Charles Kazaz, Montréal

About Charles

Charles practises all aspects of environmental law. He advises clients in the commercial, industrial, mining and waste-management sectors. Charles is based in both Montréal and Toronto and has extensive expertise in environmental aspects of corporate, commercial and property transactions, project development, regulatory compliance and liability issues. He advises businesses with regard to contaminated property, remediation and redevelopment, environmental permits, investigations and enforcement under environmental legislation, environmental assessments, waste management issues, environmental management systems, commercial agreements, environmental audits, regulatory and legislative compliance, officer/director/parent company liability, and defending environmental prosecutions.

Select Experience

Recent representative matters include advising:

Novacap Technologies III, L.P. on the amalgamation of iWeb Group Inc., under a merger agreement with 7807201 Canada Inc. and 7807210 Canada Inc., with two corporations controlled directly or indirectly by Novacap, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and an investment vehicle affiliated with Bank Street Capital Partners and certain of their affiliates
Goldcorp Inc. on a collaboration agreement signed with the Cree Nation of Wemindji, the Grand Council of the Crees and the Cree Regional Authority regarding the development and operation of Goldcorp's Éléonore gold project in northern Quebec
Novacap and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ in the amalgamation of certain of their affiliates with IPL Inc.
Barrick Gold Inc. on its acquisition of the Golden Giant Mine Properties at the Hemlo Camp in northern Ontario from Newmont Mining Corp.

Awards & Recognition

Charles has been recognized as a leading lawyer by the following publications:

The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2025 (Environmental Law, Mining)
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2025 (Environment)
Lexpert’s Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada 2025 (Mining)
The Legal 500 Canada 2025 (Environment, Energy and Natural Resources: Mining)
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2025 (Environmental Law, Mining Law)
Lexology Index: Mining 2025 (Thought Leader)
Lexology Index Thought Leaders: Mining 2024
Lexology Index: Canada 2024 (Climate Change, Environment, Mining)
Lexology Index: Environment & Climate Change 2024 (Climate Change, Environment)
Lexpert Special Edition: Energy and Mining 2024
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2024 (Environment)
Lexpert’s Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada 2024 (Mining)
The Legal 500 Canada 2024 (Environment; Energy and Natural Resources: Mining)
Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2024 (Energy & Natural Resources: Mining: Development and Operations; and Environment)
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2024 (Environmental Law, Mining Law)
Best Lawyers: "Lawyer of the Year" 2024 (Environmental Law, Montréal)
Lexpert Special Edition: Mining 2023
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2023 (Environment)
The Legal 500 Canada 2023 (Environment, Mining)
Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2023 (Environment)
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2023 (Environmental Law, Mining Law)
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory – 2022–2023 (Environmental, Aboriginal, Mining)
Lexology Index: Mining – 2022–2023
Lexology Index: Environment 2022
Lexpert’s Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada 2022 (Mining)
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2022 (Environment)
Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2022 (Environment)
Lexology Index: Canada – 2021–2022 (Climate Change, Environment, Mining)
Lexology Index: Environment and Climate Change 2021
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2021 (Environmental Law)
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2021 (Environment – Canada)
Lexology Index: Environment & Climate Change 2020 (Climate Change, Environment)
Lexology Index: Mining 2020
Lexology Index: Canada 2020 (Climate Change, Environment, Mining, M&A)
Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2020 (Environment – Nationwide)
The Legal 500 Canada 2019 (Environment, Energy – Mining)
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2019 (Environment)
Lexology Index Thought Leaders: Global Elite 2019 (Environment)
Lexology Index: Mining 2019
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2019 (Environmental, Mining)
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2018 (Environmental, Mining)
Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2018 (Environment)
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2018 (Environmental Law, Mining Law); also named Best Lawyers' Montréal Environmental Law "Lawyer of the Year"
The Legal 500 Canada 2018 (Environment)
Lexology Index: M&A and Governance 2017
Lexology Index: Mining 2017
Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2017 (Environment)
Chambers Global Legal Guide 2017 (Environment)
The Legal 500 Canada 2016 (Environment, Mining)
Lexology Index: Canada 2016 (Mining, Environment)
Lexology Index: Environment 2016
The 2016 Lexpert Special Edition on Leading Corporate Lawyers (featured in Report on Business Magazine)

Professional Activities

Charles has been a frequent speaker and has participated in the preparation of several continuing legal education programs in the area of environmental law, particularly regarding contaminated lands.

He is past chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Environment, Energy and Resource Law Section, past chair of the Environment Section of the Canadian Bar Association, Quebec Branch, as well as a past member of the Quebec Bar Standing Committee on Environmental Law.

Publications