April 23, 2025
On April 3-5th, Osgoode Professional Development sponsored the inaugural ITL Conference: Crossing Borders, Breaking Barriers in Calgary, Alberta. This conference was organized by a group of Internationally Trained Lawyer (ITL) organizations, who joined together and leveraged their strengths to create space for meaningful dialogue, collaboration and connection for ITL candidates from all over the world and bring together allied organizations like OsgoodePD who are committed to helping and supporting ITLs in their journey.
At this conference I was able to meet some of our amazing Part-Time Professional LLM students studying remotely, like Vanessa Borges Silva and Lorena Bárcenas Vilchis from the LLM in Canadian Common Law and Oladimeji Falade from our LLM in Privacy and Cybersecurity Law.
A reception was held where Hon. Muhammad Yasseen, Alberta Minister of Immigration & Multiculturalism, welcomed everyone to Alberta and Canada and set off an exciting night of networking.
The full day conference on April 4th started with a welcome address from Bianca Kratt, K.C., Partner at BLG and National President Elect of the Canadian Bar Association and included a special address by Hon. Mickey Amery, K.C., Minister of Justice (Alberta).
The first panel addressed “Overcoming Cultural Barriers and Building Professional Relationships,” where they discussed how to combat barriers by building relationships, being authentic and, most importantly, “knowing your craft.”
The inspiring keynote address was delivered by Hon. Justice Chidinma B. Thompson of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, an internationally trained lawyer herself. She reminded us that we should reinvent any challenges we face into a training ground.
The second panel was on “Enhancing Integration and Professional Development for Internationally Trained Lawyers – Perspectives from Regulators.”
I was honoured to moderate the third panel where initial insights from the ITL Experience Survey showed that ITLs still face barriers to entry and to accessing articling and summer student roles, and that there continues to be lack of mentorship and networking opportunities for licensed ITLs. The session ended with how different organizations are helping to bridge some of these gaps with programs and services, like the career guidance and resources we offer at OsgoodePD.
The breakout sessions offered something for everyone:
- Navigating the NCA & Articling Process
- Thriving in Private Practice & In-House
- Thriving as a Law firm Owner
- Employment Law fundamentals and emerging trends in Privacy Law
- Securities & M&A Insights: Navigating complex transactions in a post-pandemic world
- Navigating Wealth Management for Internationally Trained Lawyers
A standout panel was on Mastering Litigation, featuring the Hon. Justice Darren Reed (Court of King’s Bench of Alberta), Hon. Justice M. J. Saften (Alberta Cout of Justice), Hon. Justice Melanie Gaston (Court of King’s Bench of Alberta), Dr. Ugo Ukpabi (Founder, The Republic Law) as panelists and moderated by Sahil Shoor (Partner, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Gowling WLG). The panel explored strategies for building confidence in court and maintaining professionalism.
The event concluded with an awards gala where Major Jyoti Gondek, City of Calgary welcomed everyone and a special address was given by Hon. Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Advanced Education, Alberta. The ITL conference was an amazing gathering of passionate individuals committed to advancing and celebrating ITLs across Canada. I’m proud that OsgoodePD was a part of it!
Interested in connecting with other internationally trained lawyers? Join us May 28, 2025, for Osgoode’s Internationally Trained Lawyers Day.
Michael Tam – Program Lawyer at Osgoode Professional Development