Mr. Collins believes that clients won't see that privilege is important until the client gets into a problem. As an example of problems existing where nonlawyers practice law, he said that, in Canada, actuaries, including the actuarial arms of the Big Five, customarily wrote pensions and other employee benefit plans until the era of rampant inflation and downsizing hit and the pension plans created massive surpluses. Asked whether there is a great demand for MDPs, he answered in the negative and said that accounting firms are creating the demand. Finding the Law Society of Upper Canada's approach too conservative, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada has started its own study and plans on issuing a report by February 1999. Mr. Collins acknowledged that the independence issues have not been resolved in the Ontario report and that it intended to regulate nonlawyers by regulating lawyers.
Foreign lawyers can only practice foreign law in Canada.
Unauthorized practice prosecutions are handled at the provincial level. Customs matters such as export-import taxes are handled mostly by accounting firms and Canadian accounting firms are getting more involved with mediation and alternate dispute resolution.