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ACCOLADE

BLG earns 215 rankings in Chambers Canada 2027

National (September 24, 2026) - Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) earned 215 rankings in the Chambers Canada 2027 guide, including 159 individual lawyer rankings and 56 practice area rankings. The results reflect the firm's capacity to navigate some of the most complex regulatory, transactional and litigation challenges in the country, demonstrating the depth of specialized talent that clients rely on when the stakes are high.

Chambers and Partners is widely regarded as the gold standard for legal rankings worldwide. Its methodology draws on rigorous independent research and thousands of interviews with clients and peers, producing rankings that reflect what clients value most: technical skill, business acumen and outstanding service delivery.

20 BLG lawyers achieved Band 1 rankings

Three lawyers were newly elevated to Band 1: Subrata Bhattacharjee (Competition/Antitrust Law); Robert J.C. Deane, K.C. (Dispute Resolution: Arbitration); and Dionysios Rossi (Transportation: Shipping Law).

Band 1 recognition across 13 practice areas

BLG earned Band 1 recognition in 13 practice areas, including a new Band 1 entry in Constitutional Law:

Matters from this year's Band 1 recognized practices include:

Charities and Not-for-Profits: BLG advised on the formation and governance structure of LawZero, a not-for-profit corporation advancing safe-by-design artificial intelligence, founded by Turing Award winner Professor Yoshua Bengio.

Constitutional Law: BLG maintains a pre-eminent constitutional law practice, consistently representing clients in the nation’s most significant Charter and constitutional matters. BLG serves as lead counsel in the challenge to Québec's Act respecting the laicity of the State (Bill 21), one of the most significant constitutional proceedings in Canada in a generation. The case addresses the scope and limits of the notwithstanding clause under section 33 of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter). BLG also served as lead counsel to the Future of Sport in Canada Commission (the Commission), the federal inquiry into systemic maltreatment in Canadian sport. The Commission's final report was published in March 2026 following cross-country consultations with athletes, sport organizations and government stakeholders. BLG is currently representing CN in a challenge to the constitutional applicability and operability of provincial drainage legislation to federally-regulated railways, which is scheduled for hearing in December and likely to set a precedent for constitutional division of powers matters.

Construction: BLG's Construction Group handles matters across the full project lifecycle, from P3 procurement through complex dispute resolution. Recent work includes representing Nexteel Co., Ltd. and Nexteel Canada Co., Ltd. in a C$255 million claim arising from a pipeline rupture at a newly constructed sour gas plant in northern Alberta, a cross-border dispute raising jurisdictional questions between Canadian and South Korean courts. BLG construction lawyers also served on the legal team for Canada's largest hospital P3 at C$13.9 billion for Trillium Health Partners, alongside the real estate and healthcare teams.

Corporate/Commercial: Highly Regarded (Alberta): BLG's Calgary-based Corporate and Capital Markets Group advises clients across energy, capital markets, technology and cross-border M&A. The team acted for Bitcoin Treasury Corporation in Canada's first Bitcoin-native public company listing on the TSX Venture Exchange, completing a C$125 million concurrent financing with the first-ever TSXV approval for a Bitcoin treasury business model. BLG also acted for AltaLink L.P., Alberta's largest electricity transmission provider, on a C$325 million Senior Secured Notes offering to fund ongoing infrastructure development across the province. BLG additionally acted as lead Canadian counsel to Itron, Inc. in its US$325 million acquisition of Urbint, an AI-powered software company serving the utilities sector.

Dispute Resolution; Arbitration: BLG has an outstanding track record representing Canadian and international clients in arbitrations seated throughout the world, under all major institutional sets of rules, in a wide array of industry sectors including construction and infrastructure, manufacturing, aerospace, technology, distribution, sports and entertainment, energy (including geothermal and oil & gas), and mining as well as investor-State disputes. It complements this work by representing clients before Canadian courts during enforcement proceedings, including in landmark cases at all levels of court. BLG’s arbitration specialists are coordinated across the network, immersed in arbitration thought-leadership, and equipped to provide exceptional and tailored advocacy in every case.

Employment and Labour (Nationwide – Canada): BLG's national Employment and Labour practice advises employers across federally and provincially regulated industries on collective bargaining, workplace policy and complex labour relations matters. Current mandates include representing Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited in one of the first Canadian arbitrations to examine directly the reasonableness of a 28-day cannabis abstinence requirement for safety-critical railway positions. BLG also represented Bell Canada and its subsidiaries in an arbitration involving over 300 consolidated grievances challenging the company's mandatory vaccination policy, with the tribunal upholding Bell's approach as generally reasonable, proportionate and legally compliant.

Employment and Labour (Québec): BLG represented Bell Canada through an 18-month arbitration involving over 300 consolidated grievances challenging the company's mandatory vaccination policy. The tribunal upheld Bell's policy as generally reasonable, proportionate and legally compliant, providing an important precedent for employer health and safety measures during public health crises.

Healthcare: BLG advised Trillium Health Partners in respect of the development of Canada's largest hospital public-private partnership, the C$13.9 billion Peter Gilgan Mississauga Hospital and Shah Family Hospital for Women and Children. BLG also advised on the merger that created Waterloo Regional Health Network, a hospital with approximately C$1 billion in annual operating revenues, and represented the government-appointed supervisor of London Health Sciences Centre implement a comprehensive governance and operational restructuring, including investigating one of Canada’s most significant frauds against a public sector organization and related recovery actions.

Investment Funds: BLG's Investment Management Group advised SLGI Asset Management on establishing its first ETF series, marking Sun Life’s entry into the Canadian ETF market. The group also advised Franklin Templeton Canada on structuring the Franklin BSP Real Estate Debt Fund, a Canadian access fund providing exposure to a global private real estate debt strategy. In addition, BLG was instrumental in assisting Ninepoint Partners in their launch of 11 innovative single-stock HighShares ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange, among the first ETF group in Canada structured around single-stock exposure combined with a covered-call strategy.

Litigation: Administrative & Public Law: BLG's Administrative and Public Law practice represents clients in some of Canada's most consequential regulatory, administrative, and constitutional proceedings. BLG recently successfully challenged the Canadian Transportation Agency's (the Agency) interswitching rate-setting methodology before the Federal Court of Appeal on behalf of Canadian National Railway (CN), compelling the Agency to revise its approach in a dispute valued at approximately C$180 million. BLG also acts for CN in a judicial review from a decision of the Agency for which Supreme Court of Canada will hear argument in November 2026 considering the extent to which judicial review is constitutionally guaranteed in Canada and can be limited by legislation (in this case section 18.5 of the Federal Courts Act). BLG is also representing the Railway Association of Canada in a constitutional challenge to locomotive voice and video recorder regulations under section 8 of the Charter, a precedent-setting case balancing workplace privacy rights against railway safety, with hearings scheduled for October 2026.

Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use: BLG secured Ontario Land Tribunal approval of the master plan for the C$2.5 billion redevelopment of Scarborough Town Centre, one of the largest mall infill projects in the province. The firm also leads legal regulatory and planning approvals for Union Park, Oxford Properties' C$3.5 billion mixed-use development in downtown Toronto, which includes three residential towers, a supertall office building and retail and public open space directly adjacent to the CN Tower and Rogers Centre.

Transportation: Shipping: BLG serves as counsel to all marine industry stakeholders, including shipowners, charterers, global shipping lines, marine terminals, tug service providers and mariners. Our practice encompasses all aspects of the shipping and transportation business, including transactions, regulatory matters and disputes. Current notable mandates include advising major marine terminal project proponents and operators on the West Coast; representing Zim Integrated Shipping Services in more than 100 Federal Court proceedings arising from the M/V Zim Kingston vessel fire and container loss incident near British Columbia; and acting as counsel to the owners of the M/V Thamesborg in a 2025 Northwest Passage grounding, a complex, cross-jurisdictional case.

Significant growth across practices and geographies

This year's results reflect growth across the board. The firm added two new department rankings and five practice areas advanced their band rankings:

A total of 39 individual rankings were added, with 29 lawyers ranked in Chambers Canada for the first time. An additional 28 lawyers improved their existing rankings. This expanded recognition across multiple regions ensures our clients have access to top-tier, specialized counsel regardless of where their business operates.

Recognizing the next generation

BLG's investment in its next generation of leaders is reflected in this year's results as 21 lawyers earned Up and Coming designations and five received Associates to Watch designations. Lee English was also named a Star Associate in Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use (Ontario).

The complete list of BLG lawyers recognized in the Chambers Canada 2027 Guide is available on the Chambers and Partners website. We thank our clients for their continued partnership and the trust they place in our firm.

About Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

As one of the largest, truly full-service Canadian law firms, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) delivers practical legal advice for domestic and international clients across more practices and industries than any Canadian firm. With over 800 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals, BLG serves the legal needs of businesses and institutions across Canada and beyond — from M&A and capital markets to disputes, financing, and trademark and patent registration.

 

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For more information, please contact:

Lindsey Bombardier
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
media@blg.com
416.367.6474