Locations

Headquarters and the National Capital Region

The Department of Justice’s Headquarters is located in Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada’s National Capital Region (NCR). Some 2500 employees support the Department in fulfilling its mandate.

Employees in this region may be lawyers or professionals in such fields as administration, communications, human resources, finances and information management, to name but a few. These services are provided on a portfolio basis, and six portfolios encompass the entire range of federal departments and agencies. They are as follows:

• Aboriginal Affairs
• Business and Regulatory Law
• Central Agencies
• Citizenship, Immigration and Public Safety
• Tax Law
• Government-at-large and the Justice Portfolio

Most NCR employees work in the main Justice Headquarters, while others work in other locations with departmental legal services units in other federal departments and agencies or with certain specialized branches of the Department of Justice.

Atlantic Regional Office

The Atlantic Regional Office provides litigation and legal advisory services in a wide variety of matters affecting departments and agencies that operate within the four Atlantic provinces. With a current complement of over 120 people, it delivers a full range of services in the Atlantic Region. The Atlantic Regional Office (the ARO) of the Department of Justice has represented the Federal Government on legal matters and been resolving disputes in Atlantic Canada since 1970. The office represents Federal Departments and Agencies on a wide range of legal matters.

The Atlantic Regional Office has responsibilities for representing the Government of Canada, and its component departments, in four separate and distinct provincial jurisdictions, as well as the Federal and Tax Court of Canada. The challenge is heightened by the fact that much of the legal work in three of those jurisdictions must be coordinated remotely, as the main office is in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We also have a Veterans Affairs Legal Service Unit in Charlottetown, PEI. Furthermore, with New Brunswick being an officially bilingual province, and the Acadian population in the region, a significant percentage of our work and legal staff are required to function in both official languages.

Our lawyers are organized as follows:

• Civil Litigation and Advisory Section
• Tax Law Services Section
• Department of Veterans' Affairs Legal Services Unit (Charlottetown)

British Columbia Regional Office

The British Columbia regional offices are located in downtown Vancouver. The region’s approximately 500 staff work together to deliver a broad range of legal services to federal government departments and agencies throughout the province and, where BCRO counsel have the lead, throughout the rest of the country.

The BCRO team consists of the following groups:

• Aboriginal Law - Litigation
• Aboriginal Law - Advisory
• Business and Regulatory Law - Litigation
• Business and Regulatory Law - Advisory
• Civil and Criminal Litigation
• Communications
• Corporate Services
• Criminal Law and International Assistance
• Human Resources
• Law Practice Management
• Legal Risk Management
• Public Safety, Defence and Immigration Law
• Regional Director General’s Office
• Tax Litigation

Northern Region Regional Office

The Northern Region of Justice Canada operates law offices in Canada’s Territories in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit. Our work in the North involves challenges and learning opportunities unique in Canada. We recruit lawyers and paralegals who provide litigation and advisory services to federal government client departments that operate in the Territories. We also recruit one or two articling students each year. Much of our work involves issues of Aboriginal law, the implementation of modern treaties, environmental and resource law, regulatory law, tax law and Crown real property law. We deal with emerging issues of constitutional law in a region where new legal issues are constantly evolving. Examples of our files include work on mega resource development, such as the Mackenzie Gas Project, the establishment and management of National Parks and wildlife areas, interpretation of treaty rights and Métis matters.

Ontario Regional Office

The Ontario Regional Office, located in Toronto's financial district, provides legal services to federal client departments and agencies in the south-western and central regions of Ontario. We are a team of over 600 lawyers and other professional and administrative staff who reflect Ontario's remarkable diversity. Our office is organized into five legal divisions:

• Regulatory Law
• Business Law
• Immigration Law
• Aboriginal Law
• Tax Law

The Ontario Region is also home to the ORO Extradition Team.

Our legal work is supported by five corporate services divisions:

• Administration
• Human Resources
• Finance
• Communications
• Information Management Services

The region also includes a number of committees that support our overall work and environment, some of which also play an important role in the advancement of the overall Justice policy agenda.

Prairie Region Offices

The Prairie Region is different from other regions in that it spans three provinces: Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. There are four offices, located in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Edmonton (which is also regional headquarters). Our region is responsible for Aboriginal, civil, criminal and tax litigation services, and for providing solicitors' advice in relation to property, commercial and other subjects of federal interest in the region. We are structured along the following key areas of practice:

• Aboriginal Law Services
• Civil Litigation and Advisory Services
• Tax Law Services

Quebec Regional Office

Quebec is the only province where Canada's two legal traditions exist side by side. Questions of private law are dealt with under the Civil Code of Quebec, while common law applies in matters of public and criminal law. The QRO provides legal services in both official languages, and comprises more than 500 employees, about half of whom are lawyers or notaries. As well as maintaining a strong presence in Montreal, where the majority of its staff is located, the QRO has offices in Ottawa and Quebec City.

The Quebec Regional Office provides legal services to federal departments and organizations operating in Quebec. It represents the Attorney General of Canada in proceedings heard by Quebec courts, appeals courts and the Supreme Court of Canada in matters such as:

• Aboriginal Law
• Commercial Law
• Immigration Law
• Tax Law
• Regulatory Law