Annik Forristal Email Address

Associate

McMillan is a business law firm serving public, private and not-for-profit clients across key industries in Canada, the United States and internationally. With recognized expertise and acknowledged leadership in major business sectors, we provide solutions-oriented legal advice through our offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Hong Kong. Our firm values - respect, teamwork, commitment, client service and professional excellence - are at the heart of McMillan's commitment to serve our clients, our local communities and the legal profession. For more information, please visit our website at www.mcmillan.ca.

I am a Group Head of McMillan’s National Infrastructure and Construction Group with a practice dedicated to the construction, infrastructure and development industries. I provide considered advice and representation on project delivery, contractual allocation and management of risk, municipal land use planning and related approvals, project administration, claims management, environmental law and dispute resolution. A practicing engineer before becoming a lawyer, I am committed to providing informed, practical advice to all stakeholders in the construction and development industries, including owners, developers, municipalities, contractors, engineers and architects. I have a keen interest in construction and development of all kinds and my extensive project experience includes condominiums, university and hospital developments, entertainment facilities, industrial facilities, and solar and wind energy installations. I am passionate about and frequently sought after for my experience negotiating, drafting and advising on complex construction and development agreements. I regularly assist my clients with custom-drafted and standard form construction contracts (such as CCDC, CCA, OAA and ACEC), integrated project delivery (IPD) agreements, tie-back and crane swing agreements, master supply agreements, operation and maintenance agreements, site plan agreements, and community benefit agreements. I also fervently support my clients through the dispute resolution processes, employing a results-oriented, creative and cost-effective approach in mediation and arbitration proceedings, as well as Building Code, by-law and regulatory compliance matters before the Provincial Offences Court. Fully versed in the front-end approvals and permitting necessary for development and construction projects, I help clients obtain official plan amendments, rezonings, severances and minor variances as well as authorizations from heritage and conservation authorities. I also make submissions to municipal councils and committees of adjustment, and appear before the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Ontario Municipal Board), the Environmental Review Tribunal and the Toronto Local Appeal Body. A frequent speaker and writer in my areas of expertise, I have been an elected member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Construction Law Executive as of 2021 and was an elected member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Municipal Law Executive from 2016-2020. I am also a member of the national public affairs firm McMillan Vantage Policy Group.