Jackie Esmonde

Jackie practices in the areas of Labour, Constitutional, Public Law and Indigenous Rights. She has litigated at all levels of court in Ontario, the Federal Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. She has also appeared before many administrative tribunals.

With an extensive background in writing policy, Jackie has written many policy submissions aimed at government, inquiries and public advocacy. She was also a researcher and writer for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report. One of her academic articles was cited by the Supreme Court in Fleming v. Ontario, 2019 SCC 45.

Jackie has over 18 years of experience in public interest litigation, including test cases aimed at challenging systemic discrimination in access to government benefits, police misconduct and colonialism. She has acted for Indigenous families and nations at inquests and inquiries, including the Ipperwash Inquiry and the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario.

Most recently, Jackie was the lead lawyer for CUPE’s school board sector in Ontario, where she developed specialized knowledge of labour relations in education, litigated central agreement arbitrations and provided day-to-day advice on critical issues connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jackie taught a Masters level course on constitutional law in Osgoode Hall’s Canadian Common Law LLM program for five years. She is also a graduate of Osgoode Hall, finishing in the top 1% of her class. She frequently delivers trainings, speeches and workshops to lawyers, students and community groups on topics such as law and poverty, public interest litigation and social movement lawyering.

Jackie has a lengthy track record of social justice advocacy and workers’ rights organizing, including with Fight for $15 & Fairness and the Migrant Rights Network. She sits on the Board for the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and is a trustee for the Groundswell Community Justice Trust Fund.

Notable Cases

• Council of Trustees’ Associations v Ontario School Board Council of Unions2021 CanLII 51254 (ON LA)
• Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation v Ontario (Education), 2020 CanLII 68392 (ON LRB)
• S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corp., 2019 SCC 4 (CanLII), [2019] 1 SCR 99
• R. v. Boudreault, 2018 SCC 58 (CanLII), [2018] 3 SCR 599
• Corrigan v Ontario (Disability Support Program), 2016 ONSC 6212 (CanLII)
• Surdivall v. Ontario (Disability Support Program), 2014 ONCA 240 (CanLII)
• De Jesus v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 FCA 264 (CanLII)
• Ontario (Disability Support Program) v. Ansell, 2011 ONCA 309 (CanLII)
• Nishnawbe Aski Nation v. Eden, 2009 CanLII 30144 (ON SCDC)
• Londono v. Canada (Attorney General), 2007 FC 694 (CanLII)
• R. v. Semple and Héroux, 2004 ONCJ 55 (CanLII)
• Freeman-Maloy v. York University, 2004 CanLII 4349 (ON SCDC)