Library Assessment for the Certificate in Foundations of Canadian Law
10 February 2025
This is the interim Library Report for the proposed Certificate in Foundations of Canadian Law, offered by The School of Criminology’s Program in Applied Legal Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. This certificate will be comprised of five courses in Canadian legal issues which will be required for students who are completing SFU’s new FASS-Exeter BA/LLB Dual Degree Program (DDP). Students will typically complete the entire Certificate during their sixth year in the FASS-Exeter BA/LLB Program, normally over two or three semesters. Courses for this Certificate will be taught in Surrey and Burnaby, depending upon student need. The initial target enrolment for the certificate is 30 students, and full capacity is estimated at 60.
The proposed certificate will require 20 units, which will be completed by passing five newly proposed four-unit courses. The courses will first be offered in the Fall 2032 (year six of the Exeter dual degree program).
- ALS 401 – Sources of Canadian Law and Legal Institutions (4)
- ALS 402 – Private Law Principles in Canadian Law (4)
- ALS 403 – Public Law of Canada: Criminal and Constitutional Law (4)
- ALS 404 – Administrative Law in Canada (4)
- ALS 405 – Professional Responsibilities for Canadian Lawyers (4)
The SFU Library subscribes to three core legal databases that will support this Certificate program:
- HeinOnline,
- LexisAdvance Quicklaw
- Westlaw Next Canada
This is by no means an exhaustive list. For more information on current resources supporting the Applied Legal Studies program, please see the following: https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/research-assistance/subject/criminology/applied-legal-studies
In 2024/205 these three resources cost the library approximately $210,000 CAD/year.
We cannot accurately estimate what these resources will cost in 2032. It's also possible that mounting this Certificate will increase these costs -- currently we pay less than institutions with a law school and we cannot be certain how vendors will interpret this program. It's possible it will be cause for a cost increase.
We will have to investigate this fully closer to the time of offering.
As is the case across the university, budget cuts are impacting the library and while we are trying our best to mitigate it, further cuts to library resources could be in our future. With this in mind, we cannot guarantee that the library will still be able to provide access to these resources in the future without support.
We will also have to consult with new faculty when they arrive to ensure that we are supporting the Certificate as well as their own research needs. This could mean new journal or database subscriptions as well as monograph purchases.
There will be ongoing costs to FASS associated with this certificate.
The Library will continue to work with FASS as the certificate is developed.