The Best Lawyers™ in Canada 2024 recognizes 26 Mathews Dinsdale lawyers, from coast-to-cost, as leaders in the fields of Labour and Employment Law, Workers' Compensation Law, Employee Benefits Law and Immigration Law.
John D.R. Craig
He/Him
Partner Toronto, T: 416.869.2503 C: 416.873.7358 F: 416.862.8247 jcraig@mathewsdinsdale.com
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Ashrita Chohan, Law Clerk Assistant 416.862.8280 x259 achohan@mathewsdinsdale.com
Biography
Bar admission
Law Society of Ontario
Education
Dalhousie University, LL.B.
University of Oxford, BCL
University of Oxford, D. Phil.
University of Waterloo, B.A. (Hons)
Membership and affiliations
Canadian Bar Association
Ontario Bar Association
The Canadian Association of Law Teachers
Practice areas
Employment law
Labour relations
Human rights
Federal Sector
Pay equity
Profile
John Craig’s practice is focused on providing strategic advice to employers, and representing them before arbitrators, labour relations boards, human rights tribunals and the courts. He is a leading federal sector labour lawyer, and many of his clients operate nationally and internationally. Over the past 15 years, John has acted as counsel in the leading constitutional cases impacting labour law.
In order to represent the interests of his clients and Canadian employers generally, John regularly attends meetings of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Bank, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labour (IACML). John serves as a member of the Executive Committee of CEATAL, the hemispheric organization that represents employers within the OAS. He is an official spokesperson of CEATAL.
John began his career as a law clerk to Chief Justice Antonio Lamer and Justice Charles Gonthier of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1994. He holds masters and doctoral degrees in comparative and international labour law from the University of Oxford, has been an Assistant Professor with the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law since 1999, and is the Co-Director of Osgoode Hall Law School’s Professional LLM in Labour and Employment Law. His many publications include Privacy and Employment Law, Globalization and the Future of Labour Law, and Federal Labour Law and Practice.
A recognized expert in labour, employment and human rights law, John has been ranked in leading legal directories including the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Best Lawyers in Canada, Who’s Who Legal and Chambers Canada.
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Representative experience
January 2021UFCW v. MedReleaf (now Aurora)
Labour relations on Ontario farms is governed by the Agricultural Employees Protection Act (AEPA). In 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected a constitutional challenge to the AEPA and found that the statute satisfied the freedom of association requirements of section 2(d) of the Charter (Ontario v. Fraser, 2011 SCC 20). The trade union that brought the Fraser case commenced a new constitutional challenge to the AEPA, which was heard by the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal (AFRAAT). The hearing began in October 2019 and a decision was issued in August 2020 upholding the constitutionality of the AEPA. The case is now before Ontario’s Divisional Court on judicial review, with a hearing scheduled for June 2021.
John Craig served as lead counsel to the Labour Issues Coordinating Committee (“LICC”), the organization representing Ontario’s agricultural employers, in both the Fraser and MedReleaf cases. He is continuing to act for the LICC in the current judicial review proceeding.
June 2020Canada Post Binding Arbitration with Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
In November 2018 Parliament enacted the Postal Services Resumption and Continuation Act (Bill C-89) bringing an end to a strike at Canada Post and requiring the employer and its largest union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), to engage in a binding interest arbitration process to settle the terms of collective agreements for two separate bargaining units. Fasken is representing Canada Post in the binding arbitration. The process, which formally began in January 2019, came to an end with an arbitration award issued in June 2020. John Craig served as lead counsel to Canada Post throughout the binding arbitration process
June 2019Rouge River Farms Inc. v. Director of Employment Standards and Ontario Labour Relations Board
Rouge River Farms succeeded in overturning an Ontario Labour Relations Board decision at the Divisional Court, thereby confirming that an Ontario farm is not required to provide overtime pay to its farm workers. John Craig was lead counsel to Rouge River Farms.
October 2017Telecommunications Workers Union v. TELUS
The Telecommunications Workers Union (Union) brought a policy grievance against TELUS seeking rights of notice, information and consultation in respect of all requests made by a bargaining unit member for an accommodation (disability, family status, religion, etc.). After an initial arbitration decision favouring the Union’s position, TELUS succeed on judicial review in both the BC Supreme Court and the BC Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada ultimately refused the Union’s application for leave to appeal. John Craig acted as lead counsel to TELUS before all levels of court.
Industry recognition
Who's Who Legal - Thought LeaderLabour, Employment & Benefits
Best Lawyers® in CanadaLabour and Employment Law
Canadian Legal Lexpert®Employment Law – Employer
Canadian Legal Lexpert®Labour Law – Management
Chambers and Partners CanadaEmployment and Labour – Ontario
Who's Who LegalLabour and Employment – Canada
Who's Who Legal 100Labour and Employment
Legal 500 CanadaLabour and Employment
International Who's Who of Management Labour & Employment LawyersNews
Mathews Dinsdale lawyers from coast-to-coast recognized in the 2023 Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory as leaders in Labour Law, Employment Law, Construction Labour Relations, Occupational Health & Safety Law and Workers’ Compensation Law.
Mathews Dinsdale recognized by The Legal500 Canada 2023 as a leading firm in Labour and Employment, highlighting our national reach. Testimonial - "It is the only workplace law firm with offices from coast-to-coast, so being a national organization ourselves this is extremely important to us. It was Canada’s first law firm to devote its practice to employment law."
Mathews Dinsdale has once again been recognized as a leading law firm in the Chambers Canada 2023 Guide for Employment & Labour - Nationwide, Ontario and British Columbia. Congratulations to our lawyers in BC, AB, ON and Atlantic Canada, who have been ranked and recognized this year.
The Best Lawyers™ in Canada 2023 recognizes 24 Mathews Dinsdale lawyers, from coast-to-cost, as leaders in the fields of Labour and Employment Law, Workers' Compensation Law, Education Law, Employee Benefits Law and Immigration Law.
Who’s Who Legal Canada 2022 recognizes seven Mathews Dinsdale lawyers, from BC, ON and NS as Thought Leaders in the fields of Labour and Employment Law.
Mathews Dinsdale is pleased to welcome Jeffrey Goodman as a Partner to the Firm. Jeffrey is a senior employment litigator with a broad depth of experience defending complex workplace claims, including class actions, discrimination, harassment and wrongful dismissal claims. He is regularly retained as an expert on Canadian employment law in domestic and international litigation, and is a prolific author. Welcome to our team!
Mathews Dinsdale is pleased to welcome Maureen Quinlan as a Partner to the Firm. Maureen is a senior employment litigator with a broad depth of experience defending complex workplace claims, particularly those covered by Employment Practice Liability Insurance. She has significant experience in civil litigation and statutory proceedings. Maureen is panel counsel for several major Canadian insurers in the EPLI area. Welcome to our team!
On March 17, 2022 Mathews Dinsdale Partner John Craig and panelists from Ius Laboris North American member firms will present a complimentary webinar, Labour Developments Under the USMCA Trade Agreement, where they will discuss the labor provision challenges under the USMCA Trade agreement.
Mathews Dinsdale lawyers from coast-to-coast recognized in the 2022 Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory as leaders in Labour Law, Employment Law, Construction Labour Relations, Occupational Health & Safety Law and Workers’ Compensation Law.
Mathews Dinsdale recognized as a leading firm by The Legal500 Canada 2022, highlighting our national reach. Testimonial - "Our business is national and so is the employment law firm we have partnered with. No matter what area of Canada where we may be experiencing a concern our partners at Mathews Dinsdale have an office close by with well-versed lawyers to provide advice and guidance."
22 Mathews Dinsdale lawyers, from coast-to-coast, are recognized as leaders in The Best Lawyers™ in Canada 2022 in the fields of Labour and Employment Law, Workers' Compensation Law, Education Law, Employee Benefits Law and Immigration Law.
Mathews Dinsdale lawyers from coast-to-coast recognized in the 2021 Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory as leaders in Labour Law, Employment Law, Construction Labour Relations, Occupational Health & Safety Law and Workers’ Compensation Law.
Mathews Dinsdale is pleased to welcome John Craig as a Partner to the Firm. John's practice is focused on providing strategic advice to employers, and representing them before arbitrators, labour relations boards, human rights tribunals and the courts. Welcome to our team!
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