If you are interested in articling at the City of Toronto for the 2025-2026 term, please submit an application consisting of:
by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 28, 2024.
Applicants may submit copies of official transcripts or unofficial transcripts generated by the issuing university. The City reserves the right to request further information from applicants or the issuing university if necessary to confirm the veracity thereof. Nothing other than the specified application materials will be reviewed or evaluated and failure to submit any of the required documents may result in the application being deemed incomplete.
To the extent possible, resumes should clearly distinguish between (i) formal paid employment, (ii) extra-curricular or volunteer activities and (iii) course-based responsibilities and should provide clear start and end dates. If there are exceptional circumstances that have significantly impacted your academic performance as it appears on your transcript(s) please address same in your cover letter.
Applications are to be submitted through the viLawPortal and should be addressed as follows:
Mr. Ray Mickevicius
Director – Real Estate Law
26th Floor, Metro Hall, Stn. 1260
55 John Street
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
Reference letters may be included as part of the application package or submitted directly to the City of Toronto by way of email to articling@toronto.ca. The first and last names of the applicant should be clearly set out in the email subject line and on any email attachments.
The City of Toronto is looking to hire individuals who demonstrate strong academic credentials, relevant experience and a desire to build a career in the public sector. This can be conveyed through your cover letter, resume, law school experience and extra-curricular interests.
The City receives and reviews applications and interviews applicants in accordance with the guidelines and rules established by the Law Society of Ontario. Please refer to the Law Society of Ontario for more information.
Applicants selected for interviews will be contacted after 8 a.m. on Friday, July 19, 2024 in order to schedule the interview. Interviews will be held between 8 a.m. on Monday, August 12 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14.
Articling with the City offers aspiring legal professionals the unique opportunity to thrive in a cordial work culture. Here are some insights our lawyers shared regarding their articling experience with the City:
I found the articling program to be well-structured, especially compared to other programs in the public sector. The program helped me explore my interests and public service, and helped me discover how the government tackles difficult challenges. The lawyers are helpful and welcoming, and the students are exposed to meaningful work. Overall, it was a great experience.
Frank Weng, Solicitor
Articling Student 2021-2022
I knew I wanted to contribute to my home community as a future law practitioner, and so the City’s Articling Program was at the top of my application list. The program rotations gave me a chance to explore different practice areas and allowed me to envision myself in a variety of roles. As I explored my career opportunities, the people in Legal Services took a genuine interest in my learning and development. Not only did I grow professionally, but the supportive environment allowed me to nurture my personal life and interests even during stressful periods. To top it all off, the environment fostered our articling cohort to build a close-knit community, which I still cherish.
Michelle LaFortune, Solicitor
Articling Student, 2021-2022
I enjoyed the City of Toronto’s articling program starting from the interviewing experience to the end of my rotations. The work environment is supportive and collegial. Articling with the City provided me the opportunity to experience legal practice in a large variety of areas. I would highly recommend applying to the program to explore your full potential as a future legal practitioner.
Isan Bloom, Solicitor
Articling Student, 2020-2021
Compensation
Articling students will be paid a pro-rated salary for the 10-month term based on the annual salary for the position. The current 2024-2025 annual salary is $75,128.30. This amount is typically adjusted to reflect cost of living increases each year.
As of July 1 the starting annual salary for a first year lawyer is $110,535.88.
Holidays and Vacation
Students receive three paid floating holidays per calendar year which can be used during each calendar year. In addition, all students receive the City’s paid designated holidays. Students also accrue paid vacation at a rate of 1.25 days per month during their first calendar year of employment. Please consult the Law Society of Ontario’s Time Off Policy for articling students.
Law Society of Ontario Fees
Students will receive reimbursement of up to $5,000 for their Law Society of Ontario fees.
Other Benefits
After six months of employment, students will have access to the City’s comprehensive health and dental benefit coverage and the Employee Assistance Program which provides confidential, short-term counselling. Students also receive complimentary access to the Fitness Centre located at Metro Hall.
The City of Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the Ontario Human Rights Code and the City of Toronto’s Accommodation Policy.
Should you require accommodation during the application submission and review stage of the recruitment process, please send an email to Ray Mickevicius at articling@toronto.ca to identify this need. Any applicant requiring accommodation during the interview stage of the recruitment process will be provided the opportunity to identify that need when offers for interviews are extended.
Thank you for attending our Articling Student Open House, which took place on Thursday, June 6 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Metro Hall (55 John St., 3rd Floor, Rooms 308 and 309).
Municipal government impacts the daily lives of citizens more directly than any other level of government. Just think about roads, parks, community centres, public health services, affordable housing and social services, garbage collection, emergency services, public libraries, snow removal and the water supplied to your home. The City of Toronto provides these services and more to its residents.
As the largest city in Canada, the City of Toronto also faces many complex issues relating to, for example, freedom of information, municipal elections, corporate governance, and municipal procurement.
Our municipal lawyers help the City work by giving legal advice on these and many other matters to the City’s Agencies, Boards, Commissions, Divisions and Accountability Officers, Toronto City Council and its Committees and Sub-Committees. Municipal lawyers are often in the thick of high profile issues, such as:
We see our students as an integral part of our legal team, and we give them a high level of responsibility. During your municipal rotation, you may be asked to draft reports and bylaws to present to City Council, opinion letters, negotiated agreements and general correspondence. You will also have the opportunity to attend Board/Committee or client meetings to better understand the “why” behind your assignments.
Some of the issues you may deal with during your municipal law rotation concern:
City lawyers:
The Prosecutions section is responsible for prosecuting a variety of matters falling under Part I and Part III of the Provincial Offences Act, including:
The Prosecutions section fields a variety of legal issues on a daily basis, including constitutional and Charter challenges. Prosecutions are conducted across the city at the historic Old City Hall courthouse, the former York Civic Centre (2700 Eglington Avenue West) and the Toronto East Court Office (1530 Markham Road).
The Prosecutions team also administers the parking violation dispute process through its Administrative Penalty System at three locations across the city, including two in person offices located at Metro Hall and North York Civic Centre.
The Prosecutions rotation provides a unique hands-on legal experience. Each of the City’s articling students will participate in a multi-day rotation in the Prosecutions section. Students will have the opportunity to observe and then conduct a variety of prosecutions, initially under the guidance of prosecutors and subsequently on their own.
Did you know?
Legal Services’ Employment Law Section consists of 16 lawyers who offer a full range of employment and management-side labour law services to the City regarding its role as an employer to approximately 37,000 full and part-time employees.
Our lawyers deal with issues arising from collective agreements between the City of Toronto and major unions including: TCEU, Local 416 and CUPE, Local 79, which is the largest municipal local in Canada. We also provide legal advice to the Toronto Zoo, the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place, TO Live and the Toronto Police Services Board.
In addition to our diverse labour practice, our lawyers represent and provide legal advice to the City in matters involving non-unionized employees.
While articling at the City, Students can expect to assist in a wide variety of matters, including:
With the supervision and guidance of our lawyers, Students take an active role in all aspects of case preparation. Students may be asked to conduct client and witness interviews, research legal issues, draft opinion letters and draft pleadings or facta. Students are also assigned carriage of their own files pertaining to appeals under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
City lawyers:
Land use planning in Ontario is largely delegated to municipalities. Development applications reviewed by the City range from small additions to residential homes up to the construction of condominium and office towers.
The Planning and Administrative Tribunal Law group (or “Planning Law”) is a team of 30 lawyers whose practice focuses on the administration of the municipal planning process. The lawyers in Planning Law engage with a number of provincial and municipal planning instruments, including the Planning Act, provincial plans and policy statements, the Toronto Official Plan, and municipal zoning bylaws. The Planning Law section is regularly tasked with drafting zoning bylaws, negotiating and drafting agreements between the City and developers, and conducting hearings before the Toronto Local Appeal Body, the Ontario Land Tribunal and appeals to the Divisional Court. In their role, planning lawyers frequently provide legal advice to other City departments, including City Planning, and engage with both City Councillors and the public on matters of planning policy and development approvals.
In addition to the Toronto Local Appeal Body and the Ontario Land Tribunal, Planning Law also represents the City in a wide variety of other administrative tribunals regulating the use of private land, including the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission and the Licence Appeal Tribunal.
As a student in the Planning Law section, your work will include:
The Planning Law team is dedicated to ensuring that students learn the “nuts and bolts” of this unique area of law. We understand that students may not have been exposed to planning law issues prior to working at the City. In addition to discovering a new subject area, during this rotation students will develop and improve upon practical legal skills including oral and written advocacy, researching, and drafting.
City lawyers:
The City of Toronto employs a team of about 35 civil and commercial litigators, who enjoy a dynamic and diverse practice. The City’s litigators are at the forefront of matters of public policy as they relate to a broad range of practice areas. These include litigation matters related to:
The City’s litigators appear at all levels of court, including the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. City litigators also appear before a variety of administrative tribunals including the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Landlord and Tenant Board, the Toronto Licensing Tribunal, the Assessment Review Board as well as Coroner’s Inquests.
The articling student experience with the Litigation section is not limited to legal research. Students handle, with supervision, their own Small Claims Court files, which includes preparing pleadings, gathering evidence, arguing motions and conducting trials. When working with other lawyers, students are exposed to every stage in the litigation process, including attending at examinations for discovery and mediations.
City lawyers:
The Real Estate lawyers at the City of Toronto enjoy being part of a large and knowledgeable team dealing with diverse and sophisticated real estate transactions in a uniquely urban structure. We are continually building our City! Our work ranges from agreements with small landowners or tenants to highly complex transactions involving exceptionally valuable properties in the urban core and surrounding areas. It is not uncommon for our real estate lawyers to see their transactions trending on social media, in the daily newspapers or on the local news stations.
As valued members of the Real Estate Law team, students will work with lawyers in providing advice to City Councillors, City Council and the City’s Committees, Agencies, Boards, Commissions and Divisions. Students will gain valuable practical experience through exposure to some of the following:
Under the guidance of the conveyancing team, students will learn about real property searches and title reviews for real estate transactions, property standards, and release of construction holdbacks. Students will also learn how to register documents for all types of real estate transactions, Planning Act and Heritage Easement agreements, bylaws, discharges, and road closings.
City lawyers: