Sophie Arseneault practices in the areas of employment, labour, and human rights law. Regularly working with both private and public sector employers, Sophie advises clients on a variety of employment law and labour relations matters. Sophie has assisted clients on pay equity reviews and maintenance exercises, employment equity considerations, employment standards, labour relations, wrongful dismissal claims, human rights complaints and a wide range of proceedings before the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Canada Industrial Relations Board. She works with both unionized and non-unionized employers in a variety of industries.

Irene Arseneault-Allen has been with the Labour Program since 2014.  Irene started as an Early Resolution Officer.  In January 2020 Irene transitioned into the Labour Affairs Officer role and have been in this role ever since.  She is currently a Labour Affairs Officer within the Labour Program of the department of Employment and Social Development Canada

My name is Kelley Banfield and I have worked as a Labour Affairs Officer and Early Resolution Officer with Labour Standards since March of 2020.  I have a background in behavioural psychology, human resources, and mediation/negotiation within the Canadian private sector and New Zealand public sector.

Adrienne has been practicing management-side labour and employment law for over 16 years, most recently, as Director of Labour and Employment Law at UPS Canada. In this role, Adrienne provides proactive, strategic and practical legal advice and litigation support on a wide range of labour, employment and human rights matters. Prior to joining UPS, Adrienne worked in private practice, as well as in-house for a Crown Corporation, and has represented employers in wrongful dismissal matters, grievance arbitration, human rights proceedings, and labour board proceedings. Adrienne holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Masters of Industrial Relations and Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University.

Ms. Guilbert is a full-time Vice-Chairperson of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). Prior to her appointment in July 2019, she was the Executive Director and General Counsel of the CIRB after holding the same position at what is now the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board. She is a fluently bilingual Barrister and Solicitor with extensive experience as a lawyer in private practice, as a General Legal Counsel with a federal Crown Corporation, as a tribunal executive and as a Professor of Law with the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management and its Faculty of Common Law.

Ms. Guilbert holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Political Science and History) and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Ottawa, and earned a Master of Law from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She also studied Law and Political Science at the Université de Nantes in France. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and a prior member of the Law Society of British Columbia.

Roberto Lattanzio is the Executive Director of ARCH Disability Law Centre. Robert has been Executive Director since 2015, and first joined ARCH in 2003. He has acted as legal counsel in test case litigation at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and has made law reform submissions to various levels of government, committees, and administrative bodies. Robert has been appointed to numerous advisory committees, and has written and guest-lectured on diverse topics including equality and human rights law, administrative law, education law, capacity and supported decision making, disability rights, legislative reform, and social science evidence. He also has delivered extensive rights education training to our communities of persons with disabilities and continuing legal education to the legal profession. Robert received his LL.B and B.C.L. law degrees with distinction from McGill University in 2003. Robert has a long standing interest in disability rights and social justice, with extensive work and volunteer experience within disability communities and other equity seeking communities. Robert is the 2022 recipient of the Law Foundation of Ontario’s Guthrie Award for his contributions to advancing access to justice.

Simon-Pierre Paquette is Director, Labour, Employment & Litigation at Purolator Inc., having previously worked as general counsel of a Crown corporation, in-house counsel and labour relations director for a large federally-regulated employer and in private practice at a leading national law firm. His practices has been focused on labour and employment law, and he benefits from extensive experience in subjects such as labour relations, labour standards, grievance arbitration, human rights, privacy, official languages, pensions and workplace drug and alcohol testing.

Michael is recognized as one of Canada’s leading employment and labour lawyers by Chambers Global®, Who’s Who Legal® (Global Elite Thought Leader & Most Highly Regarded), Legal 500®, Best Lawyers® and Lexpert® and a Five Star Safety Lawyer by Canadian Occupational Safety®. He is also a Fellow of the prestigious College of Labor and Employment Lawyers®.

Acclaimed for his strategic excellence and outstanding client service, says Chambers Global®, “Michael draws praise for satisfying the needs of even the most demanding clients and his specialist knowledge of union contract and negotiation issues, where he is described as “exceptional,” and impresses with his “phenomenal” work.”

Former Chair of each of the National Labour and Employment Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and the Labour and Employment Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association, Michael is widely published and frequently asked to chair or speak at international and national conferences.

Michael’s clients are national and international, public and private, and operate in a wide range of industries and sectors. His expertise includes:

• Advising the Multinational and Multi-Jurisdictional Employer
• Attendance Management
• Canada Industrial Relations Board Proceedings
• Collective Agreement Administration
• Collective Bargaining
• Compensation and Benefits Plans
• Construction Labour Relations
• Employee Relations
• Employment and Labour Issues in 
Corporate Restructuring and Transactions
• Employment Contracts
• Employment Standards
• Executive Employment Agreements and Compensation
• Grievance Arbitration
• Human Rights and Accommodation
• Injunctive Court Proceedings and Judicial Review
• Interest Arbitration
• Labour Relations Board Proceedings
• Management Training
• Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Responding to Union Organizing and Applications for Certification
• Sale or Closure
• Strike or Lock-Out Preparation and Business Continuity Planning

Boards and Memberships

Michael is the Chair of Skilled Trades Ontario (a Provincial Crown Agency under the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development) and sits on the board of directors of Skills Canada (Ontario), Support Ontario Youth and the Council of Professional Investigators of Ontario.

He is a Past Executive Member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC), Past Corporate Chair of the LLSC’s Light The Night, and Past Chair of the Yves Landry Foundation.

Michael is also a member of the following organizations:

• American Bar Association (Administrative & Regulatory Practice and Labour & Employment)
• American Seniors Housing Association
• Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association
• Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers
• Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters
• Council of Ontario Construction Associations
• Ontario Bar Association (Administrative Law, Privacy and Access to Information Law, Pensions & Benefits, Workers’ Compensation, Franchise Law)
• Ontario Retirement Communities Association
• Retail Council of Canada
• Toronto Board of Trade
• Toronto Construction Association
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Awards

Michael is the recipient of several awards including the Construction Institute of Canada’s Chancellor’s Award of Excellence, Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) Hard Hat Award of Excellence, University of New Brunswick Alumni Award of Distinction, USports Lester B. Pearson Award, Canadian Franchise Association Volunteer Leadership Excellence Award and Canadian Franchise Association Distinguished Franchise Support Service Award.

Michelle Sterling is a Senior Investigator in Occupational Health and Safety for the ESDC – Labour Program. Michelle started her career with the Labour Program in 2008 and has held her current position for the past 8 years. Michelle is responsible for providing technical guidance to a team of Health and Safety Officers (HSO) in the Ontario region as well as conducting investigations and inspections of federally regulated employers. Michelle was responsible for training HSOs on the new Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations when they came into force on January 1, 2021.

A Partner at our Vancouver office, Jennifer represents employers in all areas of labour and employment law including wrongful dismissal, employment contracts, human rights issues, employment standards, union organizing, collective agreement interpretation, grievance handling, progressive discipline and investigations into employee misconduct. Jen has experience appearing before arbitration boards and a variety of administrative tribunals including the Human Rights Tribunal and the BC Labour Relations Board. She has also appeared as counsel in the Provincial Court of British Columbia, Supreme Court of British Columbia and BC Court of Appeal. A significant part of Jen’s practice involves acting for and advising First Nations governments, economic development corporations, and First Nations-owned entities and business and assisting with their policy development and training, as well as governance. Jen volunteers for the BC SPCA Vancouver/Burnaby Branch as a Community Council member