Global Esquire Canada is a resource centre for Canadian students who have chosen to study abroad and are obtaining an LLB/JD, LLM or MA Law degree from a top tier UK Law school

In the legal area, academic training given in the United Kingdom makes it possible to enhance one’s international knowledge, while getting acquainted with common law. Many students therefore seize this opportunity to stand out from other candidates at the gates of the largest Canadian law firms. To encourage international education and to address systemic barriers to legal education in Canada, Global Esquire Canada was founded to make a much needed contribution to the Canadian legal profession. Global Esquire Canada, empowered by BlackNorth Initiative is pleased to offer The Global Esquire Canada Mentorship Program which oversee’s counselling and mentoring of up to 25 students per academic year, who are studying a law or law related degree in the UK.

GEC Mentorship Program Cohort 1 and Sara Bond, Founder Global Esquire Canada

Our Application Partner, Study in UK (SI-UK)

SI-UK North America has over 20 years of experience in providing free independent advice and support to Canadian students applying to study in the UK.

As the official representative of UK Universities in Canada, you will have access to our Law School Webinars and have the opportunity to meet our partners at our UK University Fair which takes place in February and September. As an official UCAS centre in Canada, we work to ensure your application is the best it can be and are proud of our 98% success rate in getting students an offer from the university of their choice.

Out of the hundreds of Canadian’s applying to study law in the UK every year, using SI-UK as their official representative, Global Esquire Canada partners with SI-UK to recruit the top students with high potential to succeed.

Our NCA Partner, NCA Mentor

Global Esquire Canada is pleased to announce a new partnership with NCA Mentor. Vanessa Santiaguida BBA, BEd, OCT, MBA, LLB is the Founder of NCA Mentor which provides National NCA and Ontario Bar tutoring services and material. Vanessa takes a “mentor/teacher” approach when guiding students throughout the NCA journey. Vanessa engages personally with all her students in an effort to assist them in strategizing the best path in which to accomplish their NCA related goals. We are very happy to share with the GEC students NCA Mentor’s wonderful services and we look forward to working together to best service students with our new partnership.

Our Community Partner, The Canadian Association of Black Lawyers

The Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), formed in March 1996, is a national network of law professionals and individuals committed to reinvesting in the community.

CABL’s continuing goal is to bring together law professionals and other interested members of the community from across Canada to cultivate and maintain The Association of Black professionals in Canada.

Global Esquire Canada Mentorship Program has a partnership with CABL which includes CABL’s support of the program in various ways to ensure students and law professionals of the program are connected and well positioned to succeed.

mentoring students

Our Partner, Pearson

Pearson was founded in 1844 by Samuel Pearson in Yorkshire, England, and is the world’s leading learning company, with 35,000 employees across 70 countries world wide. Their products and services are used by millions of teachers and learners around the world every day. One student from the program will be awarded an 6 week paid internship with their international in-house legal department. This placement will be based in London, UK.

Founded in 1980, Osuji & Smith is a diverse, fast growing, award winning Calgary full service law firm with focus on Employment Law, Civil Litigation, Real Estate, Family & Divorce, Immigration, Business and Corporate, Wills and Estate . For several years, Osuji & Smith has been voted as one of the best rated Employment and Business Lawyers in Calgary through multiple platforms. Their lawyers have an insatiable thirst for success and know nothing but perfection when it comes to representing their clients. Each year a GEC student will be placed at the firm for an 8 week internship.

Chief Consultant, Mentor and Founder

global esquire canada

Sara Bond, BA Hons, LL.B, LL.M., TEP

Chief Consultant, Mentor & Founder

Patricia DeGuire

Patricia DeGuire is a Woman-of-colour who pushes boundaries to ensure access to justice, equality and equity. Patricia is known for her passion for the Rule of Law, a commitment to public service, mentoring, coaching, and legal education. She uses her life experiences and expertise to mentor young professionals, particularly Women-of-Colour.

Patricia DeGuire is the current Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Patricia has been a member of the Ontario bar since February 1993. She is a professional adjudicator/arbitrator/mediator/coach. As well, she is a Deputy Judge, Ontario Superior Court of Justice – SCC Division). For over 25 years, she has served on Provincial and Federal Tribunals, including the Immigration Appeal Division/IRB, Vice-Chair at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the OLRB/Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal. Patricia was First Vice-President of JusticeNet; served on the Board of Directors, Legal Aid Ontario, a Council Member of the OBA and Canadian Bar Association, was Chair of the WLAO Mentorship Committee. Also, Patricia was an executive member of OBA-Women’s Law Forum from 1992 to 2014, was its Newsletter VICES, from 2002-2012 and was its Vice-Chair. Patricia was a member of the OBA Equality Committee Executive (Aug 2016), and was its “Diversity” Panel Chair. Patricia was a member of the OBA, LSUC and WLAO mentorship programmes and is an avid mentor and coach for numerous youths and adults in the legal and other professions. Currently a Coach with LSO. Patricia is a Constitutional Law scholar; holds a Fellow of Chartered Insurance Professionals of Canada – Claims Major; co-author and co-editor of the first Canadian Insurance Dictionary.

Patricia is the past Co-Chair the Mentorship & Sponsorship Committee and a past Board Member of the Board of Directors of the Black North Initiative. She is a founder of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. She served on the Board for 12 years serving as its first Treasurer, Vice-President, and Director of Professional Excellence; a co-founder of the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada (BLSAC), a founder of the Hon. Julius Alexander Isaac Scholarship, and re-established the Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré Leadership Scholarship both at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor. For several years she was a frequent lecturer at the Organization of Commonwealth Caribbean Bars Association International Law Forum and was on the Faculty of Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators training adjudicators. She is the founder of the Forum for Education for At-Risk Youths and speaks frequently to pupils at all levels of schools. She is the Canadian Bar Association 2020 Touchstone Award recipient, a first of the CBA Rare-Find, in April 2012, a recipient of the Ontario Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award, the 2006 recipient of the Law Society of Upper Canada Lincoln Alexander Award; the Legal Aid Ontario’s GEM Award for outstanding public service for providing access to justice access for low-income individuals and communities – 2007; in acknowledgement of her dedication to students and young lawyers, the BLSAC named its moot cup (for the Julius Alexander Diversity Moot), in her honour – the Patricia DeGuire Diversity Moot Cup.

The Canadian Bar Association’s 2020 Touchstone Award; the OBA’s Award for Distinguished Service recognizes exceptional career contributions and/or achievements by OBA members to the legal profession in Ontario; or to jurisprudence in Ontario or Canada; or to the law or development of the law in Ontario; or a significant law-related benefit to the residents of Ontario.

Sara Bond, BA Hons, LL.B, LL.M., TEP, PGCC

Sara is a Canadian lawyer, licensed in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario. She practices in the area of Wills and Estates, and is employed at a major bank where she enjoys an intentional work life balance and her dream career.

Sara completed her undergraduate education at York University with a Joint Honours in Criminology and Political Science, and she then went on to complete her law degree at the University of Sussex in the UK. When she returned to Canada she completed an LLM in Taxation at Osgoode Hall Law School, and further added to her expertise by completing the Internationally recognized Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners Diploma program (TEP). Sara has recently completed the Professional Goal-Centric Certified Coach intensive certification program (PGCC, Concordia University 2024), where she has enhanced her coaching skills to better serve the students she mentors.

Having a mentor has been instrumental in Sara’s journey to a fulfilling and joyous career. Sara’s decision to study abroad was one of her best decisions she‘s made and for that reason she has worked as an Ambassador and Consultant in the past for study abroad agencies and company’s that support studying abroad opportunities. While completing her legal studies, Sara had the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Toledo, Milan, Venice and other major destinations within the UK, Europe, and Africa.

For the past 5 years, Sara has been in a position to give back to the legal community and provide key information, mentoring and coaching for students on the advantages of pursuing law and law related degrees while incorporating key career planning tips and information that helped her and many others succeed. Sara enjoys volunteering in various extra curricular activities including, Law Society of Ontario Coach through The Coaching and Advisory Network,  serving at her local church, and she is also  a member of the BlackNorth Initiative Education Committee and BlackNorth Initiative Mentoring and Sponsorship Committee. 

Sara has recently been honoured with the Lawyer Monthly, Women in Law Awards 2020. And has also recently been appointed Chair of the 18th Annual Black Female Lawyers Network (BFLN) Sistah-in-Law Retreat and Fundraiser, a national event which hosts up to 200 Black Female Lawyers across Canada.

Rachel Bangura, B.A., M.A., LL.B.

Rachel recently completed her licensing requirements as a Candidate of the Law Practice Program (LPP) with Toronto Metropolitan University (formely known as Ryerson University). Rachel completed her LPP Placement as a Student-at-Law for the Interim Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Ena Chadha, an experienced Human Rights lawyer, investigator, educator and mediator in her private practice as Barrister and Solicitor.

During her placement as a Student-at-Law, Rachel assisted in developing presentations on the topic of the Ontario Human Rights System, disability rights law and participated in helping conduct a workplace discrimination and harasment investigation where she participated in extensive witness interviews. Furthermore, Rachel conducted research and assisted in writing a reported on the mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policies in the workplace during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Rachel graduated from the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK and was awarded a Bachelor of Laws with Honours. During her legal studies, Rachel volunteered as a legal research assistant for Streetlaw Brighton on th ematter of Public Space Protection Orders, which gave Brighton authorties the power to displaced the unhoused.

Rachel completed her Master of Arts at Wilfrid Laurier University where she specialized in the field of Cultural Analysis and Social Theory. She conducted research on various topics ranging from racial inequality, gender discrimination, housing precarity and globalization in addition to studying intersectionality.

Rachel graduated from the University of Ottawa where she obtained her Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences with a double Major in Sociology and Criminology, Cum Laude.

Rachel is bilingual and serves both the Francophone and the Anglophone community. Rachel enjoys Human Rights law, Employment law and Corporate Commercial Law.