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About Birch

Birch is the Office Managing Partner of our Calgary office and Practice Group Leader of the Blakes Calgary Employment & Labour group. She practises in the areas of employment and privacy and cybersecurity law.

In her employment practice, Birch provides advice to clients in respect of all laws relating to workplace issues, including recruiting, hiring, discipline, terminations, employment and labour standards, human rights, disability and benefits, and alcohol and drug testing. In addition, Birch assists clients with drafting and reviewing employment and privacy-related documentation, ranging from employment and independent contractor agreements, severance packages and confidentiality agreements to non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, as well as workplace policies and handbooks. She is also well versed in litigation, tribunal and arbitrations matters, including wrongful dismissal, provincial and federal privacy commission, employment and labour standards and human rights commission matters.

In her privacy and cybersecurity practices, Birch advises private and public sector organizations with respect to: compliance, policies, training, complaints and investigations relating to the collection, use and disclosure of personal, health, sensitive, technological and other types of information, including the application of provincial and federal privacy and anti-spam legislation; developing and implementing strategies to minimize cyber threats and data breaches, including legal risk assessments, compliance, due diligence and data breach preparedness; and responding to data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents.

Birch has extensive transactional experience, regularly advising on the privacy, cybersecurity and labour and employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

Select Experience

Recent representative matters with respect to which Birch has provided key employment and privacy advice include:

  • Pembina Pipeline Corporation on its acquisition of Enbridge Inc.’s joint-venture interests in Alliance Pipeline, Aux Sable and NRGreen for C$3.1-billion and its concurrent C$1.1-billion bought deal offering of subscription receipts

  • Ovintiv Inc. in its C$3.325-billion acquisition of Montney assets from Paramount Resources Ltd.

  • Enerplus Corporation in its US$11-billion merger with Chord Energy Corporation

  • TC Energy Corporation on its separation into two independent, investment-grade, publicly listed companies through the spinoff of TC Energy's Liquids Pipelines business to form South Bow Corporation

  • Strathcona Resources Ltd. on its all-share acquisition of Pipestone Energy Corp. creating a combined entity with an approximate C$8.6-billion enterprise value 

  • Suncor Energy Inc. on the sale of its wind and solar assets in Alberta and Ontario to ATCO

  • Strathcona Resources Ltd., a portfolio company of Waterous Energy Fund, in its C$2.3-billion acquisition of Serafina Energy Ltd.

  • Pacific Woodtech Corporation on its acquisition of Louisiana-Pacific Corporation’s EWP (I-Joist and LVL) division

  • Imperial Oil Resources Limited and ExxonMobil Canada Ltd. on the disposition of their interest in XTO Energy Canada to Whitecap Resources Inc. for C$1.9-billion

  • Pembina Pipeline Corporation in its C$11.4-billion joint venture with KKR & Co. Inc. to merge their western Canadian natural gas processing assets

  • WestJet Airlines Ltd. on its acquisition by Onex Corporation for approximately C$5-billion

Awards & Recognition

Birch is recognized as a leading lawyer in the following publications:

  • Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2026 (Employment & Labour – Alberta)

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2026 (Labour and Employment Law)

  • Lexpert Special Edition: Technology 2025

  • Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers 2025 – Independently Rated Lawyers (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2025 (Data Protection & Privacy, Employment Law – Employer, Workplace Human Rights – Employer)

  • The Legal 500 Canada 2025 (Labour and Employment)

Professional Activities

Birch is a member of The Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association. She is the former Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Alberta Privacy and Access section and the former Canadian Bar Association Alberta South Section Coordinator.

She currently serves on the Advisory Legal Panel of the Canadian HR Reporter. She is a former director of the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers and former Canadian Advisory Board member to the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Birch is an active volunteer in the area of domestic violence, and provides pro bono legal services to organizations dedicated to domestic violence causes. She is a former director of Discovery House Family Violence Prevention Society.

Professional Appearances
  • Speaker : Canadian Cybersecurity Trends
    Blakes Business Class Seminar, December 4, 2024.
  • Speaker : AI Panel – Workplace 2.0: Chat CPT and Beyond
    Cross-Country Developments in Employment Law, Blakes Seminar, Toronto, Ontario, June 13, 2024.
  • Speaker : Canadian Cybersecurity Trends
    Blakes Business Class Webinar, December 15, 2023.
  • Speaker : How to Successfully Navigate Complex Workplace Investigations
    Blakes Business Class Webinar, December 7, 2023.
  • Speaker : Key Considerations for Workplace Investigations
    In House Counsel Network, April 26, 2023.
  • Speaker : Post-Data Breach – Evolving Best Practice
    Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation Webinar, March 22, 2023.
  • Speaker : Cyber Risks and Energy
    Calgary Risk & Insurance Forum, February 13, 2023.
Education

Admitted to the Alberta Bar – 2004
LLB, University of Saskatchewan – 2003
BA, University of Victoria – 1999

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