Lawyer
Jonathan Coulombe
Contact
Montreal
25th Floor1100 René-Lévesque Blvd. West
Montreal, Quebec H3B 5C9
CANADA 514 397-8500 514 397-8515 info@bcf.ca
Profile
Jonathan Coulombe practises environmental, municipal and expropriation law, and provides both legal counsel and litigation support. Among others, he works in cases where jurisdictions between levels of government are in conflict, those involving wetlands and bodies of water or contaminated soils, and those where companies’ environmental issues are confronted with land management by municipalities, including the analysis of municipal planning regulations, vested rights and expropriation.
Prior to joining BCF, Jonathan worked for five years in a Montréal boutique law firm in the areas of environmental, municipal, expropriation and energy law, where he assisted clients in obtaining the permits and authorizations required for their activities, advised them on achieving and maintaining environmental and municipal compliance and represented them in litigation before the courts and administrative tribunals.
Since being sworn in as a lawyer, Jonathan also regularly contributes to the presentation or publication of conferences and articles with his colleagues. He has written articles for Les Développements récents en droit de l'environnement and is coauthor of two chapters of Jurisclasseur Québec - Droit de l'environnement. Holding a Civil Law and Common Law degree from McGill University as well as a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies, Jonathan is particularly interested in projects, issues and events having regional or global impacts. As such, Jonathan participated in the creation of a McGill international law journal and completed a human rights internship in Cambodia in addition to having obtained an attestation of collegial studies in intercultural relations while pursuing his law degree. Jonathan also participated in a one-term academic exchange at the University of Melbourne.
Expertise
Industries
Education
- Barreau du Québec (2017)
- B.C.L. / LL.B., McGill University (2016)
- A.E.C., Community Development and Intercultural Relations, CÉGEP Marie-Victorin (2015)
- B.A., International Development Studies (First Class Honours), McGill University (2012)
Publications
-
''BCF Stands Out in Legal 500 Canada''
BCF, November 13, 2024
-
''Autorisation préalable – Certificat d’autorisation de la Loi sur la qualité de l’environnement''
Odette NADON and Jonathan COULOMBE, JurisClasseur Québec, coll. « Droit public », vol. « Droit de l’environnement, fasc. 9, Montréal, Lexis Nexis, 2012 (last update autumn 2021);
-
''La garantie légale contre la violation aux limitations de droit public devrait-elle être privilégiée à celle contre les vices cachés dans les cas de contraintes environnementales et d’urbanisme?''
Christine DUCHAINE, Jonathan COULOMBE and Thierry MÉANCE, Service de la formation continue du Barreau du Québec, Développements récents en droit de l’environnement, no 506 (2021);
-
''Démystification du dédale des autorisations environnementales relatives à la réhabilitation et la gestion des terrains et sols contaminés''
Christine DUCHAINE and Jonathan COULOMBE, Service de la formation continue du Barreau du Québec, Développements récents en droit de l’environnement, no 487 (2020).
Representative Work
- Acted on behalf Novolecs in the acquisition of the assets of Stace, a factory specializes in the design and manufacture of low and medium voltage auxiliary equipment, serving a large local and international customer base;
- Acted on behalf of a company before the Québec Court of Appeal in order to obtain recognition of the compliance of its project to develop an intermodal logistics platform in a Montréal borough with the regulations of that borough and the city;
- Acted on behalf of an aerodrome relocating its activities in a constitutional litigation before the Superior Court and the Québec Court of Appeal against a city and the Attorney General of Québec regarding the application of the Environment Quality Act to this aerodrome;
- Acted on behalf of a real estate developer in an action before the Superior Court in order to have a prior authorization application under the Environment Quality Act recognized for work infringing on wetlands and bodies of water and to allow the application of a compensation in kind regime rather than that of the new monetary compensation regime;
- Acted on behalf of the Régie de l'énergie respecting the interpretation of its enabling statute and and its regulations in connection with the absence or misrepresentation of companies in the context of the Green Fund duty and fuel distribution levy regimes in Québec;
- Acted on behalf a company carrying out rehabilitation work on lands historically contaminated by residual materials on the territory of a city on the North Shore of Montréal in order to help it obtain its municipal permits and authorizations required under the Environment Quality Act and the Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and activities;
- Acted on behalf of a landowner in damage claims relating to soil contamination on a residential property and the migration of that contamination onto a neighbouring property;
- Acted on behalf of quarry and sandpit operators before the Tribunal administratif du Québec and the Superior Court in a challenge to an monetary administrative penalty imposed by the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques for having carried out aggregate washing;
- Acted on behalf of a landowner in an action against a city for illegally backfilling and diverting a waterway on his property and expropriating a portion of the land for the construction of a bicycle path;
- Acted on behalf of operators of dry material storage facilities (DMS) in litigation against the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques regarding the aquifer potential of the water table under the sites in operation;
- Acted on behalf of a city against the Ministère des Transports de Québec following the expropriation of its property in connection with the development of the Turcot interchange;
- Acted on behalf of a regional county municipality in an expropriation for the preservation of an archaeological site;
- Acted on behalf of quarry and sandpit operators respecting the environmental and municipal compliance of their activities and the recognition of their vested rights;
- Acted on behalf of a company and provide legal counsel in obtaining a ministerial authorization under the Environment Quality Act for the construction of a bituminous concrete plant.
Conferences
-
April 23, 2020
Trainer in a one-day training on contaminated land and contaminated soil management for the Quebec Business Council On the Environment (CPEQ).
-
October 18, 2019
Speaker for a conference on wetlands and bodies of water presented at the Ordre des évaluateurs agréés du Québec (OEAQ) annual congress.
-
October 11, 2018
Speaker for a conference on An Act respecting the conservation of wetlands and bodies of water for the Quebec Business Council On the Environment (CPEQ).
Professional Affiliation(s)
- Barreau du Québec
- Jeune Barreau du Québec
- Quebec Business Council on the Environment (CPEQ)