Find Lawyers in Ontario, Canada for Municipal Law
Practice Area Overview
Municipal law includes the area of practice described as Land Use on this website, which more specifically can include:
- Advising on permitted uses of lands;
- Advising on restrictions such as special policy areas, holding provisions, and environmental limitations;
- Obtaining development approvals;
- Official plan amendments;
- Zoning amendments;
- Site plan approvals and agreements;
- Subdivision and condominium plans and agreements;
- Minor variances;
- Consents to severance, easements, or long-term leases;
- Providing advice and representation respecting Environmental Assessments, including Class Environmental Assessments;
- Representation Before the Ontario Municipal Board, Courts, and Tribunals.
- Drafting and interpreting by-laws and agreements
- Advising on restructurings and amalgamations
- Initiating and opposing judicial review applications
- Advising on development charges and front-ending agreements
- Providing advice and representation respecting all aspects of the Elections Act
- Representing clients on assessment appeals before the Assessment Review Board, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), and the courts
- Providing expropriation advice to both land owners and expropriating authorities, representing clients before the Board of Negotiation, the OMB, and the Ontario Courts
- Restructuring, Governance, and Joint Services
- Privatization of Services
- Municipal Liability Claims and Litigation
- Utility Restructuring and Financing
- Municipal Finance, Contracts, and Administration
- Municipal Election Matters
- By-Law Enforcement
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Issues
- Property Tax collection
- Conflict of Interest Advice
- Procurement
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...
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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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