Offered by Durham College in Oshawa, Canada, Bachelor of Paralegal is a bachelor's degree in Legal Studies programme. The programme runs for 9 semesters, delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 19,398 per year (CAD 6,686 per year for local students).
The Honours Bachelor of Paralegal is a direct-entry undergraduate degree at Durham College preparing students to practise as licensed paralegals in Ontario. The program covers constitutional and Charter law, criminal and summary conviction matters, contract and tort law, tribunal procedure, small claims court practice, negotiation and mediation, insurance law and employment law. It spans nine semesters delivered at the Oshawa campus and includes a mandatory 14-week, 420-hour field placement with a licensed paralegal or lawyer in a law firm, legal clinic, government agency or tribunal setting, positioned between the sixth and seventh semesters. The curriculum also builds cultural competency for serving diverse client populations, including immigrants, refugees, Indigenous peoples, women and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Because the program is accredited by the Law Society of Ontario, graduates are eligible to sit the LSO licensing examination, which qualifies successful candidates to practise as licensed paralegals. The program suits students entering directly from secondary school or as mature students who want to work independently within a regulated legal scope of practice, whether in litigation support, advocacy or administrative tribunal work, without first completing a separate diploma.
Requirements
Minimum GPA:65.00 / %
Admission Requirements: Admission requires an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or equivalent and six Grade 12 U or M courses with a combined minimum average of 65 per cent, including Grade 12 U English at a final minimum grade of 60 per cent; applicants without an OSSD may instead qualify under Mature Student Status by meeting the same English requirement, and post-secondary English courses are accepted as an alternative. English-language proficiency follows Durham College's institution-wide policy for degree programs: IELTS Academic 6.5 with no band below 6.0, TOEFL iBT 4.5 overall with no section below 4.5 (the scale in effect since 21 January 2026), PTE Academic 60 overall with no section below 57, CAEL 70 overall with no section below 70, or Duolingo English Test 120 or higher; a Grade 12 U English credit, post-secondary English course, GED, CAEC or a successful pre-admission assessment also satisfies it, and Durham offers pre-admission assessment testing to domestic applicants aged 19 or over who lack a required credit. Domestic applicants apply through OCAS; international applicants apply through the college's international application portal.
Application Details
Start Date:September, January and May
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants apply through ontariocolleges.ca: for September 2026 entry the equal-consideration date is 1 February 2026 and offers must be confirmed by 1 May 2026; January 2027 entry has an equal-consideration date of 1 October 2026 (confirm by 1 November 2026); May 2027 entry has an equal-consideration date of 1 February 2027 (confirm by 1 March 2027) - applications after these dates are still assessed while seats remain, including for programs Durham lists as highly competitive (Paramedic, Practical Nursing, Dental Hygiene and similar), which share the same cycle rather than a distinct deadline. International applicants apply directly to Durham, not through ontariocolleges.ca, and are assessed on a rolling basis against each program's published intake availability; Durham publishes no fixed international closing date. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
