MESSAGE FROM THE MANAGING PARTNER OF AIRD & BERLIS LLP

Our firm updates our Doing Business in Canada publication twice per year to provide interested parties with news about recent developments in Canada. Recently, we have become aware of numerous material changes announced and proposed in Ontario and across Canada that may be relevant, and our firm has notified various participants in numerous ways, including publications, communications and presentations.

The legalization of recreational cannabis in October 2018 has attracted global attention and resulted in a great number of new business opportunities, both domestically and internationally. In addition, it appears that the expansion of the legally available products, such as edible products containing cannabis, will occur in October 2019, subject to certain judicial challenges. Our firm has developed a recognized expertise based on our early and extensive involvement in the legalized cannabis space. Our large multidisciplinary cannabis team is recognized in Chambers. The firm is well positioned to provide expert legal advice relating to financing, intellectual property, leasing, employment, mergers and acquisitions, and insolvency, as well as regarding the integration of Canadian and non-Canadian rules and expectations.

Further, Aird & Berlis continues to recognize, promote and encourage diversity, which is essential for an open and inclusive society. We have appointed one of our partners as our Diversity and Inclusion Partner, with the mandate to continue to lead the firm's diversity and inclusion initiatives.

I want to assure you of our firm's ongoing dedication to you and to the practice of law in Canada. Our firm continues to be your gateway to Canada. We are fully committed to a simple refrain: Global Experience, Canadian Expertise. Our commitment to our clients is simple – we deliver high-quality Canadian legal services to advance their interests and add value to their business.

Our firm is very active in numerous international organizations. We have a number of lawyers who are officers, members of advisory boards and/or participants in the International Bar Association. Lawyers from our firm are active throughout the year in many other international organizations and conferences. We attended and/or participated in international insolvency, intellectual property, transportation and gaming conferences. We are proud of the depth of our firm's international connections and the relationships that our lawyers and patent agents have with many people around the globe. I wish to reiterate our firm's dedication to being your chosen Canadian law firm on multinational, binational and Canadian domestic transactions and on other legal matters. We believe that our creativity and flexibility will permit us to anticipate and adapt to these changes to the benefit of our clients.

Members of our firm are recognized by numerous national and international directories, including Chambers Global, Chambers Canada, Who's Who Legal, Legal 500, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, the Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada and The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, to name just a few. Also, the number of Aird & Berlis lawyers who have active leadership roles with the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the International Fiscal Association (international branch) and the International Fiscal Association (Canadian branch) continues to grow.

Our updated Doing Business in Canada publication is designed to provide you with a brief summary of some issues involved when entering the Canadian business market. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me and I shall arrange contact with the appropriate person.

Toronto, Canada, October 2019

"Steven Zakem, Managing Partner"

PDF - Doing Business in Canada - Fall 2019

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.