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Municipal Law

Municipal organizations face unique legal challenges as creatures of statute having to adapt to quickly changing provincial, national and even international regulatory contexts and market forces. The breadth of issues confronting municipal entities is staggering; how they respond affects every citizen on a daily basis. 

You need a firm that provides specialized expertise to municipalities, and those affected by municipal action, in the widest variety of legal fields, across the country, offering the broadest platform for addressing issues at the municipal level.

Our team can assemble the right professionals to accomplish your objectives and overcome challenges in a timely, cost-effective manner. We assist clients with:

  • land acquisition, assembly and expropriation projects
  • urban renewal and other projects combining land acquisition and land use planning
  • brownfield redevelopment
  • infrastructure and environmental assessment matters
  • conservation authority matters
  • cultural heritage designations and disputes
  • development charges and other fees and charges
  • other revenue tools and cost-sharing agreements
  • municipal governance matters
  • code of conduct and integrity matters
  • opinions on municipal powers
  • preparation of bylaws
  • bylaw challenges
  • cannabis retail, production and related matters
  • emerging sectors such as autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things and cutting-edge service delivery technologies

We also act for municipalities and private entities across a spectrum of issues related to Expropriation and Land Use Planning.

We advise and represent upper-tier, single-tier and lower-tier municipalities. We also regularly act for:

  • provincial governments
  • government agencies at all levels
  • boards and commissions
  • school boards
  • hospitals and other healthcare entities

Our litigation practice can assist you with matters involving municipal tribunals and the courts at all levels.

Experience

  • Oxford Properties in preparing planning applications for Union Park, a $3.5 billion, 4.3 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex in the heart of downtown Toronto. We are assisting with legal strategy to secure approvals at a time of significant change in Ontario’s planning regime.
  • The City of Windsor in an arbitration and appeals respecting compensation for lands expropriated for a park system along the Detroit River. The case was a rare example of an award of costs made payable from an expropriated owner to a municipality, one of the largest such awards ever made in Ontario.
  • The City of Kingston in land acquisition matters, formal expropriation proceedings and compensation proceedings pursuant to the Expropriations Act for the Third Crossing Bridge over the Cataraqui River.
  • A large real estate developer in a complex expropriation against the City of Calgary, claiming that the City intentionally delayed processing municipal approvals, thus delaying development.
  • York Region in the resolution of appeals of the new City of Vaughan Official Plan, including mediation of complex secondary plans, and other appeals typically related to transportation and growth management.
  • Private property owners in the potential expropriation of their acreage homestead property, as well as assisting with ongoing planning matters and advising on their rights to compensation.
  • City of Ottawa, Stage 2 Transit Project: land assembly including expropriations, municipal and railway regulatory advice, and negotiating complex agreements with public authorities, crown corporations, educational institutions and private sector property owners. The Stage 2 Rail Transit Project is a $3.6 billion investment.
  • The Region of Peel on hearings of necessity, negotiations, BON proceedings and arbitrations associated with expropriating land needed to widen and improve Mayfield Road in the cities of Brampton and Caledon.
  • The City of Vaughan in its endorsement of official plan and zoning amendment approvals for the Islamic Shia-Ithna-Asheri Jamaat of Toronto (Jaffari Community Centre) to significantly expand its cultural centre.


Key Contacts

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