Legal Assistant Diploma Online Program

This course provides the foundation for an admin assistant for a law firm to understand professional conduct and ethical obligations. Students learn to develop strong client relationships, manage retainers, and navigate accreditation requirements. This module prepares students to handle complex situations professionally, focusing on the communication and collaboration skills necessary to ensure collective success in a modern legal environment.

Students gain essential knowledge of accounting principles applicable to a legal office assistant. You will be introduced to general and trust accounts while learning to use PCLaw software. The course covers opening and closing files, conflict of interest searches, time dockets, and billing procedures. These lessons ensure that graduates of this legal administrative assistant program can accurately manage expense recovery and legal aid billing.

This course covers the foundations of private, public, and statutory law. Students are introduced to the authority and function of administrative tribunals and the rules of natural justice. This specialized legal assistant training online includes studying the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, human rights legislation, and the Charter, providing the procedural knowledge required to support advocacy before various authorities.

This course develops the verbal and written communication skills required for a lawyer's assistant. Students learn to write in a clear, concise manner and master techniques for legal research. Through this legal assistant course online, you will learn to access statutes and regulations via digital research platforms and draft professional memorandums based on analyzed legal issues.

Students work with a professional career counselor to optimize a resume that highlights their legal assistant certificate to potential employers. Support includes job searching strategies and interview techniques tailored to the legal industry, ensuring students have the best possible work prospects upon graduation.

This course introduces different types of business ownership, including corporations and partnerships. As part of these legal assistant classes online, students learn the incorporation process and how to prepare necessary government filings. You will study corporate structures and the roles of various stakeholders to effectively interact with regulatory agencies.

Designed to provide in-depth knowledge of divorce, custody, and support, this course enables students to prepare and file complex family law documents. Students study common-law relationships and adoptions while gaining proficiency in Divorce Mate software. This training is a core component of a comprehensive legal assistant training online curriculum.

This course provides practical knowledge of common law and statutory aspects of employment, such as the Employment Standards Act. Students will explore labor relations, occupational health and safety, and human rights in the workplace. This knowledge is vital for anyone completing a legal administrative assistant program to navigate the federal and provincial regulations governing the modern workplace.

In this course, students will gain a fundamental understanding of the Canadian criminal law and the systems involved. Concepts covered include federal statutes on offenses, jurisdiction over substantive criminal law, procedure, and the administration of courts. Students will learn about the Criminal Code and how to interpret the offenses, procedure, and sentence options, as well as applicable Charter precepts. They are also introduced to summary conviction procedures. In addition, students will learn about the organization of the court system and the role of different components of the criminal law system.

This course provides students with a practical knowledge of the common law and statutory legal aspects of employment. Students will learn about the Employment Standards Act and will also explore the applicable federal and provincial employment and employment-related statutes and regulations. This course will prepare students to navigate through the following areas: employment standards, labour relations, employment contracts, occupational health and safety, workplace safety and insurance, labour law, and human rights as they relate to the workplace.

This course provides students with a brief introduction to the Canadian immigration rules and policies that are developed and enforced through Canadian government agencies, courts, and tribunals. Students will learn about the new permanent residency streams, IRCC entry and exit tracking, online application systems, and more. Along with a general overview of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), students are introduced to admissibility hearings, detention reviews, immigration appeals, refugee appeals, etc. This course will also offer students practical guidance on how to prepare themselves and their clients for a refugee hearing.

This course primarily focuses on the general principles of Canadian insurance law, case law, and insurance regulations. Students will learn about the principles applicable to the interpretation and enforcement of insurance contracts and the fundamental principles set out by the common law. They will also be introduced to the Insurance Act, Corporations Act, Financial Services Regulatory Authority of British Columbia Act, Registered Insurance Brokers Act, etc. Upon completing this course, students will get a better idea of the key elements in the practice of liability, property, and life insurance, along with an updated review of the key provisions of the BC Insurance Act.

This course gives the paralegal students an understanding of the principles of professional conduct, legal obligations, and ethical issues. Students will learn the fundamentals of how to develop and maintain strong client relationships, the purpose of retainers, accreditation requirements, and the controversy around advertising practices. It also helps students in developing their interpersonal relations skills and prepares them to handle complex situations professionally. Students will learn about teamwork, communication, and collaboration skills to ensure collective success in delivering excellent customer experiences.

This course introduces students to the work environment and administrative procedures they will experience in a general practice law office. They will learn about various tasks, such as managing client records, preparing legal correspondence and documents, conducting research, communicating with clients, stakeholders, and colleagues, the essentials of a legal assistant’s work in a legal office, and carrying out duties ethically at all levels.

Microsoft Office is a suite of applications designed to help with productivity and completing common tasks on a computer. Students will learn the skills to create and edit documents containing text and images, work with data in spreadsheets and databases, and create presentations and posters. Learning Microsoft Office has significant benefits for the daily
workflow, productivity, and career possibilities. Students will learn intermediate-level Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access applications.

In this course, students learn about the practices and procedures of representing landlords and tenants before the Landlord and Tenant Board. The course also outlines the Residential Tenancy Act, tenancy types, landlord and tenant application procedures, and protection and enforcement of both landlord and tenant rights. Students will also learn the business and negotiation principles as they apply to residential tenancy disputes from the differing perspectives of tenants, tenant advocates, landlords, and landlord advocates.

This course gives students a fundamental understanding of the Canadian legal system, introducing them to different kinds of laws, the court system, and their jurisdiction. They will also learn about the Constitution, its importance, and its implications for federalism.

Students will gain an understanding of the tort law, the contract law, and the fundamentals of contract drafting. Students will learn about contracts, their validity, dealing with a breach of contract, and the legal ways of enforcing contracts and awarding damages for any breach. They are also taught about the tort law and its various aspects, such as proving losses and damages that can be compensated under the law, negligence, liability, defenses available to the person responsible, types of torts, etc.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the basics of drafting inter vivos documents, or documents drafted during a client's lifetime to plan for disposing of financial, legal, and other assets upon incapacity or death. Students will also learn how to process an estate when a deceased has left a will or has not. Furthermore, they will learn the Rules of Civil Procedure that apply to contesting the distribution of assets included in an estate. Also, you will learn how to use a diskette to prepare a will or a power of attorney for property or personal care.
Another component of the course is an introduction to Estateably, software used in estate matters to prepare court documents, which include applications, certificates, affidavits, and notices, as well as consent, bond, and renunciation.

The Legal Assistant Diploma is 54 weeks (1,080 hours). The next start date shown on this page is Nov 30, 2026.

Yes. The program is offered in-class at Edison's Victoria, BC campus or online through distance delivery, so eligible students elsewhere in Canada can complete it from home. Both options lead to the same diploma.

The course covers family, corporate, criminal, employment, administrative, immigration, insurance, residential tenancy, torts and contracts, and wills and estates law, along with legal writing, legal research, ethics and law office procedures.

You train in PCLaw for trust accounting and billing, DivorceMate for family law documents, Estateably for estate administration, and Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.

Tuition is $19,625 CAD plus $2,587 for textbooks, a published total of $22,212. Ask admissions for any other fees and the current refund policy.

Eligible students may be able to apply for StudentAid BC funding. Eligibility depends on the student and program; confirm through StudentAid BC and Edison admissions. Students outside BC should check their own province's student aid program. Payment plans are also available.

You need high school graduation or equivalent, or mature student status (19 or older before the program starts), plus English proficiency: Grade 10 English with three years of full-time secondary education in English, or an accepted test score such as IELTS Academic 5.5, TOEFL iBT 46, CAEL 40, CELPIP (L6/R5/W5/S6) or Duolingo 95.

No legal experience is listed in the admission requirements. The program starts with an introduction to the Canadian legal system.

No. You build practical skills through hands-on work in legal software and document preparation, and the program ends with Capstone Career Prep with a career counsellor.

Legal assistants provide administrative and document support to lawyers, such as correspondence, files, billing and drafting under supervision. Paralegals usually take on more substantive legal work, and the rules for paralegals vary by province. This diploma is designed to prepare students for legal assistant and legal administrative roles.

The program is designed to prepare students for roles such as legal assistant, legal administrative assistant, legal secretary, law clerk and legal department assistant. Employment depends on the employer, the labour market, prior experience and each graduate's qualifications.

Yes. The program is approved by British Columbia's Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit (PTIRU), and Edison College Canada is regulated by PTIRU. Approval does not guarantee employment or any other outcome.