Upper-Year Admission Requirements

If you have successfully completed your first year of study at a Canadian common law school and have written the LSAT, you may apply to transfer to UCalgary Law.

Since upper-year students cannot take first-year courses at UCalgary Law, you must have completed the following mandatory classes in first year: Constitutional Law, Contracts, Crime, Property, and Torts. There are no exceptions to these requirements.

A transfer application will not be considered for admission if you are not studying at a Canadian common law school, or if you have already completed more than one full year at a Canadian common law school.

Submit your online application between February 1 and May 15. Supporting documents are due June 1. 

See below for required supporting documents.

Your application will be assessed using the same criteria as for first-year admissions. We will also consider your performance in your first year of law school and your stated reasons for wishing to transfer which should be clearly set out in your application.

All transfer applications will be assessed after the application deadline, not on a rolling basis.

Space limitation in the law school are a factor in admitting transfer applicants, which means that in some years few or no transfer applicants will be admitted. Typically, we receive more transfer applications than we can accommodate, and applicants should be prepared for the possibility of receiving regrets despite compelling or extenuating personal circumstances.

If you have completed at least one year of study at a Canadian or US law school, you may apply to study at UCalgary Law for one year or one semester as a Letter of Permission (LOP) student.

Exceptionally, if you are applying for an LOP from a Canadian civil law or Francophone school which does not require the LSAT as part of their admissions process, you may apply to UCalgary Law without writing the LSAT.

Your law school may require you to complete certain courses while you are at UCalgary Law. UCalgary Law cannot guarantee course availability. It is your responsibility to ensure you meet the graduation requirements for your law school. We recommend completing all required courses at your law school prior to applying for an LOP.

Due to space constraints, LOP students may not take any of the following courses:

• 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

Please note that in any given year additional course restrictions may apply.

Submit your online application between the following dates:

• February 1 to May 15 for Fall applications, with supporting documents due June 1. 
• September 1 to October 1 for Winter applications, with supporting documents due October 15. 

See below for required supporting documents.

As an LOP applicant, you must also provide a Letter of Permission from your current law school indicating that you are in good standing and have not been subject to any disciplinary actions, nor have you breached any university regulations regarding student academic or non-academic misconduct. Either you or your law school can send the letter by email to law@ucalgary.ca.

Your application will be assessed based on your performance in law school, though we will also consider the same criteria used for first-year admissions and the reasons you wish to attend UCalgary Law on an LOP.

If you are attending an international law school that has signed an official exchange agreement with UCalgary, you may apply to study at UCalgary Law for one year or one semester as an International Exchange student.

Exchange applicants are not required to write the LSAT; however, you may be required to complete the TOEFL and demonstrate appropriate competency in written and spoken English.

Submit your application through the Study Abroad Office. The Study Abroad Office will also collect your supporting documents and forward your completed application to the Faculty of Law for assessment.

Required supporting documents include two reference letters from law school instructors, transcripts from every post-secondary institution you have previously attended, and a Statement of Interest that indicates the reasons you wish to attend UCalgary Law on an exchange.

Please refer to the Study Abroad Office website for application deadlines, and how to submit your application and supporting documents.

Due to space constraints, International Exchange students may not take any of the following courses:

• 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

Please note that in any given year additional course restrictions may apply.

This application procedure is for law students currently attending the University of Houston Law Center, who have received approval from UH to apply for the IELP.

If you are not currently a law student at the University of Houston, please refer to the admission procedure for first-year JD applicants.

• The online application for the IELP is accessible by invitation only, between June 15 and July 1, with supporting documents due August 1.
   
• We will send you an invitation by email when the application opens, which will include a link to the online application form. You must use the emailed link to access the online application; the IELP applicant category cannot be accessed through the regular online application.
   
• To access the online application, you must create an eID. For help with creating an eID or with recovering a previous eID, please contact the IT Support Centre.
   
• After signing into the online application with your eID, you will see that an application has already been started for you. Please click "edit" next to this application to complete the application; you must not start a new application, or you will not be able to access the IELP application category to complete your application.

See below for required supporting documents.

You must provide your LSAC account number (e.g. L12345678) in your online application. We will use your LSAC account number to get your LSAT report directly from LSAC.

You must provide one official transcript from every post-secondary institution that you have attended, even if you did not graduate. Please note that UCalgary Law cannot order them on your behalf.

You must wait until your winter term grades are posted before sending your law school transcript for Fall term applications. If you are a Winter term LOP applicant, you may send your law school transcript when you apply in the fall.

The Admissions office will automatically download your UCalgary transcript if you previously attended UCalgary.

If you applied to UCalgary Law within the past three years, some official transcripts may be pulled forward, unless you have taken more courses at that institution. Please note that we cannot use an unofficial transcript from the Fall 2021 application cycle for the assessment of a reapplication.

Transcripts that are not in English or French must be accompanied by a notarized translation.

Please use the following address if mailing official transcripts. Mailed transcripts must arrive in a sealed envelope from the issuing institution.

Law Admissions, MFH 2380
University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4

Official digital transcripts can also be sent directly by the issuing institution to law@ucalgary.ca, through the ApplyAlberta network, or through secure electronic delivery services such as Parchment, e-Script-Safe, or National Student Clearinghouse.

• Official Transcripts FAQs

You must provide the names and contact information for two referees when submitting your online application. Both referees must be law school instructors for all upper-year applications.

We will send your referees an email with a unique link to access and upload their reference form within two weeks after you submit your application. Your referees must submit their reference form by 11:59 pm MT on the supporting documents deadline indicated for your applicant category.