Approval of an Indigenous cultural training course

Press Release

February 26, 2026

Message from Treasurer Peter Wardle

Today, a majority of benchers approved the implementation of a new Indigenous cultural training course for licensees. This new course is focused on enhancing the overall competence of licensees who are increasingly representing Indigenous clients and dealing with Indigenous legal issues in their practice – across all areas of law practice, including corporate and commercial matters, estates, civil litigation, administrative and regulatory work, criminal law, family law, child protection, housing and employment and interactions with government institutions.

Part of our mandate is to ensure licensees have a baseline level of knowledge and competence. With this decision, The LSO is aligning its competency requirements with the law societies of British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Québec (mandatory for licensing candidates) and the Northwest Territories. The Law Society of Yukon is currently in the process of developing its own course.

The LSO has taken the opportunity to learn from other Canadian jurisdictions in developing this course and collaborated with Indigenous scholars and legal experts. It has been specifically designed for legal professionals and tailored to the Ontario legal context.

This course will equip licensees with a foundational understanding of the histories, cultures and rights of Indigenous peoples. In addition to enhancing competence, the course will help remove barriers and build trust – key steps towards improving access to justice for First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

While the course is mandatory for all licensees, it will be a component of a licensee’s existing mandatory CPD requirement. The course will be a one-time obligation for licensees, delivered online and at no cost. The completion of the course will fully satisfy a licensee’s annual CPD requirement in the year the course is completed.

Licensees will have two years to complete the course, with an additional year available for those required to complete the Foundations of Sole Practice program and those in other relevant circumstances. During that period, the LSO will gather feedback from licensees as they complete the course and will review that input an ongoing basis, updating the course as needed.

A report with the implementation details will be brought to Convocation for approval in April. More details are available in the Equity and Indigenous Affairs Committee Report.

Note: The course will be available in both English and French, will take approximately six hours to complete and is anticipated to launch in spring 2026.

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