2025 Canada Legal Job Market Outlook

2.4%* May 2025 unemployment rate

Leaders across law firms and in-house legal departments are contending with a growing list of challenges, including outdated technology and intensifying compliance pressures. Demand for legal expertise is high, but hiring the skilled talent needed to meet it is challenging. Low unemployment and a steady shift in priorities among legal professionals—many seeking better work-life balance—have heightened the competition for top talent.

Digital transformation is also reshaping the legal profession. From eDiscovery and contract life cycle management tools to AI-assisted research and analytics platforms, technology is becoming critical to operational efficiency and service delivery. These changes are driving demand for professionals with legal acumen who can work across digital platforms, support innovation and contribute effectively to more tech-enabled legal functions. In response, many leaders are using contract talent to address immediate needs and bridge gaps.

Leaders of law firms and corporate legal departments report it takes slightly more than 4 weeks to hire candidates for permanent roles.

said evaluating applications and determining which candidates to interview is their greatest hiring challenge.

Hiring for strategic priorities: Law firms and legal departments

Law firm and corporate legal team leaders shared their top hiring priorities for the rest of 2025.

Expanding to new practice areas

Inclusion efforts

AI and legal technology integration

Data security and privacy compliance

Compliance and regulatory affairs

Technology implementation and automation

of legal leaders reported skills gaps within their department.

said the impact of those gaps has increased in the past year.

Where skills gaps are most evident according to leaders

Law clerk/paralegal, legal assistant and operations: 52%

General administration: 44%

Lawyer and associate: 40%

Legal support and records: 36%

Legal support and records: 46%

Litigation support/eDiscovery: 38%

Corporate/in-house counsel: 30%

Legal operations and efficiencies: 27%

Make sense of shifting job market dynamics

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Almost all leaders need to add new staff or at least maintain current headcount to deliver on top business priorities. Yet 86% of those hiring said it’s challenging to find the talent they need in the current market.

of leaders are hiring for new permanent positions.

are hiring only for vacated permanent positions.

Hiring plans for the second half of 2025: contract professionals

90% of legal leaders said they’re increasing their use of contract talent. They also shared what they view as the greatest value in engaging these professionals.

Faster time staffing for critical roles

Flexibility in scaling workforce

Access to specialized skills or expertise

Cost savings compared with permanent hiring

Legal professionals in highest demand

The following positions are in the top 20% of in-demand legal roles, according to an analysis of thousands of job postings and Robert Half placements.

Contract administrator

Contract manager

Law clerk

Lawyer, 2-3 years’ experience

Lawyer, 4-9 years’ experience 

Legal assistant

Learn more about the top roles in demand

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*Statistics Canada, seasonally adjusted, June 2025.

The surveys cited were developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Results may not total 100% due to rounding or allowing for multiple responses. Respondents included executives, hiring managers and workers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-plus employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across Canada.

Over 420,000 new positions from more than 5,400 unique independent job boards and company websites provided by TextKernel are represented in our analysis of in-demand roles, including 6,300-plus placements from Robert Half. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources professions.