Toronto's legal market: pay, firms, and how to move there

Toronto is Canada's largest legal market by a wide margin. Bay Street is home to the head offices of many of the country's largest full-service firms, along with litigation, tax, and corporate boutiques, in-house legal teams at banks and insurers, and the provincial and federal courts. For a lawyer in private practice, that means more firms to choose from and the highest published pay scale in Canada.

How big the market is

Ontario had 46,654 practising lawyers in the Federation of Law Societies' 2025 statistics report, three times as many as British Columbia or Alberta. The same report counts 46 Ontario law firms with more than 50 lawyers, against 22 in British Columbia and 15 in Alberta. It also counts 9,148 sole practitioners in Ontario, a reminder that most lawyers do not work at large firms.

What lawyers earn

The two sets of numbers measure different things. Job Bank covers every employed lawyer in the region, including government, legal clinics, and small firms. Bay Street scales apply to associates at the largest firms, which pay in near-lockstep by year of call. See our Bay Street salary scale for each year and our lawyer salary guide for other settings.

Who hires

• Full-service national firms. The largest firms recruit students every year and hire associates laterally as practice groups grow. Our Seven Sisters comparison covers seven of the best known.
• Boutiques. Litigation, tax, employment, IP, and restructuring boutiques often hire mid-level associates from large firms who want a narrower practice.
• Mid-sized and regional firms. Firms with 11 to 50 lawyers make up much of the market outside the largest towers. The Federation's report counts 306 such firms in Ontario.

The 2026 student recruit

The Law Society of Ontario sets these dates. Our call day planner helps you book in-firm slots without clashes, and the Toronto recruit timeline covers the 1L and articling recruits.

Moving to Toronto from another province

Lawyers in good standing in another common-law province do not need to requalify to practise in Ontario. Under the National Mobility Agreement, signatory law societies let lawyers from other signatory provinces practise temporarily, up to 100 days in a calendar year if they meet the conditions, and transfer permanently without writing bar exams. The Law Society of Ontario sets its own forms, fees, and timelines, so check them before you plan a start date.

Our guide to transferring a law licence to Ontario sets out the 100-day rule, the Temporary Practice Permit, and the steps and fee for a permanent transfer.

Planning a lateral move in Toronto

Associates usually move laterally for a better practice group, a different firm culture, or a path to partnership. Partners also need to show what work will follow them. Our free book of business calculator estimates that client by client, and the lateral business plan builder turns it into a document a firm can review.