Program Overview

The two-year Law and Justice Studies diploma program is designed to prepare you for a career in the legal profession. You will acquire the skills, training and support to strengthen your future career in a variety of legal professions including law, law enforcement, paralegal, criminology, advocacy, social justice and legal security.

As a graduate of this program you will be well situated to transfer your first two years of post-secondary study into a receiving institution of your choice to continue your legal studies and training. You will be of great service to any community you chose to work in after graduation, but most importantly, rural communities in need of greater access to justice for their citizens.

Curriculum

This program is learner focused and accountable to student needs through core courses designed for future legal studies, and a significant range of flexibility and choice. Legal professionals come from a broad range of academic backgrounds and law programs emphasize the importance of students pursuing their interests in undergraduate education with electives each year. Our unique curriculum includes conflict resolution, transformative justice and a focus on issues specific to legal systems in rural areas.

Community Partnerships and Collaboration

Lawyers are fundamentally tied to their communities, especially in rural settings and our program will give you first-hand knowledge and experience of how that connection might look once you are finished your education through connection to local lawyers, judges and advocacy groups who are working every day to increase access to justice in our local region.

Labour Market Demand

The average age of lawyers in Canada is over 50 years and as a result, we will soon be facing a shortage of lawyers across the country. This situation is even more critical in rural areas where the number of practicing lawyers is shrinking due to high rates of retirement. In response, there is a growing focus toward easing strain on the legal system in British Columbia through increased training and expansion of responsibilities for paralegals and incentives programs for rural legal professionals. By directly increasing  the number of trained legal professionals with a rural background, our program is helping to solve the “Access to Justice” challenges facing our province today.