What is the extent of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP’s footprint across Canada and the US?

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP was established more than 150 years ago, and we now have offices in Montréal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and New York. Our largest office is based in Toronto, where we have more than 290 lawyers. Each of our other offices has between 20 and 60 lawyers. One of Osler’s traits is that we use a one-firm model, and we have a business-pragmatic approach to the business critical issues of our clients.

We act on all kinds of mandates for our clients, but we mostly deal with M&A, debt and equity financing, joint ventures, tax and commercial litigation matters. Since we opened our office in Montréal in 2003, we have been retained to act for a variety of clients in the mining industry, with many being focused on exploration work and joint venture undertakings. Our Toronto and Vancouver offices also see a lot of activity in the field.

Can you provide some examples of the M&A activity Osler has been involved in?

Our focus has been on business critical and strategic matters for our clients. Osler’s strength lies not only in our significant experience acquired in multiple transactions, but also in the size of the deals we act on. We have come to be recognized as trusted, dedicated and pragmatic advisors to our clients. This year we were involved in a number of equity financings and M&A transactions for our clients out of the Montréal office, including one merger that saw the consolidation of three key players in the exploration of gold projects in Northern Québec.

Do you see the legalization of cannabis as a challenge or opportunity for mining companies?

The legalization of cannabis in Canada, as well as the investing trends such as initial coin offerings of cryptocurrencies, has diverted investors’ attention since the burst of the 20-year mining super-cycle in 2011. Since then, there has been a lot of volatility in commodity prices and stock prices for mining issuers. Naturally, investors are not eager to invest in the same way as they were before and are looking for new innovative strategies to generate a return on their investment. Now that legalization has come into effect, it appears that cannabis issuers’ valuations are starting to deflate and progressively to return to a more normalized market valuation. This may become an opportunity for mining issuers as investors are withdrawing from the Cannabis industries with gains, they may want to tap into the natural resource industries to invest their gains.

What issues could be addressed to foster a better mining climate in Quebec?

Mining is an industry that requires striking a fine balance between various competing interests, including the protection of communities and First Nations, exploitation and use of land, creation of economic activity and job opportunities, among other things. It is not an industry that reacts well to the prospects of major changes in a short space of time as this creates instability in an industry requiring massive capital investments over a decade or more in order to build and operate a mine. Now that we’re past the tumultuous period when Québec was reforming the Mining Act and its mining royalty regimes in the early 2010s, things have improved and the jurisdiction has recovered the luster of its past as one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Going forward, it would be prudent that any new regulations should be introduced incrementally with the past in mind.

Do you have a final message for the readers of Engineering & Mining Journal and Global Business Reports?

We are now seeing more liquidity in the market, more transactions being done and more financing being completed. The upswing will not be as dramatic as it was during the mining super-cycle, but there are always exciting new technologies and new discoveries today that will make the climate more and more interesting to investors. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt has deep expertise in mining in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, financings, government licensing, the environmental assessment process, First Nation and social involvement practices and tax, just to name a few. Our one firm model ensures that clients get the best service, and we are ready for what the future of mining in Canada will bring.