The Legal Excellence Program - Winnipeg
Articling Opportunities Across Canada
Prairie Region Office, Winnipeg
The Prairie Region Office (PRO) of the Department of Justice has offices in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton. The PRO represents the Federal Government in a wide variety of matters affecting departments and agencies of the Government of Canada operating principally within the Prairie Provinces.
The office in Winnipeg, with about 55 lawyers and students and about 103 staff in total, enjoys the synergies and resources that come from its size and association with the larger department, but also fosters a close-knit atmosphere appreciated by all who work there.
Changes to Articling Program
Beginning this year, the PRO articling students in Winnipeg will be dividing their articles equally between the PRO and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC), in six-month rotations. The increase to the PPSC rotation (a three-month rotation, in previous years) is designed to meet the operational needs of PPSC, where students have an active role in the management of criminal files. During the PRO rotation, it is anticipated that the students will work with all four PRO sections, described below, over the six-month rotation.
General Articling Information
Articling students in Winnipeg are governed by the Law Society of Manitoba. Students must successfully complete 52 weeks of full-time articles, as well as the Manitoba CPLED (Bar Admission) Program. Further information on the Manitoba articling process is available at The Law Society of Manitoba website.
Each of the articling students is assigned in six-month rotations to the PRO or PPSC. In addition to their principals, students are assigned a mentor, who co-ordinates and supervises the students' work. Students receive ongoing feedback, as well as a formal evaluation of their performance quartterly.
A student is provided with a fully-equipped private office, with computer. The PRO office in Winnipeg has about 45 support staff, including legal assistants, paralegal professionals, two library technicians and a receptionist together with an administrative group consisting of an office manager, administrative clerk, and records clerks. The office has two computer specialists and is fully automated with an integrated computer network with word processing, records management, case management, financial management and computer-assisted research.
The PRO is pleased to offer the Legal Excellence Program (LEP) to its articling students and junior counsel. The LEP is designed to provide students and junior lawyers with solid experience, skills, training and knowledge essential for the successful practice of law. This is fostered by providing students with a solid and varied articling experience, highlighted by the rotations through the PRO and the PPSC.
While no guarantee of employment beyond articles can be made, experience confirms that many former students continue with the office. Of the students hired in Winnipeg over the past five years, nearly all are presently lawyers with the PRO or PPSC.
Professional Development
Students are encouraged to pursue professional development activities throughout their articles. These will include attendance at the Canada School of Public Service course, upon completion of the articling year.
In recent years, students have also been invited to various conferences and learning opportunities, including the Manitoba Crown Defence conference, and the Prairie Region Civil Litigation Symposium. Articling students are also encouraged to take advantage of legal education opportunities presented internally by the Department of Justice, as well as Law Society of Manitoba and Manitoba Bar Association CLE programming.
Salary and Benefits
Articling Students with the Department of Justice in Winnipeg are entitled to:
- Annual salary of $37,795;
- Law Society of Manitoba fees;
- Application fees for the call to the Bar in Winnipeg;
- CPLED fees and salary while attending CPLED course;
- 15 days vacation per year, pro-rated;
- 15 days paid sick leave per year, pro-rated;
- Medical and dental coverage;
- Pensionable service.
How to Apply
The PRO will be observing the Manitoba Articling Student Recruitment Guidelines. Applications must be received by 12:00pm (noon) Friday, May 10, 2013. Candidates will be contacted on Friday, May 17, 2013 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., to schedule their interview. Interviews will take place between May 21-24, 2013. The Guidelines are available for review at: Manitoba Articling Student Recruitment Guidelines for the 2014 - 2015 Articling Year PDF (28kb)
It is anticipated that all articling positions for the 2014-2015 year will be filled through this process.
This posting is open to persons residing in Canada and Canadian citizens residing abroad.
All applications must include the following documents:
- A cover letter;
- A resume;
- Law school transcript;
- The names and contact information for three references.
Applications that do not contain ALL of the above-mentioned documents will be considered incomplete. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.
You will be required to bring an Official Transcript to your interview.
Applicants must demonstrate in their application that they meet the following qualifications: Statement of merit criteria and conditions of employment.
The Department of Justice is committed to employment equity and to providing employment opportunities to law students who are an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability, a member of a visible minority group and/or a woman. Students who wish to have their employment equity status considered at the time of articling interviews should self-identify in their articling position applications.
Areas of practice
The PRO office in Winnipeg is headed by Colleen Geary, Regional Director and General Counsel, and operationally is divided into four areas or sections:
Aboriginal Law Services (ALS)
ALS has 21 lawyers and provides both solicitor's advice and litigation services to various federal departments and agencies, principally the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. The work entails Aboriginal litigation on behalf of the Crown, arbitration work, land transactions and legal advice to the client department.
Students may expect to play a supporting role in negotiations with First Nations representatives and their counsel, take conduct of estate and land transaction matters, draft agreements and act as junior counsel on litigation files. The emphasis will be on solicitor's work while working in the section, given the wide exposure to litigation provided by the other sections.
Business and Regulatory and PSDI Portfolios
Members of the Business and Regulatory and PSDI portfolios are dedicated to providing legal services to all departments of the Government of Canada with the exception of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency. Together, the portfolios have 24 counsel in Winnipeg.
The Business and Regulatory portfolio provides both solicitor's advice and litigation services to a wide range of federal government departments and agencies, including Transport Canada, Health Canada, Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The portfolio also deals with matters such as leases, security documents, conveyances and contracts, as well as issues involving insolvency law.
The PSDI (Public Safety, Defence, and Immigration; Justice and Central Agencies) portfolio provides litigation services to the federal law enforcement community, and maintains conduct of files where the Department of Justice is the actual client department. The portfolio acts for clients such as the RCMP, Correctional Service of Canada, and Canada Border Services Agency in civil actions; conducts Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Firearms Act, and Extradition Act proceedings; and represents the Attorney General of Canada directly in constitutional challenges to federal legislation.
The Business and Regulatory and PSDI portfolios are co-located in Winnipeg, and articling students work within both during a single 3-month rotation. Students can expect to be involved in all types of work performed by the portfolios and to have carriage of a wide variety of interesting litigation files, involving issues such as personal injury, contract and tort matters before administrative tribunals, Small Claims and Motions Court, and the Federal Court of Canada. They can also expect to participate in examinations for discovery, conduct motions, and to be involved in research, pleadings and appearances with senior counsel in important and complex cases.
Tax Law Services (TLS)
The TLS section has 10 lawyers and represents the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) before the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada (both divisions), the Court of Queen's Bench and the Manitoba Court of Appeal in matters involving appeals under the Income Tax Act, Excise Tax Act, Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance Act and collections under the ITA and ETA.
While working in TLS, students assist counsel in all aspects of preparation of cases for trial and have conduct of Informal Procedure hearings before the Tax Court of Canada in Winnipeg, Regina and Thunder Bay. This is an excellent opportunity for students to be involved in a complex and demanding area of the law and to improve their civil litigation skills.
Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC)
The PPSC is the federal government organization responsible for prosecutions on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada. It was created by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act on December 12, 2006, when Part 3 of the Federal Accountability Act came into force. It replaces the former Federal Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice.
The PPSC is independent of the Department of Justice and reports to Parliament through the Attorney General of Canada. However, for the purpose of articling, it remains part of the Department of Justice's program.
The responsibilities of the PPSC vary somewhat by province and territory:
- In all provinces and territories, except Quebec and New Brunswick, the PPSC is responsible for prosecuting all drug offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of which police agency investigated the alleged offences. In Quebec and New Brunswick, the only drug offences prosecuted by the PPSC are those investigated by the RCMP;
- In all provinces and territories, the PPSC prosecutes violations of federal statutes such as the Fisheries Act, the Income Tax Act, the Excise Act, the Customs Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and the Canada Shipping Act, as well as conspiracies and attempts to violate these statutes. The PPSC also prosecutes terrorism and certain criminal organization offences under the Criminal Code, as well as money laundering and proceeds of crime charges. Under arrangements with the provinces, the PPSC may also prosecute Criminal Code offences related to drug charges;
- In all three territories, the PPSC is responsible for prosecuting all Criminal Code offences and offences under other federal statutes.
The Winnipeg section has 25 lawyers, who appear in all levels of court in Manitoba in the conduct of prosecutions, related motions and appeals.
Students are involved in all aspects of the day-to-day affairs of the group. Specific tasks include the preparation of disclosure materials and files for prosecution, interviewing of witnesses, the conduct of summary conviction trials, assistance in the prosecution of indictable offences, assistance in the conduct of docket courts, legal research and the preparation of pleadings.
As of November 24, 2008, the PPSC Winnipeg office is located at 515 – 234 Donald Street, Winnipeg, MB R3C 1M8.
Contact Information
Contact Person:
Scott D. Farlinger
Counsel
Telephone: 204-984-5729
Facsimile: 204-984-6488
E-mail Address: scott.farlinger@justice.gc.ca
310 Broadway Avenue, Suite 301
Winnipeg, MB
R3C 0S6
- Date Modified:
