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Transportation and Logistics

Serving international surface and air transportation industries, we expertly navigate clients’ toughest provincial, interprovincial and international regulatory issues

A cross-border team consolidating colleagues with diverse industry expertise, our Transportation and Logistics Group provides comprehensive and practical legal advice to a wide range of actors in the transportation and logistics industry, including shippers, providers of air, rail, bus, truck and taxi services, and government entities.

Across-the-board experience and support

Recognized by Chambers Global as Band 1 in Transportation Law, our regulatory specialists are passionate about guiding clients through the full range of compliance concerns, possessing deep industry expertise and a wealth of experience navigating intersecting provincial/territorial, federal and international laws. Our team structures complex mergers and acquisitions, private equity and similar business and commercial transactions for freight and passenger transport companies, shippers and manufacturers, and acts on their behalf before administrative tribunals and the courts on regulatory and compliance matters.

We accompany clients on an ongoing basis with advice and support on regulatory compliance, and with in-depth knowledge of international safety standards regulation and carriers’ liability law, we manage state-of-the-art infrastructure development projects in the area of light and heavy rail, provide comprehensive logistics advice to key players in the retail industry including La Maison Simons, and act for high-profile brands and businesses nationally including Greyhound, Day & Ross Inc., Transdev Canada, Kéolis Canada, Home Depot, VersaCold Logistics Services, Trinity, CSX Corporation, and VIA Rail Canada. Supporting the full spectrum of transportation industry matters: agreement drafting, negotiation and fine-tuning; application preparation and follow-through with provincial and federal regulatory agencies; our notable experiences include:

  • guiding CSX Transportation, a Class I railroad operating in the United States and Canada, through the regulatory requirements related to the establishment of an intermodal transportation terminal in Valleyfield, QC;
  • representing Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC in its successful application to reduce service in British Columbia in order to streamline its operations in response to changing market trends in the bus transportation industry;
  • advising Day & Ross Inc., Gosselin Express Ltée, Andy Transport Inc. VersaCold Logistics Services and other of Canada’s most prominent motor carriers with respect to operational safety, including successful negotiations with regulators concerning the implementation of new technologies, representation within safety audit proceedings, and successfully defending regulatory prosecutions before the courts throughout Canada; and
  • acting for VIA Rail Canada before the Canadian Transportation Agency and the Federal Court of Appeal with respect to transportation accessibility matters
  • acting for York University in all subway-related matters for the portion of the line that runs through York’s Keele Campus, including development of master project implementation and construction agreements encompassing the City of Toronto, the TTC and York University for the transfer of project property, management of the municipal approvals process and negotiation of long-term maintenance agreements;
  • representing CDPQ in its definitive agreement with Bombardier Transportation, a global leader in the rail industry, for a US$1.5 billion convertible share investment in their newly-created holding company, BT Holdco;
  • leading VersaCold Logistic Services, Canada's largest supply chain solutions company, in acquiring the assets of Gary Heer Transport Ltd., the refrigerated provider of truckload cross-border transportation services between Western Canada and the United States, establishing VersaCold's entrance into the USA cross-border transportation market segment;
  • acting for Champion Iron Limited, a public company which shares are listed in Australia and on the TSX, in the acquisition of the Bloom Lake Mine and related rail and mining assets for C$53.3 million;

We are leaders in procuring authorizations,  permits and licences with regard to transport, safety, environment and land use; handling compliance with transportation of dangerous goods regulations; and negotiating service, freight, and warehousing agreements. As a full-service, multinational firm, our scope and scale enable us to provide unique pricing arrangements, ensuring you cost certainty and savings. For the past decade, we have championed the major cases germane to bus operating authorities in Canada, acting for the three largest carriers nationally.

Connected at the forefront of industry

Transportation media regularly note the groundbreaking work of our team who are also active in organizations such as the Canadian Transport Lawyers Association, the Transportation Lawyers Association, the Railway Association of Canada, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in North America and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association. On behalf of clients, we leverage a strong network of relationships with federal and provincial authorities including the Canadian Transportation Agency, Transport Canada, The Transportation Safety Board, the Ontario Highway Transport Board, the Commission des transports du Québec and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec. Connect with us to keep your transportation and logistics projects moving in the right direction.