As a signatory to the National Mobility Agreement and the Territorial Mobility Agreement, the Law Society has adopted rules that ease the requirements for the temporary inter-jurisdictional practice of lawyers and the requirements for call and admission of lawyers who wish to move permanently from one province to another.
To transfer to BC under Law Society Rule 2-81 and the National Mobility Agreement, a lawyer must be entitled to practise law in a reciprocating jurisdiction, or one that has signed the National Mobility Agreement and adopted regulatory provisions giving effect to the requirements of the agreement. At present, the reciprocating jurisdictions are BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
The Barreau du Québec is also a signatory but must receive various approvals and possibly separate rules, in recognition of differences between the legal systems of Quebec and the common law provinces. The Chambre des Notaires in Quebec has not signed the National Mobility Agreement.
Under the Territorial Mobility Agreement, the Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories law societies agreed to join the common law provincial law societies in the National Mobility Agreement with respect to lawyers transferring from one jurisdiction to another.
The National Mobility Agreement and Territorial Mobility Agreement are both reciprocal agreements. In other words, for a lawyer to benefit from the provisions of the agreement, both the lawyer's home law society and the law society in the jurisdiction to which the lawyer wishes to transfer must both have signed and implemented the agreement.
For further information, contact Registration and Licensee Services at the Law Society.