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Master of Laws (LLM) and Concentration Health Law, Policy and Ethics

The concentration in Health Law, Policy and Ethics is designed for jurists who want to understand and shape the legal issues of the health field, from bioethics to patients' rights, through the governance of care systems and the regulation of new medical technologies. Offered jointly by the Common Law and Civil Law sections, it has you approach these questions through both of Canada's major legal traditions.

You build your path around a common core (research methodology, critical reflections on health law and ethics, contemporary issues in law), which you then extend according to your goal: a research paper to explore a question in depth, or a set of courses to broaden your expertise. Courses are offered in person, in English or French, and begin in September.

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Graduate Studies in Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa
Learn more about the program and opportunities of the Graduate Studies in Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa

Why Choose This Program?

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Health law sits at the crossroads of law, ethics and public policy, in a field where the questions are constantly renewed: medical assistance in dying, health-data protection, assisted reproduction, artificial intelligence in medicine, equity of access to care. This concentration equips you to think through these issues rigorously, in a faculty where human rights is one of two recognized areas of expertise.

Two features set the program apart. First, its interdisciplinary dimension: health law draws on ethics and public policy as much as on legal technique, a breadth reflected in the course list (from human rights to the regulation of technology). Second, its flexibility: you choose between a research stream and a course stream, full-time or part-time, according to your project and your circumstances.

The result is a sought-after specialization in an expanding field, where governments, health institutions, law firms, regulatory bodies and international organizations need jurists able to combine law, ethics and health policy.

Common core (9 units, in both streams)

  • DCL 5501, Legal Research Methodology
  • DCL 5507, Critical Approaches to Health Law, Policy and Ethics

  • DCL 5535, Contemporary Issues in Law

Research paper stream

To the common core are added 6 units of optional courses (chosen from a list that varies each year) and a research paper of 50 to 60 pages (MRP 6999). This stream is completed over two years, full-time or part-time.

Course stream

To the common core are added 12 units of optional courses. With no research paper, this stream is completed in twelve months full-time (or seven terms part-time).

Optional courses are selected from an offering that changes from year to year, covering areas such as human rights, law, medicine and biology, international law, intellectual property, and the theory and regulation of information technologies.

For the current list and course details, consult the official program requirements in the University of Ottawa catalogue.

Admission Requirements

To be eligible, you must hold an undergraduate degree in law (LL.B., LL.L. or equivalent), obtained with a minimum average of 70% (B). Particular attention is given to your experience in a legal setting, your previous research work, and your letters of recommendation.

Applications are submitted online through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC). Deadlines vary by profile; consult the official deadlines before preparing your file.

For applicants trained abroad

The LL.M. is an academic degree that enriches your professional profile and opens the way to research; on its own, it does not authorize the practice of law in Canada. Admission to the bar or to the Chamber of Notaries falls to the provincial regulatory bodies and involves a separate accreditation process. If practising in Canada is your main goal, it is worth checking with the relevant regulator before applying.

What You Can Do With Your Studies

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The concentration leads to roles where health-law expertise is in demand, in both the public and private sectors:

  • legal counsel in health law, in an institution, a firm or in-house
  • health policy specialist in a ministry or regulatory body
  • clinical ethics or bioethics adviser
  • jurist in an international organization or a health-focused NGO
  • health-data governance or regulatory-compliance analyst
  • researcher in health law (the research paper prepares directly for doctoral studies)

Contact us

Our office

57 Louis-Pasteur st.,
room 301
Ottawa, On K1N 6N5

Tel.:  613-562-5774
[email protected]