Osgoode Certificate in Fundamentals of Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law

Osgoode Professional Development is the lifelong learning arm of Osgoode Hall Law School, one of Canada’s leading law schools.

We provide a uniquely broad and flexible range of interdisciplinary graduate-level legal education to professionals with and without law degrees.

What You’ll Learn

The aim of the program is to give you a practical and foundational understanding of Indigenous rights and title, the constitutional framework, reserve lands and developments on reserve, treaty interpretation, modern treaties, the duty to consult framework and practical strategies.

1. The historic narrative and constitutional framework
2. An overview of the case law and key legal concepts from the last 40 years
3. Understanding historic treaties – the context, perspectives and contemporary realities
4. The Indian Act: key issues for practitioners and policy makers
5. “Section 35” – understanding its purpose, framework and emerging issues
6. Understanding modern day treaties using case studies and a Canada wide comparative analysis, including First Nation, Inuit and Métis perspectives
7. Addressing overlapping territories, private lands, submerged land and waterways
8. The Duty to Consult and Accommodate – its origins, recent case law developments and current practices
9. Consultation approaches, policies and perspectives across Canada, including best practices
10. Indigenous self-governance
11. UNDRIP and what it means going forward

Assessment Criteria

In order to obtain the Certificate, the learner must:

1. complete/attend all modules;
2. successfully complete an online assessment, obtaining at least 80%.

Estimated learning effort

Approximately 35 hours of learning effort, spread over multiple weeks.

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