Canadian legal research is entering a new phase with the launch of Westlaw Advantage Canada by Thomson Reuters.
Part of the company’s AI platform CoCounsel, Westlaw Advantage Canada integrates advanced agentic AI with Thomson Reuters’ trusted Canadian primary law and commentary, including the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest, the Doctrines Collections, and the Topical Texts and Annotations. The platform is built for law firms, corporate legal departments, and government organizations.
Thomson Reuters says the new platform addresses rising workloads and growing legal complexity by transforming how research is conducted — helping professionals move from research to strategy with greater speed and confidence.
“The legal profession is evolving rapidly, and so are the solutions supporting it,” said Mary Acimovic, Senior Director of Product Management at Thomson Reuters. “Westlaw Advantage isn’t just an incremental update; it’s a paradigm shift. We’ve harnessed the power of agentic AI to execute complex research tasks like an expert, freeing legal professionals to focus on higher-value strategic work.”
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At the core of the platform is Deep Research, described as the legal industry’s first professional-grade agentic AI research capability. It formulates multi-step research plans, leverages Westlaw’s proprietary content and tools such as KeyCite and the Canadian Abridgment, and delivers comprehensive answers with step-by-step research notes and detailed reports.
Optimized for both English and French, and supporting common and civil law practice, Deep Research covers the current state of the law, recent changes, practical implications, and governing authorities — reducing manual effort and accelerating decision-making.
Doug Higgins, Associate Lawyer at Hull & Hull LLP, said the tool delivers a more complete picture than traditional research alone.
“What’s powerful about Westlaw’s Deep Research tool is that the multi-step approach weaves fragments into a more comprehensive answer, identifying and filling gaps,” he said.
Westlaw Advantage has already launched in the U.S. and UK. According to Thomson Reuters, the Canadian platform speeds research, increases confidence in findings, reveals hidden legal connections, and consolidates relevant materials in one place — supporting better-informed strategies and enhanced client value.