Bar Call & Enrolment – Law Society of Alberta

Once you have successfully completed your bar admission requirements (the required articling term and the CPLED program) or your transfer application has been approved, please complete the following steps in order to schedule your bar call and submit your application to enrol as a member of the Law Society.

1. Schedule your bar call directly with the courts

Schedule your bar call ceremony directly with the court. Your ceremony date needs to be a minimum of 30 days after the completion of your articling term (to clarify, this means 30 days after the last day of your articles) or following the approval of your transfer application. The Law Society requires 30 calendar days to process your application. This means your ceremony date also needs to be at least 30 days after the submission of a complete enrolment application to the Law Society (see step 3 below).

PLEASE NOTE: An applicant for enrolment appearing before a judge must be properly gowned and attired and shall be presented to the presiding judge by an active member of the Society. Please review Rule 67 of the Law Society of Alberta which outlines all requirements of the enrolment procedure.

You can schedule your bar call at one of the following locations:

Court of Queen’s Bench (Edmonton) Law Courts, Main Floor 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton, AB T5J 0R2Bar admission booking request form	Court of Queen’s Bench (Calgary) Calgary Court Centre 705N, 601 5 Street SW Calgary, AB T2P 5P7 Bar admission booking request form
Court of Appeal (Edmonton) 780.422.1585 Court of Appeal Law Courts, Main Floor 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton, AB T5J 0R2	Court of Appeal (Calgary) 403.297.6725 Court of Appeal 2600, TransCanada Tower 450 – 1st ST, SW Calgary, AB T2P5H1
Provincial Court of Alberta (for Bar Admissions south of Red Deer) Office of the Chief Judge (Calgary) at 780.415.0096	Provincial Court of Alberta (for bar admissions in Red Deer, Edmonton and northern Alberta) Office of the Chief Judge (Edmonton) at 780.422.4733

2. Notify the Law Society of your bar call date

Once you have confirmation from the courthouse where you have scheduled your bar call, notify the Law Society immediately by completing one of the options below:

Online applicant requirements

If you applied for student-at-law status online, on or after April 1, 2019, you must complete the Call Ceremony Notification in the Lawyer Portal. You can then track and manage the required steps to complete the application online.

Click here for step-by-step instructions.

Paper applicant requirements

If you applied for Admission to the Law Society prior to April 1, 2019, with a paper-based application, please contact Membership for the applicable forms.

Canadian lawyer transfer requirements

If you are a Canadian lawyer and your transfer application has been approved, please email a completed Notification of Call Ceremony form to Membership.

3. Submit your complete application for enrolment as a member to the Law Society

Student Applicants

The final step is to submit your complete application for enrolment as a member to the Law Society. The Law Society requires 30 days to process your complete application at which time the invoices for enrolment will be available in your Lawyer Portal. You are required to pay membership fees and/or indemnity levies depending on your chosen status. Please note that your application is not considered complete until all requirements on the checklist in your Lawyer Portal have been submitted. Please only schedule your bar call date 30 days after you submit a complete application to the Law Society; failing to do so may result in having to reschedule your bar call. Once your enrolment invoices have been generated, online payment will be due 10 business days prior to your Call date. If you are looking for work and are not employed, you may skip the Business Location section of the checklist.

While a typical application takes approximately 30 days to review, if an enhanced consideration of good character is required, this will impact the time it takes to review your application. An enhanced review of good character may include an investigation and/or a good character hearing. Students-at-law may not apply for enrolment if they have open complaints (see Rule 66.3).

Below are the requirements to complete your application if you applied for student-at-law status using the online application process introduced in April 2019. Once the below requirements have been submitted, your application will be reviewed and membership staff will be in touch with you regarding the next steps. If you applied for Admission to the Law Society prior to April 1, 2019, with a paper-based application, please contact Membership for the applicable forms.

Enrolment Application
Lawyer Status
Business Location (note that this is not required if you will be non-practicing, unemployed or seeking employment. However, if you are looking to begin practice as a sole practitioner, please contact Membership for information on how to proceed.)
Official Law School Transcript (if not previously submitted) must be contained in an original sealed envelope from the university or emailed directly from the university to the Law Society.
Fees: You will be notified once invoices are available in your Lawyer Portal. Invoices are generated based on the information you provided on your call Ceremony Notification and the status you selected for enrolment. Payment is due 10 business days prior to your call date.

For more details, click here for the Online Enrolment How-To Guide.

Please send required documents to the attention of Membership. Any required forms or supplemental documents such as proof of identification and Certificates of Standing from any jurisdiction outside Alberta and/or Canada can be scanned and emailed or sent by traditional mail.

Visit our Status Options & Contact Information Changes page for more information on which status options you have to choose from when you are called to the bar.

Transfer Applicants

Once your Application to Transfer is approved, you may proceed to book your bar call directly with the courts as per the instructions above in Step 1. After you have scheduled your call ceremony, submit the following to Membership:

An applicable status application form; for example, if you are selecting an indemnity exempt status, proof of insurance/indemnity may be required. See our Status & Contact Information Changes page for more information on which status options you have to choose from when you are called to the bar, including the following:
Application for Professional Liability Indemnity Coverage (Form 7-1) OR
Application for Exemption from Professional Liability Indemnity Coverage (Form 7-2) OR
Application for Active Member, Pro Bono Legal Services OR
Election to Become an Inactive Member (Form 2-20)
(See Membership and Indemnity Coverage Status page for details)
Fees: You will be notified once invoices are available in your Lawyer Portal. Invoices are generated based on the information you provided on your call Ceremony Notification and the status you selected for enrolment. Payment is due 10 business days prior to your call date.

Visit our Status Options & Contact Information Changes page for more information on which status options you have to choose from when you are called to the bar.