Internationally Trained Lawyer Spotlight: Oluwafisayo Ayita

This fall, the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba welcomed the inaugural class of the Internationally Trained Lawyer program.  These seven Winnipeggers hail from across the globe and have already completed law school, practiced law, and some have even taught law. Through the Internationally Trained Lawyer Program, they are working to meet the necessary requirements to practice law in Canada, studying alongside students in our Juris Doctor program at Robson Hall.

Please welcome Oluwafisayo Ayita:

A new academic challenge

Oluwafisayo Stephen Ayita likes an academic challenge. He had only just moved to Winnipeg and was settling into the city with his family when he made a last-minute decision to submit his application for the Master of Laws program. He was looking for a new academic challenge and was considering the future possibility of becoming a professor of law at a Canadian University. An LLM would be a starting point, he thought.

Striving for excellence in scholarship

Ayita completed his LLB in 2015 at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. While there, he received the Presidential Award as the best graduating student in Commercial Law, as well as the Attorney General of the Federation Award in the same subject during the 2015 convocation. He also won the National Essay Competition on the topic “Nigeria at 50, the past, the present and the future,” funded by Intercontinental Bank (now Access Bank), which was – significantly, how he obtained his first laptop. Additionally, he was the first runner-up in the continental essay competition titled “The Immorality of Self-Interest [The Morality or otherwise of Capitalism],” organized by African Liberty and IMANI in 2011.

He concluded his legal practice training at The Nigerian Law School in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria in 2016. As a next step, he obtained a certificate in Arbitration at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, UK in 2017 and then received certification in conflict and dispute resolution at the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolutions in 2021. He further earned a certificate in Conflict Management Skills at the University of Toronto (2022) followed by certification in Reconciliation and Restoration at Forgiving for Restoring Canada. 

A calling to practice law

Having practiced law in Nigeria and studied mediation and alternative dispute resolution both there and in Canada, Ayita found it impossible to ignore his calling to further his education and deepen his studies in law. Having completed an LLM at the UM Faculty of Law, Ayita is pleased to be participating in the inaugural cohort of the Internationally Trained Lawyer program, taking one of the two Micro-Diplomas now offered in Canadian Private or Canadian Public Law, designed to help internationally trained lawyers complete the requirements to become licensed to practice law in Canada.

He is currently the Communication led for Pro Bono Student Canada(PBSC) New Direction Family Guide and also volunteers at Legal Help Centre in Winnipeg.

Ayita anticipates he will complete the program and be ready to commence articles in the spring of 2026.

Applications for the 2026 cohort of the Internationally Trained Lawyer program at UM’s Faculty of Law are now being accepted until March 31, 2026. Learn more.