The City of Vaughan Articling Program

Legal Services provides advice on a broad range of general municipal law matters across all City departments, including interpretation and application of legislation such as the Municipal Act, 2001, the Construction Act, the Environmental Protection Act, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Building Code Act, and the Provincial Offences Act. In addition, Legal Services assists in the drafting and interpretation of City by-laws and policies.

Legal Services provides guidance to numerous City departments in relation to a broad range of contracts, including sponsorship, recreational programming and events, construction, supplier and technology contracts, among others. The Legal Services department also provides advice in relation to construction contracts and procurements, and provides assistance in the negotiation and resolution of any disputes that may arise. Additionally, Legal Services assists the Procurement Services department in the review and application of the City’s Procurement Policy, which governs how the City procures and contracts for services in accordance with applicable trade agreements and law.  

Our lawyers provide legal services in the area of employment and labour law, as well as human rights law, and appear as counsel in arbitrations, wrongful dismissal matters, and hearings before the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and the Human Rights Tribunal. In addition, our labour and employment lawyers work closely with the City’s Human Resources department providing advice and guidance on policy and procedural matters.

The City’s Legal Services department works closely with the Risk Management group to manage and represent the municipal in insurance-related claims, such as personal injury, damage to personal property and commercial claims. In addition, the City’s litigation lawyers also represent and manage all civil litigation involving the City. The Legal Services department also acts as counsel for the City in Administrative Monetary Penalties hearings, as well as any appeal to the Property Standards Committee and appeals under applicable City by-laws. In addition, Legal Services provides assistance to the City’s By-law and Compliance, Licensing and Permit Services department in the preparation of proceedings under Part III of the Provincial Offences Act.

Our planning law lawyers provide advice to City departments with respect to the planning and development process including official plans, zoning, plans of subdivision, plans of condominium, site plans, consents and minor variances. Legal Services also reviews bylaws and provides assistance with respect to heritage matters and development charges. Our lawyers appear before the Ontario Land Tribunal and related court proceedings in relation to land use planning matters.

Our lawyers draft, review and process subdivision, site plan, condominium, land severance and other development agreements. The Legal Services department also works closely with the City’s Real Estate department on the purchase and sale of property and expropriation of lands for the City’s needs, as well as easements, leases, licenses and other property related transactions. The work includes preparing agreements, by-laws and reports, as well as relevant land title registrations. 

Our lawyers also work on many large corporate projects, such as major partnership agreements, matters relating to municipal capital facilities, and significant City-wide initiatives and policies.

The City is currently hiring one student for the 2025-2026 articling term. The City hired one articling student for the 2022-2023 term and two articling students for the 2023-2024 term, and one student for the 2024-2025 term.

Yes, the City is currently participating in the TMU LLP for the Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 terms.

The 2025-2026 articling salary is $74,173 (based on 12 months), plus 8 per cent in lieu of benefits and 4 per cent in lieu of vacation. 

“My experience as an Articling Student at the City of Vaughan was unparalleled. I had a holistic hands-on experience that engaged a variety of different practice areas. From day one, I noticed Legal Services commitment to their students' growth and development. From the outset, I was exposed to a wide array of work, from drafting by-laws, pleadings, and facta to researching complex legal issues, all while being supported along the way. Further, I was able to hone my advocacy skills by attending various mediations, arbitrations, and Superior Court matters. In fact, under the supervision of my principal, I was able to conduct my own discovery, lead a small claims settlement conference, and represent the City in an administrative monetary prosecution hearing. The welcoming environment at Legal Services and supportive culture has made me feel very fortunate to have started my legal career at the City. I highly recommend this incredible opportunity to any students interested in municipal law.” – Caitlin De Simone, Articling Student, 2023-2024

“Articling with the City of Vaughan has been an amazing and unique experience. The environment is very friendly, supportive and engaging, and laughter is a recurring theme. The diversity of topics and areas of practice covered by Legal Services in real estate and development matters as well as in municipal operations have undoubtedly given me the privilege of gaining invaluable insight and practical legal experience. Whether it was legal research, drafting, client interactions or court appearances, each assignment and feedback contributed to a solid and well-rounded foundation. Moreover, witnessing firsthand the team’s leadership, excellent client services and drive to give back to our communities has been extremely inspiring and has shaped my legal career.” - Alina-Gabriela Grigorescu
 

“Articling for the City of Vaughan is an extremely rewarding experience. I was able to explore a wide range of practice areas which allowed me to learn and understand the inner workings of the municipality. The Legal Services team at the City of Vaughan is encouraging and always had an open-door policy when it came to overall learning and questions along the way. This type of learning environment allowed me to excel and quickly develop necessary skills as an aspiring lawyer. You will be exposed to a variety of interesting and challenging matters while having the opportunity to be face-to-face with City stakeholders – it’s the perfect blend to gain foundational skills and practical experience.” - Taylor Markov, Articling Student, 2020

 “I greatly enjoyed my articling experience with the City of Vaughan where I was exposed to all the City’s practice areas. I had the opportunity to research many novel municipal law issues, review contracts, help assemble Council reports, draft By-laws and represent the City on various administrative monetary penalty as well as property standards matters. I was given regular guidance and assignments based on my interests. I found the environment very supportive and friendly. I can confidently say that my articling experience with the City gave me a solid start to my legal career.”  - Chris Xu, Articling Student, 2021-22

As an articling student at the City of Vaughan, I drafted a variety of litigation documents, attended hearings at the Ontario Land Tribunal, performed municipal and planning research, conducted by-law reviews, participated in real estate closings and put together advice for our various client groups. From the outset I have been involved in interesting work and have been given many learning and development opportunities. The guidance and support I have received during my time as an articling student has been integral to my experience at the City. -Kristen Stevenson, Articling Student, 2022-2023

Students articling with the City are placed within a rotation comprised of the following practice areas:

• Municipal Law, including contract and construction law;
• Litigation, including insurance, labour and employment;
• Planning Litigation, as well development plan review and policy advice; and
• Real Estate, including conveyances and development agreement preparation.

Whenever possible, the City looks to hire back articling students, although hire-back is dependent upon budget and department needs. Since commencing our articling program in 2020, we have been able hire-back five articling students and we look forward to this trend continuing.

For additional information regarding the City’s articling program, contact the Articling Committee at articling@vaughan.ca.