These were the top infrastructure lawyers in Toronto are based on Lexpert’s 2020 peer survey. For the current list, see Ontario’s best infrastructure lawyers here!
In the survey, infrastructure law encompasses the provision of advice and counsel on infrastructure development projects. These include the areas of regulatory law, procurement, alternative financing, construction, corporate and commercial matters and litigation.
Most frequently recommended infrastructure lawyers
Mark W.S. Bain
Law firm: Torys LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1989
Mark W.S. Bain is a partner at Torys LLP, where he heads the public-private partnerships (PPP) practice and co-heads the infrastructure and energy practices. He is recognized as one of the best infrastructure lawyers in Canada. Bain has acted on more than 80 major PPP and alternative financing and procurement (AFP) transactions, and other infrastructure transactions in the healthcare, power, telecom, education, justice, gaming, water and wastewater, pipelines, public records and urban redevelopment fields. He has represented sponsors, equity investors, lenders, arrangers and underwriters, contractors, service providers and public authorities. His recent mandates include the Barrie Transit, Billy Bishop Airport Terminal, Downtown Toronto Bus Terminal, Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Indianapolis Consolidated Courts.
Read more about Torys LLP on Indigenous consultation standards
Robert T. Bauer
Law firm: Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1976
Robert T. Bauer serves as a senior partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. He also heads the firm’s commercial real estate and infrastructure practices. Bauer brings more than 40 years of expertise and industry knowledge to high-profile and business-critical commercial real estate development projects, infrastructure projects, PPPs, project financing and joint venture work in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. He advises clients on transformative and landmark projects. Bauer is instrumental in the successful development of large projects in diverse sectors, ranging from hospitals to commercial casino projects to cross-border rail tunnels, toll roads and airport developments. He is considered as one of the top infrastructure lawyers in Canada.
Read more about Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP on infrastructure investment during pandemic
Chris Bennett
Law firm: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2001
Chris Bennett is a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. He is also the national chair of the firm’s financial services group and leads its project finance team in Toronto. Bennett has extensive experience in acting for domestic and international lenders, developers and other participants on complex project financings in many Canadian jurisdictions. He has led major transactions in several industries, including social infrastructure, transportation and renewable energy. Bennett has spoken and written extensively on matters relating to project finance and public-private partnerships, including developing two courses on PPPs at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, where he has been an adjunct faculty member since 2007.
Darryl J. Brown
Law firm: Gowling WLG
Year called to the Bar: 1990
Darryl J. Brown is a partner at Gowling WLG’s Toronto office. He devotes his practice to infrastructure, construction and real estate law. Brown boasts expertise in the drafting and negotiation of project agreements, construction and facility management contracts, preparation of tender and bid materials, acquisition, sale and development of commercial properties and real estate financing and leasing. He acts as counsel to government agencies, developers, equity providers, construction companies, subcontractors and operators in various Canadian and US PPP projects. Brown is also active in dispute resolution relating to these projects, including the development of strategies for defending and pursuing PPP claims. He is considered among Canada’s best infrastructure lawyers.
Read more about Gowling WLG on new infrastructure delivery models
Catherine Doyle
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2006
Catherine Doyle is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. She practises in the areas of project finance, infrastructure, public-private partnerships and structured finance law. Doyle regularly advises on infrastructure projects, including in the transportation, social infrastructure, alternative energy, power and health-care sectors. She has represented financial institutions in the financing of infrastructure assets, including bond underwriters, institutional investors, and Canadian and international banks. Doyle has extensive experience in operating and term credit facilities, asset-based financings, lease financings and structured financial products, and in structuring, negotiating and documenting domestic and cross-border financing transactions in the bank, private placement and bond markets. Her closed projects include MacDonald Block Reconstruction Project, Royal Inland Hospital Project, New Toronto Courthouse Project, Enterprise Data Centre Borden Expansion Project and Stanton Territorial Hospital. Doyle is considered one of the top infrastructure lawyers in the country.
Read more about Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP on financing the mining industry
Tobor Emakpor
Law firm: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2008 (ON); 1994 (England & Wales)
Tobor Emakpor is a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP’s construction and infrastructure specialty group. He boasts several years of experience in advising and leading on PPP and AFP projects in Canada, the UK and West Africa, with an emphasis on the health care, education and transportation sectors. Emakpor also has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, and joint-venture and partnering arrangements. He has led teams advising on a variety of PPP and AFP projects. Emakpor is currently advising shortlisted proponents and lenders on several projects in Ontario. He has also advised shortlisted bidders on the Prince George Cancer Centre in British Columbia, the Surrey Memorial Hospital Critical Care Tower Project in British Columbia, the St. Catharines Hospital in Ontario and the Women’s College Hospital in Ontario. Emakpor is recognized as among the leading infrastructure lawyers in Canada.
Brian C. Kelsall
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1982 (ON); 1985 (AB); 2005 (England & Wales)
Brian C. Kelsall is a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He specializes in corporate project finance, with an emphasis on domestic and international public-private partnerships and infrastructure development. Kelsall advises lenders, sponsors and investors in Canadian and overseas projects in the infrastructure, energy, telecom, oil and gas, mining and power sectors. He has extensive banking law, securitization and mergers and acquisitions experience. Kelsall advises participants in domestic projects in the infrastructure, mining, energy, power and real estate sectors. Recent transactions in which he has acted as lead counsel include advising the lenders on Infrastructure Ontario's Eglinton Crosslinx PPP project, advising the winning consortium on the US Pennsylvania Bridges Project and advising the federal government on its Communications Security Establishment Canada Long Term Accommodation Project. Kelsall is recognized as one of the best infrastructure lawyers in Canada.
Tara A. Mackay
Law firm: Torys LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2002
Tara A. Mackay is a partner at Torys LLP. She devotes her practice to corporate and commercial transactions, with a particular emphasis on major capital projects, including public-private partnerships and alternative financing and procurement projects. Mackay represents private developers, public authorities, lenders, construction contractors and service providers in all aspects of the implementation of large-scale infrastructure and similar projects. She is considered one of the top infrastructure lawyers in Canada.
Read more about Torys LLP on renewable energy sources
Timothy J. Murphy
Law firm: McMillan LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1989
Timothy J. Murphy is an executive partner at McMillan LLP. He is also a former chief of staff to Canada’s prime minister. Murphy assists consortia, lenders and governments in project financing major infrastructure assets across Canada. He has extensive experience in construction, energy and procurement. Recent transactions include the Finch LRT, Champlain Bridge, Highway 407 East Phase 2, the Alderville First Nation Solar Farm and the Hurontario LRT. Murphy has authored several leading text in public-private partnerships and construction law in Canada. He is also the managing director of McMillan Vantage Policy Group, a public policy advisory firm. Murphy is among Canada’s leading infrastructure lawyers.
Rocco M. Sebastiano
Law firm: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1994
Rocco M. Sebastiano is a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. His practice focuses on engineering, procurement and construction law and infrastructure matters. Sebastiano has acted for project participants, including owners, governmental authorities, developers, contractors, operators, lenders, architects and engineers. He has extensive experience in public-private partnerships, privatizations and outsourcing of government services, procurements, project finance, major building, civil and public works design, engineering, construction, operation and maintenance focusing on energy and infrastructure projects. His practice also includes contract negotiation with an emphasis on “preventative” structuring aimed at minimizing project risks and disputes. Sebastiano is a qualified and experienced professional engineer. He is also among Canada’s top infrastructure lawyers.
Gregory G. Southam
Law firm: Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1998
Gregory G. Southam serves as a senior partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP’s commercial real estate, infrastructure, corporate and capital markets practices. He is also a member of the firm’s management committee. Southam has taken a lead role in some of the largest and most significant public-private partnership and infrastructure projects in Canada and the US, including transportation, social and urban renewal and alternative energy asset classes. He has also worked on some of Canada’s largest office development, construction and hospitality sector transactions. Southam has significant experience in a variety of corporate and commercial matters, including share and asset acquisitions, construction matters, debt financings, gaming matters, leasing, and acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate holdings. He is considered as among the best infrastructure lawyers in the country.
Judy Wilson
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1985
Judy Wilson is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. She boasts more than 30 years of experience in dealing with commercial and procurement issues. Wilson has advised clients across the globe on the full spectrum of infrastructure and public procurement issues. She has extensive experience in contracts to engage the private sector in the provision of traditional government services. Wilson has also led a wide range of transactions to engage the private sector, including design-build-finance-maintain, operations and maintenance, management of public-sector facilities and the provision of clinical services in the community-care sector. She is a leading practitioner in the field of alternative finance and procurement projects and infrastructure development projects in industries such as health care, transit and transportation, nuclear energy and information technology systems. Wilson has developed and implemented procurement and contract documentation to support a wide range of public-private partnerships and has provided advice and legal opinions relating to procurement processes and evaluation, project risk management and mitigation strategies, project structuring, and agreements. She is recognized as one of the top infrastructure lawyers in Canada.