Bachelor of Paralegal Studies (Honours)

The Bachelor of Paralegal Studies (Honours) is a four-year accredited degree leading toward licensing with the Law Society of Ontario — and a rare credential, since most paralegal education in Canada is diploma level.

The licensable scope is covered in full: civil litigation and Small Claims Court procedure, provincial offences and traffic law, landlord and tenant matters, employment and human rights law, administrative law and tribunal advocacy, evidence and trial advocacy, legal research and writing, and legal ethics and practice management. Degree-level depth adds constitutional and public law, legal theory and jurisprudence, alternative dispute resolution, legal research methods, and comparative and emerging areas of law.

Two reasons to choose the degree. It positions graduates for law school or graduate study in a way a diploma cannot, and as a degree it is exempt from the PGWP field-of-study restriction that applies to the paralegal diploma and graduate certificate.

The work placement is a graded part of the program, so you finish with documented Canadian experience and a referee rather than only a transcript.

Humber Polytechnic — formerly Humber College — is Ontario’s largest public college and a Designated Learning Institution (DLI O19376943122). The Lakeshore campus sits on the shore of Lake Ontario in south Etobicoke, next to Colonel Samuel Smith Park, and is home to Humber’s business degrees, media and creative arts, and social and community services programs. Heritage buildings, a residence opened in 2024 and a free shuttle to the North campus make it the most distinctive of Humber’s sites.

Its field maps to CIP 22.0302 (Legal assistant/paralegal). Because this is a degree, graduates are exempt from the November 2024 PGWP field-of-study restriction that applies to college credentials. Full-time on-campus study and graduation remain the conditions, and IRCC makes the final decision.