Welcome to the NCA Advice Hub
This is your place for all things NCA. We are proudly partnered with Vanessa Santaguida – the founder of NCA Mentor.com – who has agreed to provide all of our registered alumni with a 15% discount for her services.
If you have any questions feel free to get in touch with us!
Our Partnership with NCA Mentor.com
I firmly believe confidence is key and an absolutely mandatory ingredient when embarking on the NCA path. I am here to give you a boost in confidence, perseverance and enthusiasm so that you can commence your journey with the utmost positivity.
Remember: You have a law degree! If you can go through law school, you can do this!
Vanessa Santaguida – NCA Mentor.com
We are thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Vanessa Santaguida from NCA Mentor.com. All of our registered alumni are entitled to a 15% discount using her services. NCA Mentor takes a student-centric approach to learning ensuring that multiple intelligences are adhered to and that the edification process is optimized. NCA Mentor offers comprehensive study materials and resources. A wide range of support is offered to students through study packages, recorded video lectures, live classes, private tutoring, and complimentary guidance and mentoring.
Meet your mentor – vanessa santaguida
Vanessa Santaguida is a barrister and solicitor with the Law Society of Ontario. Before embarking on a law degree, Vanessa completed her bachelor of business administration (BBA), bachelor of education (B.Ed), and her master’s of business administration (MBA). She has been involved in the realm of academia for over a decade and is a certified teacher with the Ontario College of Teachers. Vanessa completed her bachelor of laws at the University of Sussex, graduating at the top of her cohort with a first-class honors degree. During her studies, she developed a strong passion for teaching her fellow classmates law. This adoration grew during her journey to become a licensed lawyer in Ontario. She commenced teaching students worldwide for over three years and has now developed a recognized brand name in the industry, NCA Mentor.
Testimonials
I came across plenty of resources, ‘tutors’, courses on my path to completing the NCA process but from my honest experience, no source was as diligent and helpful as Vanessa Santa.
David Shamshon
I want to thank Vanessa Santa for her thorough notes. She took careful measures to ensure her notes were straight forward and easy to grasp. From the moment I got them and began studying, I knew I’d be successful in passing the exams. Vanessa’s construction of the notes are truly amazing.
Not only is she approachable with any concept that I needed clarification on, but, the days that I needed motivation she was there to encourage me. I would like to thank Vanessa for her great service and considering the quality of notes, I will definitely reach out to her if the need for academic assistance arises in future.
Nicketta Lagadoo
General overview of the nca process
The National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) assesses your legal education and professional background if you have obtained your Law Degree outside of Canada. The accreditation process can be broken down into these three steps.
Step 1 – submit your online application
The process begins by submitting an online application through the NCA website and paying a fee of $450.00 CAD (subject to change by the NCA). Following this, you will need to submit supplementary documents (such as your transcripts, letters of good standing with other professional organizations etc.) by mailing them to the NCA. The NCA then assesses your legal education and experience–measuring it against the National Requirement according to its Policies and will provide you with the necessary assignments required to qualify for law society bar admission. To meet your assignments, you will need to either write the NCA exams or take courses at a Canadian law school.
step 2 – Complete your assignments
Once your application is assessed, you may begin to choose which exams you would like to take. Prior to COVID-19, there was one sitting every three months in which you could do a number of exams in person. Now, the exams are online and provided in a yearly schedule, which shows you the exams that are available each month. Please note that not every exam is available every month. You will need to make an informed decision on which exams you choose based on the time the exam is held and the difficulty of the exam.
Having graduated from Queen’s University Belfast, the NCA will likely require you to complete seven exams. Five of those exams are the core exams. These exams are:
- Constitutional Law
- Administrative Law
- Foundations of Canadian Law
- Criminal Law
- Legal Professional Responsibility
The other two exams can be considered electives. The NCA will let you know which exams you are eligible to take.
The price of the exams is now $400.00 CAD (subject to change by the NCA). For example, at the start of 2021, the price was $300.00 CAD. Do not be surprised if the price goes up.
Please note that effective from January 1st, 2022, in order to demonstrate competence in legal research and writing, the NCA will require applicants to either complete the legal research and writing module developed by the NCA and the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED) or complete legal research and writing course through an approved Canadian law school program. Please contact the NCA with regards to this requirement as it is fairly new and we are uncertain of its implications.
step 3 – certification of qualification and the bar
Once you have completed your exams, you must log in to your NCA portal to request a Certificate of Qualification. The next step in your qualifying process is to now article with a firm and write the bar.