officially approved by the other three jurisdictions as of April 26, 2024.
The WCCP will not serve as an additional layer of requirements for an articling student to meet. Rather, it will be used to evaluate and improve the bar admission process going forward.
The WCCP establishes a foundation that will allow us to explore the following opportunities:
- Work with existing bar admission programs to evaluate which competencies they currently address and where they could be adjusted to better align with the WCCP.
- Evaluate current articling systems/experiential learning activities to understand which competencies should be acquired during this term.
- Develop better guidance for principals about the competencies students are expected to obtain through experiential learning and how principals will be expected to assess those competencies.
- Explore alternative experiential learning options that would provide students with the tools to develop the required competencies of the WCCP.
Nothing. While the WCCP has been approved by all four western provinces, it is not being implemented at this time.
The WCCP is the first step in a larger initiative and it will take time to fully implement. There is still work to be done to determine how the WCCP will be used.
For the time being, students will not be assessed at the time of bar call based on the competencies listed in the WCCP, nor are principals responsible to integrate the competencies into learning plans. No action is required from articling students or principals at this time.
No, the WCCP is not being implemented at this time. For the time being, students will not be assessed at the time of bar call based on the competencies listed in the WCCP. No action is required from articling students at this time.
No, the WCCP is not being implemented at this time. For the time being, principals are not responsible to integrate the competencies into learning plans. No action is required from principals at this time.
There is a significant amount of work that still needs to be done with the WCCP, particularly around where and how these competencies will be acquired and the appropriate method of assessment for these competencies.
Participating law societies will collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to complete this work. More information and resources will be shared as they are developed, but it will take time.
We are sharing the WCCP now to keep the profession updated on our work around lawyer competency and to share the final product resulting from the validation survey that was disseminated last year.
The WCCP does not replace the PREP Competency Framework. Rather, it becomes a foundational layer that the PREP Competency Framework will be built on moving forward. No action is required from PREP students.
CPLED has developed the PREP Competency Framework to set out the skills and level at which PREP candidates need to demonstrate at the completion of PREP or Accelerated PREP. The PREP Competency Framework informs and is the basis for all PREP content.
With the introduction of the WCCP, CPLED will begin work to re-evaluate PREP and the PREP Competency Framework to ensure that it aligns with the WCCP. This will involve determining which competencies should be met through PREP and which competencies should be met at other stages of lawyer development.
There are other existing competency profiles within the legal profession in Canada. These apply to lawyers and students at various points in their careers, but the WCCP fills a gap in lawyer development.
The National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) Competency Profile outlines the competencies required for internationally trained lawyers or students to demonstrate that their legal education and experience are roughly equivalent to those of graduates of Canadian common law programs. The National Requirement sets out the minimum requirements that a law school must meet within their curriculum to be accredited. This translates to include the skills and competencies law graduates from Canada must have to qualify for entry to law society bar admission programs. The WCCP does not repeat any of the substantive knowledge competencies included in the National Requirement or NCA Profile. These are assumed to have been acquired before the point of entry to practice.
The PREP Competency Framework sets out the skills and level at which PREP candidates need to demonstrate at the completion of the PREP or Accelerated PREP. The WCCP does not replace the PREP Competency Framework. Rather, it becomes a foundational layer that the PREP Competency Framework will be built on moving forward.
In Alberta, the Professional Development Profile (PDP) sets out the competencies the Law Society of Alberta believes are important to maintain a safe, effective and sustainable legal practice following admission. It is an aspirational guide rather than a checklist for lawyers to complete. The PDP is for the continuing professional development of lawyers already called to the bar, while the WCCP sets out the competencies required for individuals at the time of bar call. Many of the competencies in the WCCP align with the PDP to allow for a smooth transition once lawyers enter the practice of law.
Background
The purpose of the WCCP is to develop a framework of competencies for individuals to demonstrate at entry to legal practice that is consistent across the four western Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The WCCP serves as a foundational document that will help the law societies build a better system for lawyer competence moving forward. It will create a common benchmark for performance across all bar admission requirements that didn’t previously exist.
It is our responsibility as the regulator to ensure the training requirements within the articling system expose students to key competencies that will help them begin successful legal careers.
The 2019 articling survey results indicated there is inconsistency in the competencies learned during articling and whether articling students felt that articling prepared them for entry-level practice. Additionally, the quality of mentorship and feedback is a challenge for both students and principals/mentors.
Competency areas covered in training and the lack of materials in certain areas were mentioned as the top reasons for how prepared (or unprepared) students felt to begin practice. This sentiment was echoed by principals, recruiters and mentors as they stated delivering a variety of experiences for training was their top challenge.
The Law Society of Alberta is currently surveying articling students/new lawyers and principals again, joined by the Law Society of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. This survey will serve as a follow-up to see if or how the articling system’s landscape has changed since 2019 and what areas still need work.
The introduction of principal training in 2022 was one step towards standardizing the mentorship that articling students receive during their experiential learning term. The WCCP clarifies the standard of competencies we are working towards for individuals at entry to practice.
An Advisory Committee made up of representatives from each law society was created to oversee the WCCP project and set guidelines for the work.
The Advisory Committee appointed a diverse group of practitioners, educators, Benchers, articling supervisors and other key stakeholders from across the four provinces—the WCCP Task Force—who then drafted and finalized the WCCP after consultation with the profession via focus groups and a validation survey in 2023.
The WCCP Task Force conducted a rigorous review and feedback from the profession was thoughtfully considered and incorporated into the final draft.
The finalized WCCP was approved by the Law Society of Alberta Benchers at the April 25, 2024 board meeting and was officially approved by the other three jurisdictions as of April 26, 2024.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba already have a common bar admission program in the form of CPLED’s PREP. British Columbia also recently identified a need to develop a competence-based system for lawyer licensing. Taken together, these factors made it a timely opportunity to bring greater consistency to bar admission standards in Western Canada.
Broader collaboration allows for cross-provincial comparisons and offers valuable insight into how we can enhance lawyer competence and, ultimately, the articling experience in our jurisdictions.
Content and Next Steps
The competencies outlined in the WCCP define the knowledge, skills and abilities that an individual should have at the time they are called to the bar in any of the four western jurisdictions. Once the WCCP is implemented, these will be the universal competencies for all individuals at entry to practice in the four western provinces, regardless of practice area or setting.
The WCCP is made up of seven domains (or areas of competency), each containing two to five competencies for a total of 25 competencies. Each competency has two to seven performance indicators for additional guidance on how that competency might be demonstrated.
The WCCP outlines seven domains in which competencies are categorized:
- Ethics and Professional Responsibilities
- Communication
- Truth and Reconciliation
- Professional Relationship Management
- Critical Thinking and Analysis
- Advice and Advocacy
- Practice Management and Well-being
Performance indicators show how these competencies can be demonstrated. They provide examples of different aspects of the competency that an individual should exhibit.
The western Canadian law societies will continue to work together in the next steps of this project over the next couple of years. This will involve developing guidance for bar admission programs and principals/supervisors.
More information will be shared as we work towards developing guidance and resources to implement the WCCP over the next few years.
If you have questions about the WCCP in the interim, contact Education.