DR Updates
December 20, 2024
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Deadline
All Active members are required to accumulate and report a minimum of 12 CPD hours annually (two of which must qualify as ethics). The current CPD term is ending, and there continues to be a long list of members who have not reported their hours. Members must meet CPD requirements by December 31, 2024, to avoid the consequences of non-compliance, which...
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December 3, 2024
Member Assistance Program Reminder
As outlined in the November 7, 2024 communication in ReSource, the Saskatchewan Lawyers’ Insurance Association (SLIA) has recently engaged Manitoba Blue Cross to provide members with enhanced support for mental health and counselling services through a Member Assistance Program (MAP). As your firm's Designated Representative, please share information on the new MAP with all Law Society members in your firm. Over...
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November 29, 2023
Update on Amendments to the Income Tax Act: Permanent Injunction Granted
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has granted an injunction suspending the application of recently expanded mandatory reporting obligations in the Income Tax Act to members of the legal profession pending the outcome of litigation challenging the constitutionality of the provisions. This legal challenge was initiated by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada in a lawsuit filed on September 11, 2023....
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October 25, 2023
Update on Amendments to the Income Tax Act
The temporary injunction order obtained by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada in conjunction with a petition challenging the constitutionality of amended mandatory reporting obligations under the Income Tax Act has been extended to December 1, 2023. The hearing on the application for an injunction was held in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on October 20, 2023. The judge hearing...
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September 19, 2023
Notice of Amendments to the Income Tax Act
Amendments to the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) expanding existing mandatory disclosure obligations, creating a new category of notifiable transactions, and deleting a provision that relieved parties from the disclosure obligation when it had been fulfilled by another party to the transaction, received Royal Assent at the end of June. The provisions, which require taxpayers and advisors, including legal counsel, to...
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May 2, 2023
Training Opportunity for Your Firm’s Associates and Articling Students
We all know that upskilling adds value to your firm, but did you know that professional development opportunities are also a great retention strategy? Encourage your articling students and associates to attend the upcoming Law Society of Saskatchewan Seminar Keys to Successful Oral Advocacy: All Your Questions Answered. This in-person seminar will be held on May 25th in Regina and...
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March 23, 2023
Mandatory Principal Training
At February 2023 Convocation, the Benchers approved amendments to the Law Society Rules to implement a mandatory principal training course. Amendment to Rule 704 requires that all lawyers who wish to act as principal to an articling student, regardless of previous experience, complete the course. Amendment to Rule 709 exempts lawyers who are acting as principal solely for the purpose...
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February 6, 2023
Updates to the Online Practice Management Assessment Tool
The Law Firm Practice Management Assessment Tool (the “Assessment Tool”) is a central mandatory feature of the Law Society’s proactive approach to regulating law firms. There are two versions of the Assessment Tool accessible – one for sole practitioner firms and one for multi-lawyer firms. Implementation of the Assessment Tool began in April 2021, and is gradual in nature rolling...
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February 3, 2023
Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act
On January 1, 2023, the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, S.C. 2022, c. 10, s. 235 came into force. Subsection 4(1) prohibits non-Canadians from purchasing, directly or indirectly, any residential property situated in Canada. Further, and importantly for lawyers and other professionals involved in real estate transactions, the Act makes it an offence for any person or entity to...
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January 18, 2023
Your Firm’s Access to DivorceMate Is Changing Soon
In 2020, as part of our ongoing efforts to diversify our legal resources, we negotiated free online access for all members to DivorceMate, a cloud-based software for calculating child and spousal support. Unavoidably, a recent business decision made by DivorceMate is ending your firm’s free access to this product. To support firms, DivorceMate has offered a fifty-percent discount to all members. The reduced price...
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