The Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Canada 1797
Following the introduction of English civil law into this province in 1792, legislation was passed in 1797 authorizing the establishment of the Law Society of Upper Canada. A founding meeting was held in Wilson's Hotel in this community on July 17, 1797. It was attended by ten practitioners, including the Attorney General, the Honourable John White, who was appointed Treasurer, the Society's principal officer. The Society was responsible for setting standards for admission and regulating the province's legal profession. After relocating to York (now Toronto) in the late eighteenth century, the Society moved into its newly-constructed quarters – Osgoode Hall – in 1832. The Society continues to regulate and control Ontario's legal profession.
Ontario Heritage Foundation, an agency of the Government of Ontario