DLA Piper (Canada) LLP centres its transportation practice primarily on railways, advising clients on both contentious and non-contentious issues. The firm is equipped to advise clients on railway regulation and remedies. Since the enactment of the remedies sought to curb market power abuse by federally-regulated railways, the firm has represented clients in arbitration proceedings, including final offer arbitration proceedings. It has also represented clients in rail infrastructure projects seeking to construct new railways and is well-versed in handling related regulatory issues. Other clients of the team include shippers, terminals, passenger railways, short-line railways and governments. Practice head John Landry KC is sought out for his expertise on civil and regulatory litigation for the transport sector. Alex Hudson focuses his practice on improving shippers’ rates, terms and conditions of service and quality of service through statutory remedies, arbitration and litigation. Associate Taryn Urquhart is noted for her work on private and public sector transport clients, assisting with regulatory issues. All practitioners are based in Vancouver.

McCarthy Tétrault‘s transportation and logistics practice is well-versed in both litigation and transactional matters. The team works on a mix of national and international mandates, advising Canadian freight and passenger railways, motor carrier fleets and transport organizations. Practice head David Blair sits in Québec City and Montréal and acts as advisor to numerous public intercity bus carriers, charter and contract transportation providers and rail sector clientele. He is a specialist in rail and road transportation law, assisting clients with regulatory issues, international transportation, safety standards regulation and carriers’ liability. Co-head Brian Lipson resides in Québec City and handles a mix of litigation and transactions, assisting clients with M&As, commercial agreements and licensing as well as transportation disputes. He often represents rail carriers in administrative monetary penalties before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada and represents motor carriers and their drivers in litigation. In Toronto, Marina Sampson has further strengthened the firm’s disputes capabilities with her arrival in February 2024, following her departure from Dentons.

 

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is well-equipped to assist with road and rail issues across Canada, advising railway companies, urban transit authorities, transportation service providers and insurers. The team acts as counsel to national and regional railway companies, while also assisting clients with infrastructure projects, regulatory planning and litigation. The team is led out of Toronto by Robin Squires, who handles a mix of contentious and advisory work for transportation clients. Co-head Robert Love also resides in Toronto and defends clients from product liability claims, while Dionysios Rossi leads on transpiration disputes from Vancouver.

Dentons covers a wide range of transport sectors including rail, road, public transit and autonomous vehicles. The team acts for Canadian rail companies and operators in building new railways and logistics networks and the shipment of dangerous goods. It is well-versed in road and rail infrastructure projects as well as public transit projects, advising a mix of private sponsors, public authorities and private sector developers. Michael F. Ledgett and Kathryn McCulloch co-lead the transportation and drone law teams, respectively, from Toronto, while Robert Quon leads the aviation team in Vancouver. Ledgett is the go-to for advising governments and their agencies as well as private sector companies with rail, transit and truck issues.

Miller Thomson's transportation and logistics team is led by transport specialists Louis Amato-Gauci and Jaclyne Reive in Toronto and Darin Hannaford in Edmonton. The team is well-versed in railway issues, negotiating rates for freight movements throughout North America as well as representing federally-regulated railways in final offer arbitrations. The team also advises on transactional matters such as the acquisition, sale, leasing and financing of transport assets. Transport intermediaries such as third-party logistics providers and freight consolidators are also clients of the firm, which assists them with the development and negotiation of master services agreements with customers and subcontracts with road and rail carriers.