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What We Handle
Practice Areas
Business Incorporation
Incorporating federally or provincially, shareholder agreements, by-laws, and the legal structure that protects you from day one.
Commercial Contracts
Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts that protect your interests, supply agreements, service agreements, NDAs, and distribution deals.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Share purchases, asset acquisitions, due diligence, and post-merger integration for businesses at every stage of growth.
Business Advisory
Strategic legal counsel for founders and executives. We sit at the table with you and help you make decisions, not just document them.
Shareholder Disputes
Deadlocks, oppression remedies, and shareholder disputes handled efficiently, with litigation as a last resort, not a first instinct.
Global Strategy
International business establishment, cross-border transactions, and global mobility planning for companies entering or operating in Canada.
Your Team
The Team On Your File
Jay Choksi
Senior Counsel
Corporate and commercial matters with a dedicated India Practice. Fluent in English and Gujarati.
Matthew Ram
Partner | Corporate & Entertainment Law
Over a decade advising businesses from startups to multinational corporations. Handles corporate structuring, commercial transactions, and entertainment law. Acts for production companies, talent, and distributors across Canada.
Monique Chanderpaul
Closing Manager, Corporate
Manages corporate closings, commercial transactions, and compliance documentation. Coordinates funds, registration, and filing for business and investment matters.
Jia Junaid
Commercial Lawyer
Advises on commercial contracts, corporate structuring, and regulatory compliance. Handles business transactions, partnership agreements, and commercial disputes.
We believe you deserve straight answers, not vague promises. Most matters qualify for a complimentary introductory call.
What does a business lawyer do?
A business lawyer advises on corporate structure, contracts, compliance, transactions, and disputes, protecting your company at every stage of growth.
Do I need a lawyer to incorporate in Ontario?
You can incorporate without a lawyer but it is strongly advisable to have one structure your shareholder agreement, by-laws, and initial contracts correctly from the start.
How much does it cost to incorporate a business in Ontario?
Incorporation costs in Ontario typically range from $500 to $2,000 in professional fees, depending on complexity. This covers corporate filing fees (approximately $360 for Ontario corporations, $200 for federal), document preparation, and legal advice. Additional costs may apply for trademark searches, business license applications, or organizational meetings. At Lexaltico LLP, our corporate lawyers provide transparent pricing and can discuss cost-saving options during your free introductory call at 416-333-6200.
What is the difference between incorporating federally vs. provincially in Ontario?
A provincial incorporation under the Ontario Business Corporations Act (OBCA) operates only in Ontario and is typically simpler and less expensive. A federal incorporation under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) allows your company to operate across all provinces and territories with a single license. Federal incorporation costs slightly more but provides national scope and may be beneficial if you plan to expand beyond Ontario. Our corporate lawyers in Brampton, Milton, Mississauga, North York, and Oakville can advise which structure best suits your business plans.
Do I need a shareholders' agreement for my incorporated business?
Yes, a shareholders' agreement is highly recommended even for small corporations. It establishes clear rules for ownership percentages, decision-making, profit distribution, dispute resolution, and what happens if a shareholder wants to exit or dies. Without a formal agreement, Ontario law defaults to rules that may not match your intentions. This is particularly important for multiple-owner businesses to prevent costly disputes. Lexaltico LLP drafts customized shareholders' agreements that protect your interests and ensure smooth business operations.
What ongoing legal compliance is required after incorporating in Ontario?
After incorporation, you must maintain annual corporate records including minutes of shareholder and director meetings, keep a current shareholders' register, file annual reports with the Ontario government, comply with the Employment Standards Act when hiring employees, and maintain proper accounting records. The Business Corporations Act also requires you to hold annual meetings and update by-laws as needed. Lexaltico LLP offers ongoing corporate governance support to ensure your business stays compliant with all Ontario and federal requirements.
Important Notice: Contacting us does not establish a solicitor-client relationship. Such a relationship is only formed when the firm has expressly confirmed in writing its agreement to act on your behalf.
Consultation Fees: The complimentary introductory call is a brief introductory conversation to understand your situation and explain how we may be able to help. It does not include a review of your documents, and no legal advice is given during it. Lexaltico LLP charges a fee for substantive consultations, including civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed to you in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain us. Your documents are reviewed and legal advice is given only at a paid consultation or once the firm has been retained. No solicitor-client relationship arises until confirmed in writing.
* Response times may be longer when our lawyers are in trial, on statutory holidays or weekends, or in the event of unforeseen circumstances. We will always reply within 48 hours. For urgent matters, call +1 416 333 6200 . Answered 24/7.
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Our Offices & Where We Operate
4+ Offices across Ontario, international desks. Same standard. Wherever you need us.
Incorporation, shareholder agreements and commercial contracts
TORONTO IN PARTICULAR
The City Where the Counterparty Has Counsel
Toronto is where our clients most often find themselves across the table from a firm several times our size. That changes the preparation rather than the position. A well drafted shareholder agreement, complete due diligence and a clear record of what was agreed are worth more against a large opponent than volume of correspondence, and they are what makes a negotiated outcome available at all.
The city concentrates the things that make commercial work complicated. Securities questions arise early for companies raising money, because Ontario has its own regulator and its own prospectus exemptions, and a founder who takes an investment on a handshake creates a problem that surfaces at the next round rather than immediately. Commercial leases in the core carry terms that would be unusual elsewhere. Employment agreements for senior hires are negotiated rather than presented.
Complex commercial disputes in Toronto are managed on the Commercial List at 330 University Avenue, which handles corporate, insolvency and shareholder matters with judges who see them constantly. It is a faster and more predictable forum than the general list, and knowing whether a matter belongs there is part of deciding how to run it.
Client Stories
Hear From Our Corporate Law Clients
Video testimonials coming soon
4.8★★★★★
Based on 270+ Google Reviews
“I had the absolute pleasure of working with two lawyers from Lexaltico on different matters. The level of professionalism, expertise, and care was consistently exceptional. They take the time to thoroughly understand your situation and proactively problem-solve.”
“I had the absolute pleasure of working separately with two lawyers from Lexaltico — Pooja Lassi and Matthew Ram — on different matters. The level of professionalism, expertise, and care demonstrated by each of them was consistently exceptional. They do not simply service your needs — they take the time to thoroughly understand your situation and proactively problem-solve.”
SJR
★★★★★
“I had the absolute pleasure of working separately with two lawyers from Lexaltico — Pooja Lassi and Matthew Ram — on different matters. The level of professionalism, expertise, and care demonstrated by each of them was consistently exceptional. They do not simply service your needs — they take the time to thoroughly understand your situation and proactively problem-solve.”
SJR
STARTING OUT
Incorporation Is a Structure, Not a Formality
Incorporating is cheap and fast, which is precisely why it is so often done badly. A corporation can be registered online in an afternoon with default share provisions, a single class of shares, and no thought given to who holds what or what happens when the founders disagree. The cost of that afternoon usually arrives three years later, when the business has value and the structure cannot accommodate what the owners now want to do.
In Ontario a corporation may be created under the Business Corporations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. B.16, or federally under the Canada Business Corporations Act. The choice affects name protection, where you can carry on business without further registration, residency requirements for directors, and the ongoing filing burden. It is not a coin toss, and it is worth ten minutes of advice rather than a guess.
Share structure is the decision that matters most and receives the least attention. Whether there are multiple classes, whether any carry votes without value or value without votes, whether a holding company sits above the operating company, and whether a family trust is appropriate all bear on how profits are distributed, how the business can be sold, and what tax planning remains available later. Restructuring afterwards is possible and is considerably more expensive than getting it approximately right at the outset.
OWNERS AND PARTNERS
The Agreement You Write While Everyone Agrees
A shareholder agreement is drafted during the period when the parties get on, in order to govern the period when they may not. That is the whole point of it, and it is why the objection that everyone is on the same page is not a reason to skip it but the reason to do it now. People on the same page write fair terms. People in dispute do not.
The provisions that earn their keep are the ones nobody wants to discuss. What happens if a shareholder dies, becomes disabled, divorces, goes bankrupt, or simply stops turning up. How shares are valued when someone exits, and who pays for the valuation. Whether a departing shareholder must sell, and whether the others must buy. How a deadlock between two equal owners is broken. What a shareholder may do in competition after leaving.
Where relationships have already broken down, the corporate statutes provide remedies. The oppression remedy protects shareholders, directors, officers and creditors against conduct that is oppressive, unfairly prejudicial or unfairly disregards their interests, and it is deliberately broad. There are also derivative actions, and in the right circumstances an application to wind up the corporation. These are litigation tools, they are expensive, and they are what a shareholder agreement exists to make unnecessary.
Directors carry personal duties that survive the corporate veil. A director must act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the corporation, and must exercise the care, diligence and skill of a reasonably prudent person. There is also personal liability in defined circumstances for unpaid wages, unremitted source deductions and certain tax amounts. Accepting a directorship as a favour to a friend is not a neutral act.
CONTRACTS AND DEALS
Buying, Selling and the Shape of the Deal
When a business changes hands, the first structural question is whether the buyer is acquiring shares or assets. A share purchase transfers the corporation as it stands, including its history and its liabilities, known and unknown. An asset purchase takes selected assets and leaves the corporate shell behind. Buyers generally prefer assets and sellers generally prefer shares, for reasons that are as much tax driven as legal, and the negotiation between those positions shapes everything that follows.
Due diligence is where deals are repriced or abandoned. Corporate records that were never maintained. A lease that cannot be assigned without a landlord's consent nobody has asked for. Employees whose entitlements on termination are larger than the buyer assumed. Intellectual property developed by a contractor who never assigned it. Customer contracts terminable on thirty days notice. None of these are visible from financial statements.
In the commercial contracts a business signs day to day, the clauses that decide outcomes are rarely the ones that get read. Limitation of liability. Indemnity, and who gives it to whom. Termination and what survives it. Governing law and where a dispute must be brought. Whether payment terms are enforceable in practice or aspirational. A short, well drafted agreement beats a long borrowed one, and a template downloaded from another jurisdiction can be worse than no agreement at all.
SUCCESSION AND ONGOING COUNSEL
Leaving Well, and Being Advised Continuously
Succession planning is where corporate work and estate work meet, and treating them separately is how families end up litigating. The shares of a private company are frequently the largest asset in an estate, they may be illiquid, and the people who will inherit them may not be the people running the business. A will that divides an estate equally can accidentally hand control to someone with no interest in exercising it.
Planned exits take years rather than months. Whether the business is passing to family, to management, or to a third party, the structure that makes the transfer efficient usually has to be in place well before the transaction. That is a reason to start the conversation while retirement is still theoretical.
Many businesses need legal input regularly and cannot justify an in house lawyer. Fractional general counsel is an arrangement for exactly that position: a defined ongoing relationship rather than a series of emergencies. The practical benefit is not the hourly rate. It is that someone who already knows your contracts, your structure and your risk tolerance is available when a decision needs to be made this week, and that the small questions get asked at all.
Not for profit and charitable organisations sit in their own regime, governed in Ontario by the Not for Profit Corporations Act. Directors of these organisations are volunteers who frequently do not realise they carry duties comparable to those of a commercial director. Governance, bylaw compliance and conflict of interest handling are worth attention before a problem rather than after one.
HOW WE WORK
What to Bring, and What to Expect
Bring the minute book if one exists, the articles, any shareholder or partnership agreement, and the contracts that carry the business, meaning the lease, the principal customer and supplier agreements, and the employment agreements. If the minute book has not been kept up, say so at the outset. It is extremely common, it is fixable, and it is far cheaper to fix before a transaction than during one.
Expect the first conversation to cover risk allocation rather than paperwork. Where is this business exposed, what would a failure actually cost, and is the money better spent preventing it or insuring against it. Some risks are worth accepting. Advice that treats every risk as unacceptable is not advice, it is a quote.
Expect us to work with your accountant rather than around them. Structure decisions have tax consequences, and the best legal structure that ignores tax is not the best structure. Where the two disciplines need to agree, it is faster and cheaper to get them in the same conversation at the start.
STAYING COMPLIANT
The Filings Nobody Enjoys and Everyone Needs
A corporation is a continuing legal person with continuing obligations. Annual returns must be filed, changes of directors and officers recorded, and the corporate records kept current in the minute book. Ontario corporations transact this through the Ontario Business Registry, and the practical reality is that a great many businesses stop attending to it once the initial excitement of incorporating has passed.
The cost of neglect is deferred rather than avoided. It surfaces when a bank asks for a certificate of status before advancing funds, when a buyer's lawyer conducts due diligence and finds a decade of missing resolutions, or when a dispute among shareholders turns on who was validly appointed and when. Reconstructing years of records under transaction pressure is expensive and occasionally impossible.
Corporations are also now subject to transparency requirements around individuals with significant control, and the register that records them is not optional. Alongside that sit the ordinary obligations that catch growing businesses off guard: privacy compliance where personal information is collected, employment standards as headcount rises, and registration in other provinces once the business genuinely carries on there rather than merely selling into them.
Speak to a lawyer about your situation.
Contacting us does not create a solicitor-client relationship.
Please do not send confidential information until we have confirmed we can act for you.
We aim to reply within one business day. Sending this form does not meet any court deadline
or limitation period.
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
This form is not an emergency service and is read during business hours.
Assaulted Women’s Helpline 1-866-863-0511,
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We use cookies to improve your experience in accordance with Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA/CASL).
Use of this website does not establish a solicitor-client relationship between you and Lexaltico LLP. Such a relationship is only formed when Lexaltico LLP has expressly confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act on your behalf. Until that confirmation is provided, no obligation of confidentiality exists.
Not Legal Advice
Information on this website is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Do not act on any information here without first consulting a qualified lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. Lexaltico LLP disclaims all liability for actions taken or not taken based on this website's contents.
Confidentiality of Enquiries
Do not submit confidential information through this website or by email until a solicitor-client relationship has been confirmed in writing. Information submitted before that point will not be treated as confidential.
Law Society of Ontario Regulation
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) under the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers are members in good standing. Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with the Law Society of Alberta (LSA).
Law Society of Alberta
Our Alberta-licensed lawyers are members in good standing of the Law Society of Alberta (LSA).
Immigration Regulatory Body: CICC
Immigration consulting services are provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 292.
Estimator & Calculator Tools
The Severance Estimator and Estate Dispute Evaluator are for informational purposes only. Results are estimates and do not account for specific contractual terms, statutory provisions, or judicial discretion. These tools do not create a solicitor-client relationship. Always seek independent legal advice before making any legal decision.
Privacy: PIPEDA and CASL
Your personal information is protected in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), S.C. 2000, c. 5 and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We do not sell your information. Withdraw consent at any time: hello@lexaltico.com.
Initial Assessment
The complimentary 15-minute initial assessment is a brief introductory conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute legal advice. Lexaltico LLP charges a fee for substantive consultations, including civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters; the firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the firm. Documents are reviewed and advice given only at a paid consultation or once the firm has been retained. No solicitor-client relationship arises, and no duty of confidentiality applies, until confirmed in writing.
Referral Fees: LexKonnect
All referral fee arrangements comply with Rule 3.6-6 of the LSO Rules of Professional Conduct. Fees are disclosed to and consented to by the client. No arrangement impairs independent professional judgment.
Limitation Periods
Failure to commence proceedings within applicable limitation periods may permanently bar your claim. In Ontario, the general limitation period is two (2) years from discovery under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B. Seek legal advice promptly.
If You Are in Danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911. This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through this site are read during business hours and a reply may take up to one business day. Do not rely on this site, a form or an email if you need help now. The Assaulted Women’s Helpline (1-866-863-0511) and Talk4Healing (1-855-554-4325) operate around the clock.
Availability and Response Times
We aim to reply to enquiries within one business day. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any particular period, does not create any obligation on the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy any limitation period, filing date or court deadline that applies to your matter.
Our Telephone Line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same as giving legal advice: no advice is given on that call and no solicitor-client relationship arises from it. If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
Reviews and Testimonials
Reviews shown on this site are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a prediction or a guarantee about any other matter, and they should not be read as a statement about the quality of legal services generally. Every case turns on its own facts.
Links to Other Websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social platforms. Those sites are operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for their content or their accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement. Their privacy practices are their own, not ours.
Where Your Enquiry Information Goes
Information submitted through a form on this site is transmitted using third-party services in order to reach us by email, and may be processed or stored outside Canada, where it can be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction. By submitting a form you consent to that transfer. If you would rather not, telephone us on +1 416 333 6200 instead. We do not sell your information.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone +1 416 333 6200 or email hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information in another format. Tell us what would work for you and we will arrange it at no charge.
Lawyers, Paralegals and Consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer. Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope permitted by the Law Society of Ontario, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters. Immigration consulting may be provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants, who are not lawyers. Each page and each biography states which applies. Ask us at the outset who will handle your matter and under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in a number of languages. Every page of this site is written and published in English. Where a document, a summary or a conversation is provided in another language, the English version governs in the event of any difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when you book and we will arrange one.
Lexaltico LLP
Legal Notices
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
What we collect
What you give us
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send:
your name, email address, telephone number and a description of the situation. Nothing on this
site requires you to give more than that.
What is collected automatically
We collect non identifying technical information when you browse: IP address, browser type, pages
viewed and time spent. It is used to understand how the site is used and to improve it. It is not
used to identify you.
What we do not collect here
We do not collect sensitive personal information through this website. Detailed personal and legal
information is collected only after a solicitor client relationship exists, through the channels
set up for that purpose.
How we use it
Purpose
What you send is used to reply to you, to run a conflict check, to assess whether the firm can
assist, and, if a retainer follows, to carry out the work.
Marketing
We do not use your personal information for marketing without your express consent, and we
do not sell, rent or trade it. If you consent to receive anything from us, every message
carries a way to stop, as required by Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation.
Sharing and disclosure
Privilege
Information given to us in the course of a legal matter is protected by solicitor client
privilege. We do not disclose privileged information without your consent, except where the law or
a court order requires it.
Service providers
Non privileged contact information may be shared with the providers who help us run the firm and
this website, and with people engaged on your matter such as translators, agents and court
reporters. All of them are under confidentiality obligations.
Processing outside Canada
Information submitted through a form travels through third party services in order to reach us by
email, and may be processed or stored outside Canada, where it can be subject to
the laws of that place. Submitting a form is your consent to that transfer. If you would rather
not, telephone us instead.
Cookies and measurement
What is set, and when
This site uses cookies to understand how it is used. Advertising cookies are set only if you press
Accept. If you press Decline, measurement is switched off for you entirely, nothing further
is sent, and anything already stored on your device is cleared. The site works either
way.
You can change your answer at any time by clearing this site’s cookies in your browser, which
brings the question back.
Your rights, and how long we keep things
Your rights under PIPEDA
Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act,
S.C. 2000, c. 5 you may ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct
anything inaccurate, and withdraw consent to our use of it, subject to legal and contractual
limits. We reply within thirty days or explain why we need longer.
Retention
Client files are kept for the period the law and the Law Society require, ordinarily
seven years after a matter closes, which reflects limitation periods and the
possibility of later proceedings. After that they are securely destroyed or anonymised. You may
ask for earlier deletion, subject to those obligations.
Enquiries that do not become files
If you contact us and no retainer follows, what you sent is retained only as long as our conflict
records require, then destroyed.
If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner of Canada.
Short, and written to be read rather than scrolled past.
The four things that matter most
Nothing on this site is legal advice, however specific it looks.
Using the site or sending a form does not make us your lawyers.
Do not send confidential information before a retainer is signed.
Past results depend on their own facts and do not predict yours.
What this site is
Information, not advice
This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite
statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your
matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is
usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be
wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have
forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
Law also changes. Pages carry a review date where one is relevant. A page reviewed last year may
not reflect an amendment made since, and a page about a subject currently before an appellate
court may be overtaken between your reading it and your acting on it.
When we become your lawyers
Three things must happen first
A conflict check must be completed. We act for a great many people and
businesses, and we cannot act against a current client or use what we learned from a former one.
That check happens before anything else and occasionally means we have to decline.
We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we
can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
A retainer agreement must be signed. It sets out what we are doing, what we are
not doing, who is responsible for what, and how fees work. Until it is signed no relationship
exists, whatever has been discussed.
Confidentiality before a retainer
Why you should not send us documents yet
Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by
solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no
solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we
are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of
you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it
arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The
documents come after the retainer.
Results, testimonials and reviews
What they do and do not tell you
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are
specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of
that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your
matter is worth.
Client reviews are the views of the people who wrote them. We do not offer anything in return for
a review, we do not write them, and we do not ask only the clients we expect to be positive.
Calculators on this site produce estimates from the figures you enter. They apply published
formulas and they cannot know about the facts that most often change the answer.
Copyright, links and governing law
Copyright
The content of this site belongs to Lexaltico LLP or its licensors. You are welcome to read it,
print it and quote it with attribution. You may not republish it as your own.
Links
We link to statutes, regulations, court decisions and government pages because a reader should be
able to check us. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them, and a link is
not an endorsement.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law permits, Lexaltico LLP is not liable for any loss arising from your
use of, or reliance on, anything published on this website.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of Ontario and the federal law of Canada that applies in
Ontario. Lawyers and licensed professionals at the firm are regulated by the Law Society of
Ontario, and marketing on this site is intended to comply with the
Rules of Professional Conduct.
Every limit on what this website tells you, and every thing it does not do, in one
place rather than in small print at the bottom of each page.
Before you rely on anything here
Four limits, and they matter in this order.
Not legal advice
Everything published on this website is general information. It is not legal
advice, it does not take account of the facts of any particular situation, and reading it does not
create a solicitor client relationship. Do not act, or decide not to act, on anything here without
speaking to a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction about your own circumstances.
Jurisdiction
These pages describe the law of Ontario, and of Alberta only
where a page says so expressly. They do not describe the law of any other province, territory or
country. Law that looks similar across jurisdictions frequently is not.
Currency of the law
Each page states the law as at the review date shown on it. Legislation is amended and case law
develops. A page accurate when written may no longer be.
Generality
These pages describe how a rule usually works. That is not the same as how it applies to your
facts. The exceptions are where most real matters live, and a page written for a general reader
cannot tell you whether you are inside a rule or inside its exception.
If you contact us
If you are in danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through a form here are read during
business hours and a reply may take up to one business day.
Using this website, submitting a form, sending an email or speaking to us on the telephone does
not make us your lawyers. That relationship arises only when the firm has
confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act, a conflict search has been completed, and a
retainer has been signed.
Confidentiality of enquiries
Do not send confidential or sensitive information through this website or by email until we have
confirmed in writing that we can act for you. Information sent before that point is
not treated as confidential and may prevent us from acting for you, or for
someone else, in a connected matter.
Response times
We aim to reply within one business day. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any
particular period, does not oblige the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy
any limitation period, filing date or court deadline.
Our telephone line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken
by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during
the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same
as giving legal advice, and no relationship arises from that call.
Who we are and how we are regulated
Law Society of Ontario
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the
Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in
Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
Law Society of Alberta
Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with, and in good standing with, the
Law Society of Alberta. A lawyer licensed in Ontario is not thereby licensed in
Alberta, and the reverse is also true.
Immigration regulation
Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants
in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29,
s. 292.
Lawyers, paralegals and consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer.
Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope the Law Society
permits, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters.
Immigration consultants are regulated by the College, not by a law society,
and are not lawyers.
Law clerks and managers support files but do not give legal advice.
Each page and biography states which applies. Ask at the outset who will handle your matter and
under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in thirteen languages. Every page of this website is written and published in
English. Where anything is provided in another language, the English
version governs in the event of a difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when
you book and we will arrange one.
Fees
The initial assessment
The complimentary 15 minute initial assessment is a brief introductory
conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute
legal advice.
The firm charges a fee for substantive consultations, including in civil litigation,
criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion.
Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the
firm.
Referral fees
All referral fee arrangements, including through LexKonnect, comply with
Rule 3.6-6 of the Law Society of Ontario’s
Rules of Professional Conduct. Fees are disclosed to and consented
to by the client, and no arrangement impairs the independent professional judgment of any lawyer
at the firm.
What is published on this site
Calculators and estimators
They produce estimates from what you type and cannot know the rest. They do not
account for the terms of your contract, statutory exceptions, or the discretion a court will
apply. Do not make a decision on a number produced by a calculator.
Past results
Any outcome described happened on its own facts, before its own decision maker,
under the law as it stood at the time. Past results do not predict or guarantee the result of any
other case.
Reviews and testimonials
Reviews shown here are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each
describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a
prediction or a guarantee about any other matter.
Links to other websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social
platforms, all operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for
their content or accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement.
Other notices
Limitation periods
Failure to start a proceeding within the applicable limitation period may permanently bar
your claim. In Ontario the general period is two years from discovery
under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B.
Shorter periods apply to many claims. Seek advice promptly. Nothing on this website extends a
limitation period.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone
+1 416 333 6200 or write to
hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information
in another format, at no charge.
