Law and Society at Wilfrid Laurier University sits apart from Laurier's Business, Psychology, and Computer Science programmes already covered elsewhere. It's a pre-law-adjacent undergraduate degree rather than a professional law degree (Canadian law schools require a completed bachelor's degree first), and it draws on Laurier's wider strength in social sciences alongside its better-known Lazaridis business programmes.
This article covers admission requirements, tuition and living costs, English-test thresholds, and PGWP career outcomes for Law and Society at Laurier.
Acceptance Rate
Laurier does not publish an official university-wide acceptance rate. What Laurier does publish is program-level admission averages, the real gatekeeping mechanism: Business Administration (BBA) sits in the high 80s (percentage scale), while other programmes vary by faculty and demand, generally sitting in the high 70s to high 80s range. Law and Society's specific admission average was not independently confirmed from Laurier's general admissions pages during this research; confirm the current figure directly with Laurier's international admissions team, since it's reasonable to expect a programme in this range rather than at BBA's higher tier, given Law and Society is not described as one of Laurier's most oversubscribed programmes in the sources reviewed.
Tuition and Cost of Attendance
Law and Society students pay Laurier's Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences tuition rate.
| Programme area | Annual tuition (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (includes Law and Society) | $36,624 |
| Business Administration (BBA), for comparison | $44,332 |
Laurier's International Tuition Guarantee caps continuing international students' tuition increases at no more than 5% year over year. For the full picture, including living-cost estimates and scholarships, see the Wilfrid Laurier University guide.
Admission Requirements
- Completed secondary education with required subject prerequisites for your intended curriculum (AP, IB, French Baccalauréat, British GCE, SABIS/Choueifat, or country-specific secondary systems)
- Official transcripts, with certified English translations where applicable
- Proof of English language proficiency (unless exempted; see below)
- Completed online application through Laurier's own application portal
- Up to three programme choices can be listed on a single application
Deadlines: Winter 2027 intake closes November 22, 2026; Fall 2027 intake closes April 1, 2027.
How to Get Into Laurier's Law and Society Programme
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Confirm your curriculum's exact course equivalencies early, since Laurier evaluates applicants against country-specific curriculum pages, and the required course list and minimum grades differ by pathway.
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Build strong English and social-science-adjacent coursework, since Law and Society leans heavily on reading, writing, and critical analysis.
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Meet the English proficiency requirement comfortably, not exactly, particularly given the reading and writing load of a law-adjacent social science degree.
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Think ahead to your post-graduation goal, whether that's Canadian law school (which requires a completed bachelor's degree, an LSAT score, and a separate competitive application), graduate study, or a related career path, since Law and Society is a foundation degree, not a professional law qualification.
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Apply well ahead of the priority deadline, since Laurier's application review, especially for scholarship consideration, favors early, complete submissions.
English Proficiency Requirement (IELTS/TOEFL)
Law and Society follows Laurier's standard undergraduate English proficiency minimums; Laurier does not publish separate, higher thresholds for specific undergraduate faculties.
| Test | Minimum score |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic or IELTS Online) | 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in each band |
| TOEFL iBT (before January 2026) | 83 overall, minimum 20 in each section |
| PTE Academic | 59 overall |
| Duolingo English Test | 120 |
Applicants may qualify for an exemption if they completed at least three years of full-time education delivered in English. For the full picture, see the Wilfrid Laurier University guide.
Career Outcomes and PGWP Relevance
Laurier's clearest, most concrete outcomes data sits with its Lazaridis School co-op programmes rather than Law and Society specifically; a single, confirmed Law-and-Society-specific employment rate was not found from a primary Laurier source during this research. Graduates commonly pursue law school, graduate study in criminology, public policy, or political science, or roles in paralegal work, compliance, government, and policy-adjacent fields.
PGWP eligibility: as a bachelor's degree, Law and Society at Laurier carries no field-of-study restrictions for PGWP purposes under Canada's official rule. Graduates whose study permit applications were submitted on or after November 1, 2024 must demonstrate Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB 7) language proficiency at the PGWP application stage, and students with a programme lock-in date on or after September 1, 2024 must complete at least 50% of coursework in person in Canada to preserve full PGWP validity.
FAQ
Does Laurier publish an acceptance rate for Law and Society? No. Laurier publishes program-level admission averages rather than acceptance rates; Law and Society's specific average wasn't independently confirmed in this research, but it's reasonable to expect a figure below BBA's high-80s tier.
Is Law and Society the same as a law degree? No. It's an undergraduate foundation degree. Canadian law schools require a completed bachelor's degree, an LSAT score, and a separate competitive application process.
How much does Law and Society cost at Laurier for international students? $36,624/year, Laurier's Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences rate, below the BBA rate of $44,332/year.
What IELTS or TOEFL score do I need? IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each band), or TOEFL iBT 83 (minimum 20 in each section).
Does Law and Society at Laurier qualify for PGWP? Yes. As a bachelor's degree, it carries no field-of-study restrictions, though a CLB 7 language requirement applies at the PGWP application stage for permits submitted from November 1, 2024 onward.