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Canada · Accreditation exams

NCA syllabus and exam outlines for each subject

Every subject has its own NCA syllabus, which the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) calls an exam outline. It lists the required texts and readings, and you’re examined on them. The NCA updates outlines without notice but posts changes before registration opens, so check you have the current version each time you register.

  • PDFFormat of every exam outline
  • 9th editionAdministrative Law casebook from June 2026
  • Before registrationWhen updated outlines are posted
Open the NCA’s exam outlines

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

Which NCA syllabus version is current?

SubjectOutline version
Business OrganizationsOctober 2023
Canadian Administrative LawJune 2026
Canadian Constitutional LawJanuary 2023
Canadian Criminal LawAugust 2026
Canadian Professional ResponsibilityMarch 2023
Civil Procedure2024
Commercial LawNovember 2025
ContractsSeptember 2026
EvidenceApril 2025
Family Law (Canada)2026
Foundations of Canadian Law2025
Property2025
Remedies2024
TortsSeptember 2024

These are the versions listed on the NCA’s Exam outlines and samples page. Each outline is a PDF, and the same page links a sample exam for every subject.

NCA sample exams →

Required texts for the five mandatory subjects

  • Canadian Administrative Law: Van Harten, Heckman and Promislow, Administrative Law: Cases, Text, and Materials, 9th edition (Emond Montgomery, 2026)
  • Canadian Constitutional Law: Peter Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, Student Edition (Carswell, revised each year)
  • Canadian Criminal Law: Kent Roach, Criminal Law, 8th edition (Irwin Law, 2022), and Steve Coughlan, Criminal Procedure, 5th edition (2026)
  • Canadian Professional Responsibility: Woolley, Devlin and Cotter, Lawyers’ Ethics and Professional Regulation, 4th edition (LexisNexis, 2021)
  • Foundations of Canadian Law: Bryden, Kennedy and others, Public Law: Cases, Commentary, and Analysis, 5th edition (Emond Montgomery, 2025)

The Criminal Law outline also requires the most up-to-date Criminal Code, and you must have a hard copy of it at the exam. The Administrative Law outline warns that its 9th edition differs from the 8th, which past NCA exams in that subject were based on.

Getting the books and cases

You find and pay for your own study materials. Each outline ends with a list of publishers you can contact, and you can also buy the books at a law school bookstore or another bookstore, find them online or borrow them from a law library. The NCA says to check the outline before you buy, because textbooks change and you need the right edition.

Many of the cases are free on CanLII, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, which the NCA describes as a free legal information resource funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

NCA exam notes: what you can use in the exam →

What the outlines expect from your answers

The outlines are about more than reading lists. The Criminal Law outline says you pass by identifying the issues, picking out the relevant rules and cases, and explaining how the law applies to the facts. Candidates who only list issues, describe rules or state conclusions without that analysis won’t succeed. The Administrative Law outline adds that applying the rules of the place you first trained puts you at risk.

NCA courses, tutors and law school programs →
Sources: NCA and 6 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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