Paralegal Certificate is a certificate in Legal Studies programme taught at University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Teaching is in English.
At a glance
Degree:Certificate
Field:Legal Studies
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
We have no tuition fees on record for this programme yet — see the official programme page.
— it helps other students.
This part-time certificate blends substantive legal study with hands-on paralegal skills for legal administrative professionals seeking career advancement. The curriculum requires four core courses — introduction to law, contracts I, torts I, and legal research and writing I — plus four electives chosen from options such as family law, criminal law, intellectual property, wills and probate, property law, corporate and commercial law, litigation, and insurance law. Classes are delivered online with scheduled meeting times, held evenings and Saturdays, with intakes in January and September; the certificate typically takes one to three years to complete part-time. Admission requires either recent completion, within the past two years, of a Legal Administrative Assistant certificate including its practicum, or current employment in a law firm with at least two years of administrative experience. According to BC Student Outcomes data cited on the page, all graduates found employment, with the majority working directly in the legal field and a reported median hourly wage of $33. The certificate suits people already working in legal administration, or those who have completed a Legal Administrative Assistant credential, who want to move into paralegal-level work through additional substantive legal coursework.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: UFV's Academic Calendar sets out the Paralegal Certificate's entrance requirements. Applicants must meet UFV's Degree/diploma-level English language proficiency requirement, satisfied by an IELTS Academic overall score of 6.5 with no band below 6.0, a TOEFL iBT score of 88 with no section below 20, PTE Academic 61 with 60 or higher in Writing, CAEL 70+, MELAB 85+, CanTEST 4.5 Listening/Reading and 4.0 Writing, or a Duolingo English Test score of 110 or higher. They must also have B.C. secondary school graduation or equivalent, or be at least 19 years old on the first day of classes, plus either a Legal Administrative Assistant certificate with practicum completed within the past two years, or two years' current legal-office administrative employment with resume and employer confirmation. Students whose GPA falls below 2.00 may be required to withdraw, and a cumulative 3.00 (B average) is required to graduate, though neither is an admission cut-off. Intakes run in January and September.
Application Details
Start Date:January and September
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants apply directly to UFV: applications for Fall (September) 2027 entry open 1 October 2026, for Winter (January) 2027 entry opened 1 May 2026, and for Summer (May) 2027 entry open 1 October 2026; UFV publishes no closing date for any of these and instead admits many programmes strictly in application-date order once every required document has arrived, so applying soon after opening matters more than any deadline. Grade 12 students may apply from 1 October of their graduating year and must send final transcripts by 3 August. International applicants use UFV International's own windows - 1 October to 31 May for Fall, 1 May to 31 October for Winter and 1 October to 1 March for Summer - and are likewise assessed on a rolling, first-arrived basis until each programme fills. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
