The Office of the City Solicitor provides a comprehensive and complex range of legal services to elected officials, all City of Ottawa departments, and various boards and commissions (i.e. Ottawa Police Services Board, Ottawa Community Land Development Corporation and the Ottawa Public Library), in the areas of civil litigation, labour and employment law, prosecutions, and corporate, municipal, planning, development, environmental, and commercial law.
You are accountable for providing vision, leadership and strategic direction to Office of the City Solicitor team, and planning, organizing, directing, controlling, evaluating and improving the development and delivery of its priorities, services, programs and operations. Your decisions impact how Office of the City Solicitor will achieve the City’s strategic and long-term goals and objectives as determined by City Council and senior management, and short and long-term goals of other Departments that involve the provision of legal services.
Services and programs include:
Legal advice to Council, Committees and Departments through the preparation of legal opinions and support on such diverse matters as planning and real estate, tendering and procurement, public health, transportation and transit, environmental issues, housing matters, cultural and recreational services, access to information and protection of privacy, and municipal taxation and assessment
Municipal by-laws and provincial offences – prosecution and administration
Civil litigation both by and against the City
Labour and employment law, including arbitration hearings, Human Rights advice and tribunal hearings, WSIB and OH&S matters
Labour relations, including collective bargaining, grievances and guidance on employee management issues
Receipt, investigation and processing of claims against the City
By-law, contract and agreement drafting, review and processing
Real property transactions (sales, acquisitions, leases, easements, title searches)
Zoning and Official Plan issues (including Ontario Municipal Board hearings)
Insurance (purchasing and management)
Municipal Assessment and Taxation
Road openings / closings / dedications
Tendering and procurement law matters
Legal Operations and Support Services, which encompass all legal operational and administrative support functions, including financial planning and monitoring, legal research, file and knowledge management, insurance certificate monitoring and renewals, claims processing, support to the labour relations function, and the Articling Program.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Completion of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree
Minimum of 10 years of related experience in the practice of law with emphasis on municipal law, including a minimum of 5 years managing human resources, external contract resources, operating and capital budgets in a complex public organization or private sector corporation
CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENCES
Licensed by Law Society of Ontario and called to the Bar of Ontario
Language Requirement: This is a designated day-1 ready bilingual position as per the City of Ottawa's Bilingualism Policy and fluency in both of Canada's official languages is required and a language assessment will be completed as part of the selection process. In exceptional circumstances, and subject to Council approval, internal and external candidates that do not meet the language requirement may be considered.
Salary Information: $161,728.84 - $204,529.78 annually (2022 rates of pay)
