Summer Program
Toronto has a vibrant capital market with a globally recognized financial services sector. Located in the heart of the financial district, as a summer student you’ll have the opportunity to serve global firms, emerging companies and entrepreneurs across all industries and on all sizes of transactions. Our Toronto office is also the gateway to our integrated cross-border capabilities for domestic, U.S. and international clients.
Through our rotational program, we offer a “bespoke” summer experience, thoughtfully curated to meet your individual learning goals and interests. During the summer term, you can choose your rotations in two practice areas, and spend half of your summer in each area – though if you’re focused on developing your advocacy skills, you can fully immerse yourself in our Litigation department by participating in our Litigation Intensive stream.
Some of our rotation options include:
- Banking and Financial Services
- Commercial (Construction, Franchise and Distribution, Health, Privacy and Technology)
- Competition, Trade and Foreign Investment
- Corporate
- Emerging and High Growth Companies
- Employment and Labour
- Insolvency and Restructuring
- Intellectual Property
- Litigation
- Pensions and Benefits
- Real Estate
- Research
- Tax
Summer students may participate in the firm’s Summer Public Interest Advocacy Program which is jointly sponsored by the Osler Students Committee and the Osler Diversity Committee for the latter part of the summer. This allows students to work for a public interest group or other entity involved with issues affecting women, racialized groups, the 2SLGBT+ community, or other minority groups.
To help give you the tools and information needed to understand which exciting rotation options are available to you, in advance of summering with us, we bring our newest Oslerites into the firm for the Osler Trade Show for better insights on each of our practice areas.
Articling Program
During your articles, you will have the opportunity to rotate through up to four practice areas over the ten-month term. In addition, your have the opportunity to participate in an external client secondment to learn about legal service from the client perspective. Notwithstanding the framework of our rotation program, students have the flexibility to continue on a matter from beginning to end.
Training & Mentorship
Our students start their summer and articling terms with a two-week foundation program, which covers practice management, substantive law and skills development. Our students also take part in our #OslerStudentExperience, which is an immersive, team-based challenge that recreates key tasks students face in both transactional and advocacy practices.
During your summer and articling experience, you can take advantage of our extensive in-house seminars and workshops, covering all aspects of our practice areas from traditional research and legal writing to critical hands-on skills. You will also benefit from the following forms of formal mentorship:
A member of our Students Committee who is dedicated to your growth and development. They will monitor your workload and regularly meet with you to discuss feedback and your overall progress.
A formal mentor, who is a junior associate in each of your principal rotations. They are there to be your sounding board, to help you integrate and to help with your workflow.
Ever wonder what it looks like to practice as a senior M&A lawyer or a top seasoned litigator? Have the opportunity to job shadow a senior partner as part of our summer program offerings.
Offers confidential 1:1 coaching as well as a group curriculum specifically created for our students.
Our Director is there as a resource to help you navigate your summer and articling terms, providing guidance and support every step of the way.
With the support of these mentors your experience at Osler will challenge you in an inspiring environment where you can grow and thrive.
How to Apply
Our summer and articling programs are reserved for law students. The recruitment of summer and articling students is governed by the guidelines of the Law Society of Ontario (“LSO”). Applications are only accepted through the online application portal. Applications received otherwise will not be reviewed.
2025 Summer Program
The key dates for the 2025 Summer Student Recruitment Drive are as follows:
- Application Deadline: Monday, July 22nd, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. ET, as determined by the LSO.
- On-Campus Interviews (“OCI”): Representatives from our Toronto office will be conducting virtual student interviews across the country for 2025 second year summer positions on various dates. Your Career Development Office will advise if you have been selected for an OCI and will be setting the interview schedule for the OCI date. We will also send you an email to let you know if you will be receiving an OCI and will provide the video platform details in advance. If you are applying from a school where we do not currently conduct OCIs, or from a non-Canadian law school, we will contact you (see Intent to Call below) to advise whether we will be scheduling an interview with you in advance of the November 4th – November 6th Interview Week.
- Intent to Call (“ITC”): After OCIs, an ITC email will be sent to those students who will be advancing in the recruitment process to advise that we will be reaching out on the LSO prescribed “Call Day” (see below) to make arrangements for second round interviews during the November 4th – November 6th Interview Week.
- Call Day: In accordance with the LSO recruitment guidelines, Call Day will be taking place at 8:00 a.m. ET on October 22nd, 2024. Our calls will be punctual and brief in order to schedule a 90-minute interview on Day 1 of Interview Week (November 4th).
- Interview Week: Second round interviews will be taking place from November 4th – November 6th, 2024. Candidates meeting with Osler during Interview Week should reserve 90 minutes for their first interview. Subsequent interviews on Day 2 and Day 3 will be roughly 60 minutes in length. For the duration of Interview Week, each candidate will be paired with a dedicated associate host to guide the candidate through the process.
- Offers: In accordance with the LSO recruitment guidelines, offers of employment may not be communicated before 5:00 p.m. ET on November 6th, 2024.
2025 Articling Program
At this time, we are not accepting applications for Articling positions for 2025–2026 class.
