Counsel

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ELIGIBILITY FOR THIS COMPETITION IS RESTRICTED TO STEP 1 CANDIDATES INCLUDING OPS ALOC AND OCAA LAWYERS living or working within 125 km of this location. Note: Eligible lawyers from outside the Area of Search may apply but will not be entitled to relocation or travel expenses for the transfer as set out below.

Step 1: All regular/fixed-term OCAA and ALOC lawyers on staff, current Redeployment List Members and current Articling Student Hireback Pool Members.
Step 2: In the absence of qualified applicants at Step 1 the competition may be reposted so that external applicants or non-members of the above-mentioned groups would then be eligible to apply.

The Ministry of the Attorney General, Policy Division, Justice Policy Branch is seeking a talented lawyer to join its staff of policy counsel.

Counsel in the division are responsible for providing legal, policy and strategic advice to the Attorney General on a wide range of issues in the fields of civil, family, human rights, commercial and administrative law. Counsel provide legal advice and solicitor services to support the administration of over 140 statutes, and on issues relating to agencies, tribunals and appointments. The division is also responsible for managing the legislative agenda of the Attorney General. As part of these duties, counsel play a key role in the development and drafting of ministry submissions for consideration by Cabinet and its committees, and by instructing Legislative Counsel.

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About the job

As a member of the branch, and under the supervision of senior counsel, you will work as part of a team to support the Attorney General's policy and legislative initiatives, including:

• Drafting bills, regulations, opinions, agreements and related documents
• Providing written and verbal legal and strategic policy advice to ministry clients and the Attorney General
• Working collaboratively with other ministry divisions or ministries, as required

As policy counsel, you will be required to deliver integrated policy and legal services with a particular focus on the ministry statutes and tribunals and agencies for which the Policy Division is responsible. Policy counsel must be proficient in the law as well as able to integrate thorough legal analysis with strategic policy advice.

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What you bring to the team

Mandatory requirements

Membership in good standing as a lawyer with the Law Society of Ontario

Knowledge and Skills

• Familiarity and experience with Ministry of the Attorney General statutes administered by the Policy Division and knowledge of the areas of law underpinning those statutes
• Knowledge of and experience with legal issues affecting the ministry's agencies and tribunals
• Understanding of the following areas of public law: public inquiries, adjudication and dispute resolution and law relating to elections and public officers
• Knowledge of the Cabinet decision-making and legislative approval processes
• Demonstrated experience instructing Legislative Counsel
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate the various solutions offered by the courts or other dispute resolution processes against the benefits and risks of legislative action
• Demonstrated ability to effectively translate legal and public policy concepts into Cabinet documents, and to visualize those concepts in legislation when instructing legislative drafters
• Demonstrated experience in advising program area clients on the legal implications of practices, programs and policy proposals
• Demonstrated capacity and interest to work collaboratively with policy and legal professionals across government
• Capacity to interact on a professional footing with representatives of the judiciary, the private bar and other justice sector partners and stakeholders
• Team and project management skills

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How we support diversity, inclusion and accessibility

We are building an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We encourage everyone interested in working with us to apply, including people with disabilities, Indigenous, Black and racialized individuals, as well as people from all ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.

Our hiring process is accessible, consistent with Ontario's Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. We are working to prevent and remove barriers in our hiring processes and can offer  accommodation to address specific needs related to Code-protected grounds such as disability, family status and religion. For more information about accommodation during the hiring process please  contact us.

Learn more about the work the OPS is doing to create an inclusive, anti-racist, accessible and diverse workplace:

• diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
• accessibility
• Anti-Racism Policy

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Additional information:

Note:

• About security checks:
  A criminal or other federal offence record does not automatically disqualify you from the position. We consider each situation based on the position's responsibilities.
  If a check is needed and you've lived outside of Canada in the past 5 years for 6 or more months in a row, or if you are not a Canadian resident, you'll need to provide an out-of-country police clearance certificate from the country you lived in.
  Employment screening checks are only reviewed and evaluated by the Transition and Security Office, which also maintains them and keeps them strictly confidential.
• For issues with submitting applications, or questions, please contact CSMD.HR.LegalCompeti@ontario.ca

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How to apply:

1. You must apply online.
2. Your cover letter and resume combined should not exceed five (5) pages. For tips and tools on how to write a concise cover letter and resume, review the Writing a Cover Letter and Resume: Tips, Tools and Resources.
3. Customize your cover letter and resume to the qualifications listed on the job ad. Using concrete examples, you must show how you demonstrated the requirements for this job. We rely on the information you provide to us.
4. Read the job description to make sure you understand this job.
5. OPS employees are required to quote their WIN EMPLOYEE ID number when applying.
6. If you require a disability related accommodation in order to participate in the recruitment process, please Contact Us to provide your contact information. Recruitment services team will contact you within 48 hours.

Language requirements and assessment:
All external Ontario Public Service (OPS) job ads are posted in English and French. Check the "position(s) language" section at the top of each job ad for the language requirements. For all roles, candidates are assessed in English, the business language of the OPS. If the position is bilingual (English/French), you'll also need to pass a French-language proficiency test.

Exigences en matière de langue et évaluation:
Toutes les offres d'emploi externes de la fonction publique de l'Ontario (FPO) sont affichées en français et en anglais. Consultez la section « Langue du ou des postes » en haut de chaque offre d'emploi pour connaître les exigences linguistiques. Pour tous les postes, les candidats sont évalués en anglais, la langue d'affaires de la FPO. Si le poste est bilingue (anglais/français), vous devrez également passer un test de compétences linguistiques en français.