CALGARY ITLNCA OCI - 2L SUMMER RECRUITMENT 2027

Applying to ITLNCA’s Calgary OCIs? This information is for you!

1. Applications for all Internationally Trained Lawyers (ITLs) and National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) candidates* are due on viLawPortal by August 17, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. MT.

See viLawPortal: https://recruitcdn.viglobalcloud.com/
See the “Important Dates” section below and confirm these dates with the different sources listed here.

*ITLs and NCA applicants include:

NCA candidates including self-study NCA candidates;
NCA candidates enrolled in a Professional LLM at Osgoode Professional Development;
NCA candidates enrolled in a GPLLM at the University of Toronto;
NCA candidates enrolled in the LLM CL at the University of British Columbia;
NCA candidates enrolled in the Internationally Trained Lawyer Pathway at the University of Alberta;
NCA candidates enrolled in the Internationally Trained Lawyer Program at the University of Manitoba
NCA candidates enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Canadian Law at the Université de Montréal
NCA candidates enrolled in NCA equivalent course(s) at a recognized Canadian university; and
ITLs who already received their Certificate of Qualification from the NCA

2. To participate in ITLNCA OCIs you must:

a) Follow the naming convention below for all documents you submit in viLawPortal, i.e.:

ITLNCA - Resume - Full Name
ITLNCA - Resume - Will Smith.doc,.pdf, etc.
ITLNCA - Cover Letter - Full Name
ITLNCA - Cover Letter - Will Smith.doc,.pdf, etc.

b) Include the following blurb at the end of your Cover Letter:

I would be pleased to be invited to an ITLNCA on-campus interview on September 25, 2026. To schedule an interview, please contact the ITLNCA Networks’ OCI Committee.

c) Provide ITLNCA NetworkS with (1) your full name as listed on your resume, (2) phone number, (3) email address, and (4) a list of all the legal employers you applied to. You must submit the above information by completing this form: https://forms.gle/AL8RQLAp8vLJbeUD8 no later than August 18, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. MT.

3. Candidates should apply to ANY firms, government offices, and/or legal employers that they are genuinely interested in working with. Candidates should not only apply to the list of firms participating in Calgary ITLNCA OCIs.

A preliminary list of participating law firms, government offices, and/or legal employers will be made available on a rolling basis. Additional legal employers may be added to our participation list even after the application deadline in viLawPortal has closed. Therefore, candidates should apply to any firms, government offices, and/or legal employers that they are interested in working with.
Further, some legal employers do not hold OCIs and only invite candidates straight to the in-firm interview stage. Please apply to all positions you are interested in.

NB: Applicants do not need to have their Certificate of Qualification (CQ) to apply for 2L summer positions and OCIs.

IMPORTANT DATES:

1) Application Deadline in viLawPortal – August 17, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. MT

The application deadline for all Internationally Trained Lawyers (ITLs) and National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) candidates for Calgary is August 17, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. MT in viLawPortal: https://recruitcdn.viglobalcloud.com/
Attend the panels, networking events, open houses, and other recruitment events hosted by participating legal employers. Information about these events can be found on their company websites, LinkedIn, and social media.
All of ITLNCA NetworkS' educational materials and information sessions related to applications, interviews, résumés and cover letters can be viewed on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF6KZn4uRsdXKC43KhQd2GQ/videos

Note for Employers: Due date for early registration is July 22, 2026. The deadline to send your list of candidates and scheduling preference to oci@itln.ca for Calgary is August 26, 2026. Please advise us directly if you are unable to make this timeline.

2) ITLNCA OCI Call Day – August 31, 2026, starting at 8:00 a.m. MT.

Have your phone on and ready to accept calls and emails at 8:00 a.m. MT.
Successful candidates will be contacted by ITLNCA NetworkS’ neutral administrator(s) to inform them of their OCI offer(s).
Calls will be coming from "Private" or "Unknown" numbers, please make sure to answer the call and not have it set to automatically block these calls during this time.
Candidates will be informed about the name of all law firms and government offices that offered them an interview. Candidates will not be informed about the interview times or given a choice of when the interviews will happen.
Candidates will be contacted at the contact phone number provided to ITLNCA NetworkS (in step 2(c) above).
The deadline to accept your OCI offer(s) from ITLNCA NetworkS’ neutral administrator(s) is August 31, 2026, by 5:00 p.m. MT.

3) Other important information/logistics before September 25, 2026.

Use this period to prepare for your virtual OCIs
You can expect communications and emails from the legal employers, including the link to your interview and/or calendar invite. ITLNCA NetworkS’ will not be sending the calendar invites to candidates. Therefore, candidates should monitor their emails closely for communications and emails from the legal employers they have accepted OCIs with.
Use this time to ensure that your technology is set up and ready to go for your OCIs. Each legal employer will be using the virtual software of their choice. Download the appropriate software before your interviews.
Do additional research on the legal employers and the interviewer(s). Watch the helpful ITLNCA NetworkS videos provided above.

4) OCI Schedule & Other Information – by September 1, 2026 at midnight MT.

Applicants who have been offered OCI(s) can expect an email from ITLNCA confirming the timing of their interviews, the name of their interviewer(s), and the virtual software the employer will be using for the interview (i.e. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) by midnight on September 1, 2026 MT.
PLEASE CHECK YOUR JUNK MAIL FOLDER FOR THIS EMAIL! DO NOT CONTACT US ASKING FOR THIS INFORMATION BEFORE CHECKING YOUR JUNK/SPAM FOLDER.

5) ITLNCA Virtual OCIs – September 25, 2026, between 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MT.

Calgary ITLNCA OCIs will take place virtually on September 25, 2026.
All interviews are 17 minutes or 20 minutes in length
Each firm will use its preferred virtual platform (i.e. Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, etc.). It will be up to the interviewing firm which platform they will use for virtual OCIs. Candidates will be expected to download the required software in advance. All software used will be free to download for candidates.

6) Invitation for in-firm interviews – after September 28, 2026, 12:00 p.m. MT.

Firms have agreed to wait until OCIs are complete before offering students interviews during the in-firm interview period. Firms will not be allowed to contact students, including for the purpose of offering students interviews for the in-firm interview period and to send rejection emails, prior to noon on the Monday following OCIs.
No firm-initiated contact with candidates will be allowed after OCIs and before the in-firm interview period, except by phone or email for the purposes of scheduling of interviews or other meetings/social events to take place in the in-firm interview period
Candidate-initiated firm contact after OCIs requesting information by phone or email will be allowed. In person or virtual meetings between a candidate and a firm are not allowed after OCIs until the in-firm interview period.

7) Interview Week – between October 5, 2026 and October 9, 2026

The in-firm interview period will take place from October 5, 2026 to October 9, 2026.
During Interview Week, all candidate interivews and office tours on Day 1 and Day 2 will be limited to a maximum of one hour in total. No candidate will be invited to a second interview until the first interview has been completed. Interviewers and staff conducting tours are expected to adhere to these requirements to ensure consisteny across the candidate experience and to maintain the overall interview schedule.
No offers, intention to offer, or solicitation of candidates' intention to accept an offer with any given firm shall be communicated to any candidate prior to the Offer Date and Time

8) Offers of Employment – October 9, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. MT

One hour prior to the offer time, firms will not contact candidates. Firms will be allowed to respond to candidate inquiries.
Offers will commence no earlier than October 9, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. MT.
Offers will remain open for six (6) hours.
Following the Offer Date, firms are free to schedule interviews and extend offers for summer student positions as they see fit.

Please note: ITLs who have completed their CQ are not subject to recruitment rules 49.1-49.3 of the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta.

Please also see Calgary Firm Protocol, Recruitment for Summer 2027

ITLNCA NetworkS