Best Lawyers in Canada for Municipal Law

Quinto practices municipal, land use planning and development law. He has over 30 years of experience as an advocate, appearing before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (formerly the OMB) in hundreds of cases. He has practiced his entire career as a lawyer at Loopstra Nixon . Quinto is an accomplished author and lecturer, frequently speaking at conferences throughout North America. He is the author of a Thompson Reuters publication entitled “Municipal Lands: Acquisition, Management and...

Denise Baker is the Co-Managing partner at WeirFoulds LLP. Her practice focuses on municipal and land use planning issues and related litigation. She has acted on behalf of municipalities, private landowners and resident groups. She predominantly advises landowners and municipalities with respect to land use planning and development matters including municipal finance matters, Planning Act applications and appeals and Heritage Act matters. Denise appears regularly before municipal councils, C...

Seasoned litigator Marc Beauchemin is a key player on Montréal’s municipal and legal scene. As Chair of De Grandpré Chait's Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Marc Beauchemin plays a central role within the firm. His legal practice has two foci. In his first area of practice, municipal law, he represents the private interests of his clients, particularly major property owners, in the context of real estate developments throughout Québec. He and his speciali...

Dan Bennett's practice is focused in the areas of trial, arbitration, hearing and appeal work in commercial and administrative litigation. As a member of our litigation group, Mr. Bennett has conducted a broad range of cases in commercial, real estate, and natural resource matters in British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon superior courts and courts of appeal as well as the Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He also appears regularly before a number of administrative boards de...

Nikolas heads the Real Estate Litigation practice group at the Montréal office. He practises real estate, commercial and contract litigation, including expropriations. He regularly appears before the civil courts and administrative tribunals in Québec and he has pleaded before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Max Collett is a leading real property, planning and environmental lawyer with a keen interest in the development of sustainable cities. Mr. Collett provides timely and practical advice to public and private sector clients on a diverse range of projects, including the remediation and re-development of industrial brownfield sites, development of healthcare-related facilities, complex mixed-use strata developments and commercial joint ventures on First Nations lands. He regularly assists on pro...

Stephen’s practice is centred on municipal, planning, environmental and expropriation law. He regularly appears before municipal councils, tribunals (such as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) and the Environmental Review Tribunal) and Courts on behalf of municipalities, public agencies and institutions, land developers and ratepayers’ associations. His portfolio includes a wide range of matters including Federal and Provincial environmental assessments, approvals related t...

Patrick Duffy is a partner and Co-Head of the Projects & Infrastructure Group. His practice focuses on project development that includes municipal and planning law, environmental permitting and litigation, energy regulation, and Indigenous engagement. He is highly sought after for his considerable experience with environmental assessments and other regulatory approvals in a variety of sectors, including renewable and non-renewable electricity generation, electricity transmission, mining, ...

Bruce Engell's practice focuses on land use and environmental issues, disputes and related litigation matters. His practice focuses on issues respecting the development, use and ownership of land, including municipal, planning, and environmental matters, title and lease disputes, industrial contamination, waste management facilities, road allowances and building permits. He has appeared as counsel in many significant court and Ontario Municipal Board matters.

Marc-André G. Fabien, Ad. E. is a seasoned litigator and Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers recognized for his mastery of high-profile complex litigation. He specializes in commercial and shareholders’ disputes, securities litigation and penal proceedings, and litigation involving federal, provincial and municipal bodies. In addition, he is the President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Marc-André appears before all levels of courts, including the Supreme...

Jonathan M. Fecteau is your ally for all your municipal law needs. Jonathan Fecteau is the head of the Municipal Law team. His practice focuses on expropriation, property assessment and municipal regulations (zoning, subdivision, construction, nuisance, and urban planning). In expropriation and property assessment matters, he exclusively represents individuals and businesses claiming fair compensation for expropriation damages or seeking a fair assessment for the property they own or occupy. ...

Jim is a leading British Columbia practitioner in property tax and expropriation law with extensive experience since 1993 providing strategic advice and litigating appeals for a wide range of clients before tribunals and courts relating to: Imposition and management of property taxes, property transfer taxes, mineral taxes and other commodity taxes on Crown, municipal, private and First Nations lands; Imposition and management of payments of grants in lieu of property taxes; Expropriation of ...

Adina Georgescu practises in administrative, municipal, environmental and energy law in Miller Thomson’s Montreal office. Her practice includes public and constitutional law and litigation. In municipal law, she advises and represents landowners, promoters and public bodies, on planning and execution of large-scale real estate ventures, on the operation of companies and the management of properties (including compliance with applicable laws and regulations; municipal litigation; issuanc...

David’s practice focuses on municipal, land use planning and environmental law. He provides legal advice to municipalities, developers, businesses and private individuals on a range of matters including land use applications, appeals and agreements under the Planning Act, municipal powers and procedures, expropriations, aggregate extraction proposals, infrastructure projects, environmental issues and construction disputes. As an advocate for his clients, David has appeared before a vari...

James Goulden is a senior member of our litigation group. His practice is focused on trial and arbitration work in commercial and administrative disputes. James is also a member of our special situations team that deals with public company disputes, such as proxy fights and takeover bids. Mr. Goulden has appeared before all levels of court in British Columbia, as well as the Federal Court and various administrative tribunals. He has acted as counsel in a broad range of commercial cases involv...

Conner Harris is a partner at Rayman Harris LLP carrying on a broad-based civil litigation and administrative law practice with a focus on municipal and planning matters, property-related disputes, expropriations, and complex commercial litigation. Conner is an advocate who has successfully acted as lead counsel in trials and hearings before all levels of Court in Ontario, assisted in matters before the Supreme Court of Canada, and has appeared before a wide range of administrative tribunals,...

Christel practices real estate litigation, with a particular focus on contract and commercial lease disputes, civil litigation, expropriation, land use planning law and professional negligence. Christel represents both municipalities and private landowners. Christel's practice encompasses a broad scope of real estate litigation work, including assisting in title investigation, ground lease negotiations and litigation drafting pleadings and engaging in settlement discussions. Over the last sev...

Mark practices municipal , land use planning and development law. His experience includes appearances before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (formerly the OMB) in matters concerning Growth Plan Conformity, Official Plan and Zoning Amendments, Site Plan Approval and Development Charges. He is also experienced in the negotiation and preparation of development agreements and condominium documents and drafting of municipal regulatory by-laws. Mark articled with Loopstra Nixon LLP and joined th...

Real estate has been instrumental in making Vancouver the burgeoning world city it is today, and developers have been instrumental in building the very foundations of where we live, work, come together and enjoy life. Sarah is pleased to be a part of these contributions by representing clients in the commercial real estate sector. Sarah admires the dedication and pride our clients put into their work and our community. Sarah provides strategic legal advice based on which clients can make time...

Raj Kehar is a Partner at WeirFoulds LLP with a practice that involves all aspects of land use planning and development law. He represents both public and private sector clients. Prior to joining WeirFoulds, Raj practised at a boutique municipal, planning and development law firm. Raj was also formerly in-house counsel on land use planning and development matters with a major Greater Toronto Area municipality. Raj is therefore uniquely positioned to understand land use planning and developmen...

Calvin Lantz is a partner in the Real Estate Group and head of the Municipal & Land Use Group. He is a Certified Specialist in Municipal Law (Land Use Planning and Development) and appears before administrative boards and approval bodies and agencies; including the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board), committees of adjustment, land division committees and municipal councils. Calvin acts for a broad range of residential, commercial, industrial and institut...

Marc-André LeChasseur practices municipal and public law. He is an assistant professor at McGill University’s School of Urban Planning, where he teaches Quebec and Ontario town planning law at the master’s level, and a lecturer in the Master of Town Planning at the Faculté d’aménagement of the Université de Montréal. He is one of LEXPERT’s most recommended Canadian lawyers in public law and among Canadian Lawyer magazine’s 500 B...

A founding partner of the Firm, Chuck Loopstra has practised law in Toronto since 1969 and was appointed King's Counsel in 1985. Highly adept at navigating complex legal issues, Chuck has built an enviable reputation over the years as a public law expert and litigator. He regularly acts as counsel to private and public sector clients, including all levels of government. With many published papers to his credit, he frequently lectures at legal conferences. In addition to providing strategic di...

Ian Mathany was a partner at one of the largest law firms in Canada prior to starting Mathany & Higgs Law with Christel Higgs in 2018. Ian’s practice is focused on real property litigation with an emphasis on expropriation law. Ian appears frequently at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and at the Board of Negotiation in expropriation cases and has significant experience assisting public sector clients, including transit authorities, local and upper tier municipalities, and private...

Marc McAree, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., M.E.S., is a partner at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP and certified as a Specialist in Environmental Law by the Law Society of Ontario.Marc provides advice and solutions to a wide range of clients to overcome their environmental law and litigation issues. Marc has significant environmental law expertise in contaminated land/brownfields clean ups, transactions and litigation, and environmental compliance and approvals. Marc also helps clients re...

Ursula Melinz is a municipal lawyer in Ottawa. As a member of our Municipal, Land Development & Expropriation team, Ursula advises and represents a full range of clients in Eastern Ontario including developers, municipalities, associations, businesses, and individual homeowners. Ursula assists clients in pursuing site-specific development matters and broad policy issues. She has extensive experience in taking raw land through the development approval process to obtain subdivision, site pl...

As a Certified Specialist in Municipal Law (Local Government/Land Use Planning and Development) and original member of the Law Society’s Municipal Law Specialty Committee, Steve O’Melia specializes in municipal, planning/development, and expropriation law. Since returning to private practice in 2003 his clients have included developers, landowners and more than 50 municipalities, school boards, and conservation authorities. Steve’s decade of experience as an in-house municip...

Matt works throughout Ontario in expropriation law and related claims litigation. He has been involved in all aspects of infrastructure projects, including hydro corridors, regional road widening, transit, major municipal capital works, and most highway projects in the province, such as Highways 7, 11, 26, 400, 401, 404, 407 East, 410, 427 and the QEW. Matt has extensive experience acting for parties before various levels of the courts and administrative tribunals such as the Ontario Municipa...

Work, rigor and analysis. These are the three ingredients that comprise the recipe for Simon Pelletier’s success. Simon is co-leader of the Litigation Group and member of BCF’s Board of Directors. An engineer and a lawyer, he brings a significant contribution to the firm having developed an impressive portfolio of clients, including major work providers, promoters, general contractors, companies in the field of high technologies and specialized professionals. With a bachelor&rsquo...

Tara Piurko has over 20 years of experience in planning and development, real property assessment and taxation, and municipal law matters. She regularly provides strategic advice, counsel and support to property owners, including public and private developers, on development approvals and land entitlement matters and real property assessment and taxation matters. She is an expert negotiator and has extensive experience securing development approvals, including settling official plan amendment...

Aaron is a partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP where he practices various aspects of real property law with a focus on land use planning and development issues. Through his early career as a transaction solicitor, Aaron has developed broad skills – particularly where planning and real estate law issues intersect. In 2009, Aaron was seconded to the City of Toronto’s Planning and Administrative Tribunal Law Department and worked closely with the City’s legal, planning, building, tec...

Paul has been an expropriation lawyer for over 30 years. His practice has provided him with insights from all perspectives; in fact, he has even been expropriated personally - twice. Paul successfully acts as legal counsel for landowners, local municipalities, cities and regional governments throughout the Greater Toronto Area and across Ontario. He works to resolve real estate acquisitions/expropriations, infrastructure projects and development issues of all complexities. Paul’s appear...

Abbey Sinclair is a Partner in the Municipal, Development and Land Use Planning Practice Group at WeirFoulds. Her practice focuses on expropriation and municipal law. Abbey provides practical and strategic advice to municipalities and public authorities on various land, expropriation, and infrastructure related issues. She also represents landowners throughout Ontario in a wide range of expropriation and real property litigation matters. She regularly appears before the Ontario Superior Court...

Neil M. Smiley specializes in complex real estate transactions, planning and development. Having a unique dual expertise as an experienced commercial real estate lawyer as well as a planning and development lawyer, Neil advises clients regarding the acquisition, financing, leasing and disposition of real property, as well as in connection with the myriad of approvals and entitlements required of governmental authorities to maximize value and/or develop such real property. Neil provides corpor...

David Tang practises both Municipal/Land Development & Planning Law and Charities & Not-For-Profit Law; often where those two disciplines intersect. David provides strategy and advice to landowners and appears regularly before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, the Assessment Review Board, and the courts. He proactively advises on property taxation matters, with a particular emphasis on exemptions and other strategies for charities. He deals regularly with provincial and municipal go...

Jeff Wilker focuses his practice on land use law and routinely develops novel approaches to resolve complex legal problems. The provision of top-shelf legal guidance to his clients is a hallmark of his practice. Jeff acts on cutting edge matters and prides himself on his ability to “think outside of the box.” Jeff’s practice involves all aspects of municipal and planning law, including land use litigation, expropriation, environmental and constitutional matters. He appears b...

Ed practices in the real estate and municipal law fields with a specialty in real estate development. Ed has assisted clients in such projects as: redevelopment of industrial sites to permit multi-family residential uses; heritage designation and density bonusing arrangements; rezoning and redevelopment of shopping centres; development of office and industrial parks; development of numerous condominium projects; development and marketing of strata title hotels; restructuring of strata corpora...

Audrey-Anne Béland specializes in the commercial litigation group and, more specifically, in municipal and administrative law. Audrey-Anne acts for both private sector companies and public organizations such as municipalities. In this capacity, she advises and assists clients in the development and urban planning, expropriation process and the environment. Audrey-Anne is also involved in municipal taxation mandates, particularly in appeals regarding the contestation of property assessm...

Jonathan Cheng is an associate in the Municipal & Land Use Group. His practice focuses on delivering strategic advice and representation on a broad range of land development, planning, and municipal law matters. Jonathan is regularly consulted by property developers, landowners, and industries for his in-depth understanding of complex policy and regulatory changes. He has been involved in securing zoning approvals for a wide variety of development projects, including large-scale, transit-...

Chantal deSereville is a Partner in the Municipal, Planning and Land Development Practice Group at WeirFoulds. She assists both private entities and public bodies in navigating municipal, land use planning, environmental, public, and administrative law issues. In addition to helping clients obtain and respond to development applications and appeals, Chantal provides legal opinions on planning policy matters and assists clients with a variety of court applications and provincial offences proce...

Gaëlle Obadia is a lawyer in our Environmental group at Fasken at the Montréal office. Her practice focuses primarily on environmental, municipal and administrative law. Prior to joining Fasken, Gaëlle practiced environmental law in the Civil and Commercial Litigation Group for a provincial firm. She also worked two years in a Montreal boutique firm in environmental law and practiced for several years as a lobbyist in transportation and environmental law in Brussels, where sh...

Jesse has advocated on behalf of a diverse portfolio of commercial real estate clients with respect to their real property assessment and taxation matters, appearing before the Ontario Assessment Review Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Divisional Court of Ontario. He is dedicated to providing service excellence by approaching all matters analytically and with an open-mind, to identify issues, opportunities, and solutions. His top priority is protecting client interests th...