Before call day: intention-to-call and rejection emails explained

In the weeks between on-campus interviews and call day, your inbox starts filling with two kinds of messages: firms saying they plan to interview you, and firms saying they will not. Students call these ITCs (intention to call) and PFOs (a blunt nickname for a rejection). Here is what each one means, and what it does not.

What firms are allowed to say

The Law Society of Ontario's Toronto summer student recruitment procedures allow a firm, any time after the application deadline, to tell you:

• that it will or will not be scheduling an interview with you during in-firm week,
• that the interview will follow the procedures, and
• whether it will invite you to a meal, reception, or similar event that week.

A firm may also share the dates of events that all interviewees will attend. What it may not do before call day is suggest a specific date or time for your first interview, and you must not take part in booking one early. Call day for the 2027 summer recruit is Friday, October 23, 2026, from 8:00 a.m.

An intention to call (ITC)

An ITC is a firm telling you it plans to call on call day to book an in-firm interview. Under the procedures, a firm that tells you it intends to interview you must then hold that interview, unless you tell the firm you do not want it.

• Reply briefly and warmly. Thank them and confirm you look forward to hearing from them on call day.
• Do not try to book a time. The firm cannot offer one yet, and asking puts both of you in an awkward spot.
• Add the firm to your call day ranking. An ITC tells you who will call, which makes planning your schedule much easier.
• If you no longer want the interview, say so now. That frees the slot for another student.

In the current cycle, students reported ITCs from several Toronto firms in late September and early October 2026 (Canadian Law Forum), and more between October 16 and 19, some reaching students at one school before another (Canadian Law Forum). A classmate's ITC does not mean you have been passed over.

A rejection (PFO)

A rejection before call day means the firm will not be interviewing you in this recruit. It stings, but it is useful: you can stop holding a slot for that firm and focus your preparation elsewhere.

• You do not need to reply. A one-line thank-you is fine if you want to keep the door open for the articling recruit.
• Do not ask the firm to reconsider. Decisions at this stage are final for the recruit.
• Rejections often arrive in batches, so several in one afternoon does not mean something is wrong with your application.

Silence is not a rejection

Not every firm sends ITCs or rejections. Some firms simply call on call day, and some never send rejections before then. Students regularly report hearing nothing from a firm and then receiving a call on the morning of call day, and others report a rejection arriving only after call day has passed (Canadian Law Forum).

Treat silence as a maybe. Keep the firm on your call day list and be ready to answer.

Reading the signals

Getting ready for call day

Use the ITCs you have to build a draft schedule before call day, and leave room for firms that have been silent. Our call day guide walks through the morning itself, and the recruit timeline has every date in one place.