The Faculty of Law has long been dedicated to enhancing Indigenous voices in our community and within the legal profession. Through the Indigenous Initiatives Office (IIO), the Faculty offers innovative academic and experiential initiatives to all law students. The IIO promotes cultural initiatives at the law school and is devoted to recruiting and supporting Indigenous law students.

Please note: Due to changes to the Fall 2020 J.D. program as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programming of the IIO will run in a modified format. For more information, please contact the IIO at 416-978-2583 or iio.law@utoronto.ca 

Supporting and Recruiting Indigenous law students


Academic and Experiential Initiatives for all Law Students


IIO Events and Initiatives


IIO on Social Media


People

Julie Ann Shepard

Manager

Julie Ann Shepard is of mixed heritage, including Mi’kmaw and settler (French, Irish, English) from Toronto. She completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts and Master’s of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She is a creative thinker and being, with a love for art, music, activism and travel.  

Douglas Sanderson

Faculty Advisor 

Associate Professor Douglas Sanderson is the Faculty Advisor and a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

Professor Sanderson graduated from the Faculty of Law in 2003 and teaches First Year Property Law, coaches the Kawaskimhon Competitive Moot and is the Faculty Advisor to the Indigenous Law Journal.

John Borrows

Professor John Borrows, The Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law

Professor John Borrows,  is a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation. He completed four degrees at U of T, including his JD and LLM, and was an early-career scholar with the Faculty of Law from 1998 to 2001. Professor Borrows is the inaugural chairholder of the newly established Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the Faculty. As Canada's foremost scholar working in the area of Indigenous and Aboriginal Law, John has received numerous accolades for his work, including several book awards, honorary degrees (including one at U of T in 2019), an appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada (2020), the Killam Prize (2017), the Molson Prize (2019), and most recently the Canadian Bar Association's President's Medal (2021), in recognition of his trailblazing working in the field of Indigenous Law. He previously held the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law.

Contact Us

You can contact us at 416-978-2583 or iio.law@utoronto.ca

The Faculty of Law is grateful for the generous support from the Law Foundation of Ontario for the Indigenous Initiatives Office.

Recent Aboriginal Law Events