Law360 Canada (June 8, 2026, 4:35 PM EDT) -- The Law Society of Saskatchewan turned out a “solid” annual report for 2025 — and members should pay particular attention to the implementation of limited licensing in the province, says the regulator’s past president.

One of the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s (LSS) goals for 2025 was to “increase access to legal services and justice,” and it was able to do this after the provincial government made legislative amendments allowing for the limited licensing of non-lawyer legal professionals.

The move to make it official came after a four-year pilot project by the LSS that saw 38 licences approved and 9,165 clients served, according to the annual report.

The first limited licences were issued in January. Now, there are 34 active licensees in the province, according to information from the LSS.

Adam Touet, LSS president for 2025, spoke with Law360 Canada about the initiative, which has been on the regulator’s radar for some time.

“The implementation of limited licensing followed a decade of collaborative work with the government,” said Touet. “It really changes and has positive impacts on accessibility of legal services. It provides the public with another option, and I think if you look at one thing in the report, it’s a significant step that was taken to improve access to legal services.”

Touet was asked if the LSS’s membership is generally on board with last year’s implementation.

“I think so. I think we’ve received support from the members in response to this, and I think it’s an important development for everybody.”

Touet also spoke about eligibility.

“They are individuals with various education, training and experience, but they have to be admitted or granted limited licence to practise in a restricted area, so it’s not simply anybody off the street can all of a sudden call themselves a limited licensee and can … practise.… And the vetting process takes into account their education, training and experience to ensure they are capable of delivering competent legal services in their restricted area.”

According to LSS rules, a limited licensee must have “Canadian education or work experience” consisting of a degree in “justice-related studies” from a recognized school; a certificate or “targeted courses” from a recognized school “in the subject area related to the scope of practice”; a bachelor’s degree or Juris Doctor from a “common law” faculty of law from an approved Canadian university; or a high school diploma and five years “of supervised related substantive legal experience.”

Tasks licensees are able to carry out, Touet said, include drafting or completing legal documents related to wills and powers of attorney; handling documents for land title transfers; providing some corporate legal services; and negotiating or drafting documents in family law — their scope in this area, however, is limited to tasks such as separation agreements and uncontested joint divorces.

Of course, limited licensees are restricted in what they can do. In family law, for example, they are prohibited from getting involved with contested divorces. Also, they are unable to do much in criminal law — if anything.

Another goal for the LSS in 2025 was to strengthen regulation. With this came the establishment of its Public Concerns Pathway, an online self-help tool to handle inquiries from the public — particularly when it comes to complaints.

According to the report, the pathway provides “plain-language information on the appropriate avenues for raising concerns about legal professionals.” It also gives guidance on lawyers’ “obligations and responsibilities,” provides information on the scope of assistance the LSS is able to offer and provides “alternative options” in situations when turning to the LSS is not appropriate.

The pathway is the LSS’s bid to “narrow down … the nature of the complaint” and put people on a path towards some form of resolution, said Touet.

“It’s … trying to narrow down what the nature of the complaint is and then putting them in touch with the proper resources to address that complaint. Because there [are] instances where people feel there’s something they want to complain about [but it] has nothing to do with the law society. It’s trying to streamline that process in a transparent way that allows the law society to properly address concerns and identify the necessary avenues for resolution.”

As for his overall feelings about the 2025 report, Touet referred to it as a positive one.

“I think it’s a solid report,” he said. “I think there was a lot accomplished, and a lot of it … [was the] result of many years of work. When I look back at the limited licensing, that’s the result of nearly a decade worth of work of the prior bencher table and the government of Saskatchewan working together.… I think it was a really progressive year for the law society; there were [many] good things done in terms of increasing access to justice, helping people navigate concerns within the law society.”

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