LLM Frequently Asked Questions

The Windsor Law LLM Program will accept applications on a rolling basis until January 5, 2025. We suggest that you submit your completed application by November 10, 2024, as application review will commence at that time. Late applications (submission date after January 5th, 2025) may be accepted at the discretion of the law school. 

The LLM Graduate Studies brochure can be found here.

We offer a Master of Laws (LLM) at Windsor Law. We have a 1-year stream that provides an opportunity to pursue research in any area relating to Access to Justice or Transnational Law. We also offer a 2-year stream that gives you a chance to complete a University Teaching Certificate to teach at Windsor Law as a graduate teaching fellow in addition to completing your LLM thesis.

A candidate should have a grade point average that is equivalent to a North American B or 70% in their law studies. For information related to entry requirements, language requirements and application procedure, please see the link to “apply” for the Windsor Law LLM Program here.

Eligible candidates should have achieved the equivalent to a North American B or 70% in their law studies and must meet the English language requirements. Other factors include the quality of the academic references, their Research Proposal and the interest and availability of supervisors. Students who are accepted to the program will be academically inclined, motivated, and committed to continuous learning. All of our admission requirements are set out in detail and can be found in the “Statement of Research Interests & Autobiographical Sketch Form”.  

Outside of exceptional circumstances, students applying to the Windsor Law LLM Program will be required to have an undergraduate law degree. In rare cases, a student may be admitted without a law degree. For students without law degrees to gain entry, they must have outstanding grades or experience and superior ability to complete the LLM Program. Admission to the program will be based on four categories which evaluate the student’s: a) aptitudes, b) academic achievements, c) research proposal and, d) additional requirements such as reference letters and language proficiency.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies calendar can be found at this link: Graduate Calendar. All other Windsor Law LLM Program information including degree requirements and course descriptions can be found here. 

All students must meet an English language proficiency standard of: 250 (600) IBT-100 minimum on the TOEFL, 7.0 IELTS or 120 Duolingo prior to applying to the program.

UWindsor has a two-year limit on language scores.

We do not encourage candidates to contact potential faculty supervisors before applying. All applications are reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee and then passed on to potential supervisors. The Committee will choose a suitable supervisor for you, you do not need to worry about contacting one. If you wish, you may review the Windsor Law faculty directory and include some names on your application. However, you are not required to contact them. For a full list of faculty members and their specialized areas of expertise, please visit the faculty directory here. 

Please DO NOT submit documentation to us, or to any Faculty members directly. UWindsor only accepts documents electronically through eGAS – the electronic Graduate Application System.

The University of Edinburgh provides guidance on how to write a Research Proposal here, that you may find useful. 

Yes, a 2-3 paged Research Proposal is required in addition to the Statement of Research Interests & Autobiographical Sketch Form. The University of Edinburgh provides guidance on how to write a Research Proposal here, that you may find useful.

The Windsor Law LLM Program is not designed to prepare students for meeting NCA requirements. If your interest is to pursue accreditation to practice law in Canada, you should follow the avenue for National Accreditation. For further information, please visit our Student Services Office here and they also can be reached via email at: lawstudentservices@uwindsor.ca.

You may check online at any time through your eGAS file to see the status of your application. This is the most up-to-date information about your application, phoning or emailing staff will not give you more detailed information.

Students may choose to study and write a thesis on a topic of interest that falls within the two broad envelopes of access to justice or transnational law. Windsor Law does not have specialized streams. Applicants should consider the topic they would like to research and identify faculty members with whom they would like to work as their supervisors. The Faculty Directory can be found here.

Windsor Law sits on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, comprised of the Ojibway, the Odawa, and the Potawatomie.  We have a strong commitment to ensuring that Indigenous legal traditions and perspectives are fully acknowledged and respected in our teaching, research and community engagement and welcome applications from prospective students interested in completing an LLM on topics with Indigenous perspectives.  For more information, including links to our Indigenous faculty, scholars and initiatives, please click here. 

Unfortunately, we do not have a PhD program at Windsor Law, at this time. However, the Department of Philosophy at UWindsor does offer a program entitled “Argumentation Studies PhD” which is an interdisciplinary PhD program that may be of interest to you.  The contact email is argstudies@uwindsor.ca.  You can find more about this program by visiting Argumentation Studies PhD here.

UWindsor accepts unofficial transcripts with your eGAS application. Official transcripts are required upon admission.

Once you have submitted your full application for the Windsor Law LLM Program on the eGAS system, an email request will be sent to your listed referees and they will submit their letters of reference electronically. Once your application is complete and has been referred to the Graduate Program, it will be reviewed before the Graduate Studies Committee for acceptance to the program. In the event that there are documents missing or the Graduate Studies Committee requires any additional information from you, you will receive an email from the Graduate Program Secretary who will explain what is missing and request same from you, in order to complete your file so that it may be fully processed. Once the last of the documentation or information has been received, the Committee will consider your application and UWindsor will contact you with the decision that has been made on your file. Please check your eGAS file on a regular basis for updates and other information.

Applicants will be required to re-apply for the current year through the eGAS – the electronic Graduate Application System and re-submit their documents in the same manner that they originally did through this system.

The application fee is unfortunately non-transferrable/non-refundable and applicants are required to pay for a new application fee, should they decide to apply to the Windsor Law LLM Program in the future.

Unfortunately, we are not in a position to provide individual feedback to applicants. We have very few spots available in the Windsor Law LLM Program for the number of applications we receive, and, as a result, it is not uncommon for even outstanding applicants to be refused admission. Admission to the program is extremely competitive and meeting or exceeding the admission requirements does not guarantee admission.

At this time, admission is offered only in the fall (September) of each calendar year.

The deadline for applying for scholarships such as OGS and SSHRC is generally in October or November of the year preceding enrolment. You may find more information on scholarships and other funding opportunities on our Tuition, Scholarship & Funding page here.

You will be required to pay an application fee of $125.00 Canadian, which is non-refundable. We are not in a position to waive any part of the application process, or required fees, at this time.

Windsor Law is committed to offering each LLM student a guaranteed funding package of up to $16,000.00 Canadian through a mixture of scholarships, Graduate and Teaching Assistantships (GA/TA-ships) and other means. Information on funding and scholarships from the Faculty of Law may be found here. Information on funding and scholarships from the UWindsor’s Faculty of Graduate Studies can be found here.

For a current fee estimate, please use UWindsor’s Fee Estimator which can be found here. The Program is Masters and the Major is Master of Laws (LLM).

Canadian citizens are able to enroll in theWindsor Law LLM Program at the domestic tuition rate. There are several funding opportunities for domestic students of which you should take note. One of the most prestigious scholarships is the Ontario Graduate Scholarship found here. Information about several other scholarship opportunities for our Windsor Law LLM Program may be found on our website on the tuition, scholarship and funding webpage.

Windsor Law and UWindsor’s Faculty of Graduate Studies have many funding opportunities available, all of which can be found on the “Tuition, Scholarship & Funding” page for the Faculty of Law and on the Scholarships & Awards page for the Faculty of Graduate Studies. You can also consider applying for OSAP on the “Student Awards and Financial Aid” page. Deadlines for scholarships are as early as October of the year preceding registration.

In residence simply means that you must be present in the City of Windsor to take part in all on-campus classes, events and workshops. This does not mean that you must live in Student Residence. You are welcome to live wherever you’d like so long as you are able to come to campus to attend to your academic commitments.

The Windsor Law LLM Program is a full-time program and students are expected to be fully dedicated to the program. As part of their residency, students are expected to participate in the program full time and to maintain regular contact with campus. Residence requirements are intended to provide each student an adequate contact with the UWindsor, Faculty in the field of specialization, the library, laboratories, and with other facilities for graduate study. You can learn more by reading the “residency requirements” for Masters Programs at UWindsor.

The Windsor Law LLM Program can only be completed at UWindsor. At this time, we do not offer distance education courses in the LLM.

The Windsor Law LLM Program is rigorous and a limited number of qualified applicants are admitted each year. We accept approximately 3-6 applicants per year to the program.

We receive between 70-80 graduate applicants each year for the Windsor Law LLM Program.

Windsor Law sits on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, comprised of the Ojibway, the Odawa, and the Potawatomie. We have a small but vibrant community of Indigenous and Métis students, faculty and staff, and warmly welcome applications from prospective students. Windsor Law is committed to ensuring that Indigenous legal traditions and perspectives are fully acknowledged and respected in our teaching, research and community engagement. For more information, including links to our Indigenous faculty scholars and initiatives at the law school, please click here.

The Faculty of Law does not have dedicated housing for graduate law students. At the present time, on-campus residences do not accommodate family housing, however, Canterbury College may be able to assist with housing and they are conveniently located adjacent to the Law Building. You can find information related to housing at Canterbury College here.

For more information on the international student experience, please visit “campus life” at UWindsor. International students form a vibrant part of the UWindsor and Windsor Law’s student body. UWindsor is committed to ensuring that its graduates have an exceptional international experience; be it while in the classroom with students from around the world or while engaged in out-of-class activities. The difference here is that our commitment to internationalization is embedded in the UWindsor spirit. It is, in a way, what makes your UWindsor experience distinctive. For more information visit “Our Student Experience is International” here. If you would like more information on obtaining a student visa, please visit the “International Student Centre” here.

UWindsor is a learner-centred community that values intellectual curiosity, interdisciplinary research, Indigenous perspectives and global scholarship. Our professors are national and international leaders in their fields. Our campus, situated next to North America’s busiest international border crossing, faces one of Canada’s most beautiful waterfronts that stretches along the Detroit River. Sitting on the border, in the heart of North America and within view of our American neighbours, UWindsor has a distinct vantage point in which to engage in global transitions that affect people's lives. This is heightened by our student population, which is comprised of over 17% international students from nearly 100countries, a faculty complement richly representing many countries, cultures and our region where 20% of area residents were born outside of Canada. Please visit “Internationalization” at UWindsor here.