Our Team

Roy L. Heenan, O.C., Ad. E., is Chairman Emeritus of Heenan Blaikie. He held the position of Chairman from 1973 to 2012 and was the founder of the firm. Mr. Heenan is an authority on administrative and labour law. Throughout an exceptional career, he has gained recognition as a leading practitioner and scholar, making his mark on the community as well. He has been active within the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) framework since its inception and is a roster member for dispute settlement procedures under Chapter 19 of NAFTA. He is an expert on the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation and a tribunal member of the Inter-American Development Bank. He negotiated the first contract in Canada incorporating Japanese-style work practices in the automotive industry between Suzuki and the Canadian Auto Workers (1986).

Mr. Heenan was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 1999. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers as well as of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Mr. Heenan is recognized as a leading practitioner in the area of Labour and Employment Law in the 2012 and 2013 editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada (Woodward / White), and was designated as the 2010 Montreal Labour and Employment Lawyer of the Year by its editors. He is also recognized as one of the country’s best labour and employment lawyers in the Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada published by Lexpert/American Lawyer as well as in the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, which named him Management Labour and Employment Lawyer of the Year for 2011. In addition, according to the annual survey conducted by Lexpert, Mr. Heenan is one of the lawyers most recommended by his peers in the fields of labour law, employment law, and workplace human rights. In 2006 he received the Bora Laskin Award, in recognition of his contributions to Canadian Labour Law, from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources. He has been recognized in the 2012 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in employment law and labour relations. He is AV^® Preeminent^TM Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer review rating awarded to a lawyer for his legal skills and sense of ethics.

Mr. Heenan was an Adjunct Professor in labour law at McGill University from 1971 to 1996 and a lecturer for the Industrial Relations Centre at Queen’s University from 1972 to present. He was also a lecturer on “nouvelles perspectives dans le droit du travail canadien” at the Faculté de droit of Université Laval from 1979-80 and a lecturer on labour law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa in 1978-79, 1980-81 and 1985. He sits on the Board of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, and has participated in the Cambridge Lectures since 1989. He is Senior Editor of International Labor and Employment Laws (Ed. W. Keller) BNA Books, 1997 and supplements.

Mr. Heenan sits on the board of directors of a number of private corporations. He is Chairman and Founding Director of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and is also a director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Enterprise in North America. Mr. Heenan is the Chairman of the International Historic Heritage Foundation, and is a well-known patron of the arts. His interest in contemporary Canadian painting is evidenced by the exceptional collection displayed throughout the firm’s offices. He sits on the Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, and the Acquisition Committee of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He was Chairman of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal from 1994-1998, and Director of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1995-2005.

In 2007, Mr. Heenan was appointed by Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Communications to coordinate discussions and spearhead negotiations with American film distributors with respect to Quebec’s expertise in film dubbing.

In 2008, the Québec Bar conferred the honorary title of Emeritus Lawyer on Mr. Heenan. This distinction is awarded to members of the Bar having achieved excellence in their professional career and having displayed an outstanding and continued contribution to the legal profession as well as exceptional influence in their social or professional environments. In May of the same year, Mr. Heenan was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from McGill University.