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.
Our students are an integral part of the firm. In a supportive and welcoming environment, you will have the opportunity to watch and work with many of the best business law experts in Canada. Through our rotation program, you will be exposed to all aspects of our practice and explore which areas of practice best suit you. You will work closely with leading practitioners across a variety of practices and styles and engage in the same challenging work as our associates.
We offer a “bespoke” summer experience, striving to develop a rotation schedule that meets 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 rotation options include Banking and Financial Services, Commercial (Construction, Franchise and Distribution, Health, Privacy and Technology), Competition and Antitrust, Corporate, Emerging and High Growth Companies, Employment and Labour, Insolvency and Restructuring, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Pensions and Benefits, Real Estate, Research, Tax or one of our secondments.
A limited number of 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. During the latter part of the summer (usually 4-6 weeks after spending the first part of the summer at the firm), students are sponsored by Osler 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 to give you the opportunity to meet your summer class as well as lawyers who will provide you with 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, a Litigation Intensive Stream is available, along with the option 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.
During your articling term, we will invest in you and value your contributions, striving to provide a work environment that is supportive and welcoming. We invest in our students as our future lawyers as they are integral to the growth of our firm.
We demonstrate this through our consistently strong hire-back results of our articling students.
Training & Mentorship
We offer one of the most comprehensive professional development programs in Canada. Our high-quality education programs, practice workshops, and discussion forums are designed to develop our expertise as specialists in an increasingly complex business and legal landscape.
Our students “start right” by commencing 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.
As a student at Osler, you will be exposed to experiential training with continuous mentorship, timely feedback, and administrative support. Our unique mentoring program is designed to immerse you in the practice of law through a variety of mentors and practice area rotations.
A member of our Students Committee will act as your personal “Advisor” throughout the summer or articling term. Your advisor will monitor your workload and regularly meet with you to discuss your professional development, feedback from other lawyers, and your overall progress. You will also work with a junior associate “Buddy” in each of your principal practice rotations. Additionally, you will be assigned to a senior partner in your area of interest giving you the unique opportunity to effectively shadow a seasoned lawyer’s practice by accompanying your “Tag-Along Partner” both in and out of the office. All of the above mentors are in addition to a dedicated Director, Student Programs to help you navigate your student experience, including workload, rotations, personal and professional concerns, licensing requirements and associate career planning.
At Osler, we recognize that mentoring is an important part of the development of our student hires. A variety of lawyers at every level will provide you with timely and regular feedback to incorporate learnings into your work. With the support of junior and senior mentors, as well as the Students Committee and Student Programs team, your experience at Osler will challenge you in an inspiring environment where you can grow and thrive.
Social
We support a healthy social network through a variety of social activities allowing students to informally connect with members across the firm. From casual dinners and get-togethers to sporting events and cultural programs, our students are integrated into the firm from their very first day. Some of our recent favourites include karaoke nights, Blue Jays games, wine tours, and our annual “Ski Day” at Blue Mountain for our articling students (with a relaxing and restorative spa experience as a luxurious alternative).
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.
Osler is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment and we welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities and people with diverse backgrounds, identities, and cultures. For candidates with disabilities, accommodations are available upon request in all phases of the selection process.
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 the dates set out below. 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.
On-Campus Interviews – Schedule
| Law School | Date(s) |
| Dalhousie University | September 5, 2024 |
| University of Alberta | September 10, 2024 |
| University of Calgary | September 10, 2024 |
| University of Victoria | September 10, 2024 |
| University of Saskatchewan | September 10, 2024 |
| University of Manitoba | September 10, 2024 |
| Thompson Rivers University | September 10, 2024 |
| Internationally Trained Lawyers (ITL) & National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) | September 13, 2024 |
| University of British Columbia | September 18, 2024 |
| McGill University (Common Law) | September 20, 2024 |
| Lincoln Alexander School of Law | September 24, 2024 |
| Western University | September 26, 2024 |
| University of Windsor | September 27, 2024 |
| Osgoode Hall Law School | October 1 & 2, 2024 |
| Queen’s University | October 8, 2024 |
| University of Toronto | October 10 & 11, 2024 |
| University of Ottawa (Common Law) | October 15, 2024 |
- 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.
Articling Program
2025/2026 Positions
As we anticipate a full complement of returning summer students articling with us for the 2025-2026 term, we are not currently accepting applications to add to our 2025-2026 class.
