First graduates from Foreign Trained Lawyer Program called to the bar

Two members of the first graduating class of the University of Calgary’s Foreign Trained Lawyers Program (FTLP) have been called to the bar after years of hard work towards their accreditation.

In 2021, UCalgary’s Faculty of Law unveiled its first FTLP, and Igor Kyryliuk and Tushar Rishi found themselves in the inaugural cohort of the program alongside eight other students. Since the program and the awarding of their Post-Bachelor's Certificates, they’ve spent their time studying, writing their National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) exams, articling and, in 2024, earned a call to the bar.

The FTLP is a 12-month post-bachelor’s for internationally trained lawyers who wish to become accredited to practice common law in Canada. Each student has their own unique story of how they came to the FTLP.

Igor Kyryliuk: From Ukraine to Calgary

Igor Kyryliuk made a few stops before settling in Calgary. He received his civil law degree and master’s in Odesa, Ukraine, and then moved to Poland with his wife. After one year, they moved to the United States.

After three years of attempting to get permanent status, without success, they decided to move to Canada in 2020.

Once in Canada, Kyryliuk immediately clicked with his Canadian immigration lawyer, who offered him a job after he landed in Calgary as a permanent resident. He then applied to the FTLP and worked part-time while studying full-time.

Kyryliuk sees the unparalleled value in FTLP graduates. “For us, we’re new to the country. If we’re not new, then we still don’t have this exposure to law firms and so we have to stand out among the local grads,” says Kyryliuk.

“I think (FTLP grads are) better in many aspects because they have cultural expertise, they know not only the law, how it functions in Canada, but how the law also works in other countries. They have this critical thinking and (are) twice as motivated because they had to go through the same thing twice.”

Kyryliuk was called to the bar on July 9, 2024. He is currently building a client base and learning different areas of law including immigration appeals, federal court reviews, judicial reviews and federal court.

Tushar Rishi: From Calgary to Belfast to Calgary

Tushar Rishi, BA’16, was UCalgary alum before the FTLP, graduating from the Law and Society program. He then moved to Northern Ireland to complete law school at Queen’s University Belfast. The plan was to stay in Ireland to practice law, but he decided to move back to Calgary in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once back in Calgary, Rishi heard about the FTLP and applied. “I thought to myself, I could either self-study or I could have some help, which would help me sort of transition into the legal marketplace in Canada,” he says. “So, I decided to go for it and, yeah, enrol myself in the program, and then the program was such a huge help.”

Despite completing his undergrad at UCalgary, Rishi experienced the disparity of being trained internationally for law. This grew his appreciation for how the FTLP was organized by program director Dr. Kellinde Wrightson, PhD, who was trained in Australia.

"I feel like she curated the program according to what an international lawyer needs, and they just provide the students with this toolbox, which bridges the gap an internationally trained lawyer might feel like there is,” says Rishi.

Rishi was called to the bar in May 2024 and is currently working with Innovate Calgary as legal counsel, helping startups with a focus on legal, operational and strategic issues.