Welcome to Canada’s Best Law Firms 2026. Thousands of legal practitioners across the country ranked the top firms in 31 categories, yielding a list of 20 winners—many of which took the No. 1 spot in multiple practice areas. Here they are, in alphabetical order.

Canada’s Best Law Firms 2026: The corporate law survival guide

Addario Law GroupWhite-Collar Crime Toronto 11 lawyers

Defence counsel Frank Addario’s eponymous firm practises criminal, regulatory and constitutional law, representing clients during investigations, at trial and on appeal. In May, Addario and colleague James Foy represented the Canadian Civil Liberties Association at the Supreme Court of Canada, where the organization appeared as an intervener in a critical appeal about the legal distinction between aiding suicide and murder. And in July, Addario co-wrote an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail arguing that counsel for interveners, interested parties not directly involved in a dispute, should once again be allowed to appear in person at the top court as they have been “stuck on Zoom” since 2020.

Bennett JonesEnergy & Natural Resources (Mining, Oil & Gas) Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New York 460 lawyers

Bennett Jones—founded in 1922 by future prime minister R.B. Bennett—has been involved in almost every major energy development project in Canada in the past 20 years, from oil and gas to renewables, advising in areas including litigation, financing, real estate, labour, regulatory and Indigenous law issues. In June, Bennett Jones’s client Dow Chemical was awarded $3.6 billion in damages, believed to be the highest commercial award in Canadian history, in a decades-long case against Nova Chemicals over a jointly owned ethylene plant in Alberta.

Blake Cassels & Graydon Banking & Finance | Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investments | Corporate & CommercialVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New York, London 714 lawyers

Blakes is one of Canada’s oldest firms—founded in 1856—and consistently ranks No. 1 in the broad area of corporate and commercial law. Led by partner Michael Gans, Blakes is counsel for HanesBrands on its US$4.4-billion merger with Gildan Activewear, announced in August. On the banking side, Blakes represented National Bank of Canada on the regulatory aspects of its acquisition of Canadian Western Bank, completed in February. Earlier in the year, the competition, antitrust and foreign investment team represented World Wide Technology in a $1.8-billion acquisition of Softchoice.

Borden Ladner GervaisConstruction | Cyber Security & Data Protection | Health Care & Life Sciences | TransportationVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal 816 lawyers

BLG—created in 2000 through the merger of five storied firms—is one of the country’s largest full-service business shops and now official law firm of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Its 71-lawyer construction law group handles all aspects of the industry, including infrastructure, P3s and large commercial projects, as well as related disputes. BLG’s 45-lawyer cyber, privacy and data protection group has extensive experience in cyber risk and crisis management. With 56 lawyers across practice areas, the health and life sciences team has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. BLG says its 59-lawyer multidisciplinary team makes it the only firm in Canada with a fully integrated national transportation practice, recognized for its work in disputes, regulatory, environmental and transactional aspects of all modes of transportation.

Cassels Brock & BlackwellCannabisVancouver, Calgary, Toronto 337 lawyers

Cassels’s 33-strong cannabis team offers a broad range of commercial advice, from IP to securities law, regulatory issues, financing, restructuring and insolvency, branding and celebrity endorsements. The team also works with ancillary players in the space, including private equity, device, branding, research and pharmacology companies. Jonathan Sherman chairs the group, whose cross-border clients include Canopy Growth, TerrAscend and Avant Brands.

Clyde & Co.InsuranceVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal 121 lawyers

Clyde & Co.’s Canadian arm is part of a global firm with more than 70 offices on six continents and plays a key role in its corporate risk, international insurance and construction practices. Clyde & Co. launched in Canada in 2011 through a merger with Nicholl Paskell-Mede. Since then, it has become a leader in coverage, dispute resolution, cybersecurity, corporate and regulatory matters for domestic and international insurers, as well as earning a reputation for professional defence. Montreal litigator Carolena Gordon serves as the firm’s senior partner and chair of its global management board.

Conlin BedardInternational TradeOttawa 14 lawyers

It’s been a busy year for this new entrant to the list. Conlin Bedard has a strong focus on international trade and investment, including anti-dumping, import and export regulation, customs, international trade obligations, and trade-related litigation and arbitrations. Ben Bedard and Paul Conlin are both on Canada’s roster of panelists for CUSMA Chapter 10 (trade remedies) disputes and are two of a handful of lawyers in private practice in Canada to have argued before a WTO dispute settlement panel.

Corporate Immigration Law Firm ImmigrationToronto, Ottawa, Montreal 4 lawyers

Founded almost 20 years ago by immigration law specialist Barbara Jo (BJ) Caruso, Corporate Immigration Law Firm is another new entrant on the list. The firm works with individual and corporate clients from foreign countries to help them immigrate, work on temporary assignments, study in or visit Canada. The firm’s clients range from international mining companies to financial institutions, sports associations and athletes to entrepreneurs and families. CILF maintains a frequently updated blog addressing Canada’s continuously changing immigration laws.

Dentons CanadaMedia, Entertainment & SportVancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal 600+ lawyers

Dentons says it has the largest media and entertainment law practice in Canada. The 20-lawyer team is integrated across the firm, with sports and entertainment–focused experience in areas such as tax, cross-border transactions, IP and regulatory issues. It advises lenders as well as independent producers, sports organizations, media companies, and individual artists and performers. Fun fact: Group co-chair Juliet Smith in Vancouver won a Daytime Emmy as executive producer of a kids’ TV show.

Epstein ColeFamily LawToronto 25 lawyers

Epstein Cole, founded in 1978, is the largest family law firm in Canada, with an international reputation for handling sophisticated and difficult matters ranging from complex trust, property and support issues to international child mobility and abduction cases. Led by managing partner Roslyn Tsao, its lawyers have argued cases up to the Supreme Court, including one about the best interests of the child and, notably, the case that led to legalized same-sex marriage.

Henein Hutchison RobitailleCriminalToronto 25 lawyers

Henein Hutchison Robitaille has defended individuals and corporate entities involved in some of this country’s most difficult and well-known criminal cases. The firm was founded by renowned litigator Marie Henein in 2002 and has built a top criminal practice with experience as both defence counsel and prosecutor. The firm rose to prominence in 2016 when Henein and Danielle Robitaille, now the firm’s managing partner, successfully defended former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi in his sexual assault trial.

Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart StorieLabour and Employment Toronto, Waterloo, London, Kingston, Ottawa 120+ lawyers

Hicks Morley is a management-side labour and employment boutique firm that represents more than 1,000 employers in the public and private sectors across 19 industries. Founded in 1972, its professionals provide legal advice in the human resources arena, courtroom and tribunal advocacy, negotiation, labour relations, human rights, alternative dispute resolution, policy development and strategic planning. Managing partner Craig Rix is one of the top collective bargaining negotiators in Canada.

JFK LawAboriginal Law and/or Indigenous LawVictoria, Vancouver, Toronto, Kahnawake 45 lawyers

JFK represents Indigenous communities in litigation and dispute resolution, consultation and regulatory review, complex negotiations, and economic development and governance. JFK has a focus on historical claims brought by First Nations against Canada relating to the administration of land and other assets, and to the fulfilment of historic treaties and other agreements. The firm assisted Ts^ilhqot’in Nation in reaching a historic agreement in June with B.C. and Taseko Mines for Tez^tan Biny. Managing partner Sara Mainville is a former elected chief of the Couchiching First Nation.

McCarthy TétraultEnvironment | Infrastructure Projects | Real Estate | TechnologyVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, New York, London 800+ lawyers

McCarthy has been at the heart of some of Canada’s most significant deals and projects since it became Canada’s first national law firm in 1990. Its multidisciplinary, 40-lawyer environmental law group handles regulatory compliance, inspections and investigations, spill management and emergency planning, as well as ESG matters and environmental litigation. It has 84 lawyers who offer expertise in project finance, procurement, zoning and planning, construction and other critical areas of real estate and infrastructure law. The tech practice services a wide range of leading-edge clients in software, hardware, e-commerce, fintech, aeronautics, biotech, life sciences, IT services, data management and security.

Osler Hoskin & HarcourtTaxVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New York 573 lawyers

Osler, which has pre-Confederation roots, has nearly 60 tax pros offering integrated inbound and outbound cross-border tax advice to Canadian companies and clients with global operations. The tax group, led by partners Timothy Hughes in Toronto and Edward Rowe in Calgary and Vancouver, recently advised Telus in its $1.3-billion wireless tower infrastructure partnership with La Caisse, and BOXX Insurance in its acquisition by Zurich Insurance Group.

Roper GreyellHuman Rights Vancouver 65 lawyers

Roper Greyell started in 2006 with nine lawyers, and it’s now one of the largest labour and employment law firms in Western Canada. Its diverse stable of human rights lawyers offer strategic advice on all aspects of human rights legislation, Charter and employment discrimination claims, investigations of workplace bullying and harassment, as well as employee conduct. It also represents clients before federal and provincial human rights tribunals and commissions.

Ross NasseriDispute Resolution (Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations)Toronto 17 lawyers

This litigation boutique, launched by Justin Nasseri and Mark Ross in 2021, specializes in civil and regulatory disputes. Its areas of expertise include corporate and commercial, estates and trusts, professional liability and regulation, real property, construction, class actions, securities, and tort and negligence, as well as injunctions and crisis management.

Smart & BiggarIntellectual PropertyVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal 166 lawyers and patent & trademark agents

Canada’s largest IP firm, which in the past few years has swallowed up former rivals Bereskin & Parr and Ridout & Maybee, is a member of Australian publicly traded patent and trademark group IPH Ltd. In a reshuffle in July, longtime managing director Matthew Zischka stepped away, and firm leadership fell to CEO Stuart Wood. The firm also reshaped its practice groups to reflect its larger size and many different client groups, separating its patents group into three segments: life sciences, mechanical and industrial, and the new electrical and computer technologies.

Stikeman ElliottCapital Markets | Mergers & Acquisitions | Private Equity & Investments | Restructuring & InsolvencyVancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New York, London 565 lawyers

Stikemans is involved in some of Canada’s largest debt and equity offerings, with securities expertise in private placements for early-stage issuers through to complex multijurisdictional public equity and debt offerings. Its active M&A team, meanwhile, advises on many of the country’s largest transactions, both contested and friendly. Its go-to private equity team assists clients on the entire life cycle of private equity, from fund formation and structuring, negotiating acquisitions and co-investment arrangements to advising on exit strategies. A Stikemans team was counsel to apparel maker Gildan in its US$2.2-billion acquisition of U.S.-based HanesBrands, announced in August. The firm also represented GFL Environmental in the $8-billion sale of its Environmental Services division in March.

StockwoodsAdministrative & Public LawToronto 27 lawyers

Stockwoods has been a leading litigation firm since opening in 1979. Lawyers from the firm regularly appear as counsel in some of the biggest commissions of inquiry and inquests, and other administrative and public law forums. In the past few years, its litigators have acted as counsel for the Government of Canada in the Public Order Emergency Commission and Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference. They’ve also been counsel for a policing organization at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and commission counsel to the Walkerton, Arar and Air India inquiries.

METHODOLOGY

Almost 25,000 lawyers, along with in-house counsel and legal executives working in legal departments across Canada, were invited to take part in our 2026 survey. The sample was collected via research by Statista on company websites and further publicly available sources. Invitations were sent by email with a personalized link that could only be used once.

In addition, lawyers and clients could participate in the survey via an open link. In these cases, the participants had to validate themselves by providing a personal company email address before their answers were included in the evaluation. The link was announced and made available online on The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine website.

The survey, available in English and French, was conducted online between April 7 and May 30, 2025. Statista recorded 11,000 recommendations for law firms across 31 different fields of law. Self-recommendations (or recommendations of one’s own firm) were prohibited, so these recommendations were not included.

Participants were asked to answer optional editorial questions. There was also an opportunity to answer questions focused specifically on developments in the Canadian legal world.

Canada’s Best Law Firms were identified based on the number of recommendations they received in a respective legal field. The lists of top firms were determined after careful examination, based on the available data. The research team endeavoured to be as complete in its reach as possible, within reasonable means.About Statista: Statista publishes worldwide rankings and company listings with high-profile media partners. This research and analysis service is based on the success of statista.com, a leading data and business intelligence portal that provides statistics, business-relevant data, and various market and consumer studies and surveys.

For information about the methodology, contact bestlawfirms-canada@statista.com. For licensing the award logo, please contact jannik.petersen@statista.com.