Maxime Cantin
Senior Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
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Biography
Maxime Cantin practises primarily construction law. He has 25 years of experience in litigating complex multi-party construction disputes, including delay claims, additional costs claims, construction insurance claims, tender issues and engineers errors and omissions. He also has extensive experience in contract review and drafting. He also handles on a regular and continuous basis complex commercial litigations.
He thus regularly represents contractors, owners, commercial tenants, manufacturers, service providers, professionals, insurers, lenders and financial institutions before the civil courts and in arbitration or mediation.
Maxime sits on the executive board of the Construction Section (Quebec branch) of the Canadian Bar Association and he is listed in Best Lawyers in Canada, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and the Construction Lawyers Society of America. He also lectures to various construction industry stakeholders.
He is the local chair of the litigation and disputes group in the Québec office.
Professional experience
Collapse allLL.B., Université Laval, 1997
- Quebec 1998
Maxime recently acted for:
- A general contractor in its $90-million claim against a state-owned corporation in connection with a $260-million project
- A developer in an action for damages ($20 million) brought by more than 60 property owners alleging their property was sinking into the ground
- A general contractor in a $16-million lawsuit against a public corporation in connection with a $180-million contract awarded by call for tenders
- An owner in a $5-million lawsuit against a contractor and a manufacturer in connection with defects
- A general contractor in a $3.5-million lawsuit against an excavation subcontractor in connection with defects and delays
- A general contractor in a $6.5-million lawsuit by a subcontractor in connection with extra costs
- Professional engineers in multimillion-dollar liability claims
- A ventilation and heating contractor in a $6.8-million lawsuit by a hospital for alleged deficiencies
- A bonding company with respect to labour, materials and services bonds in multiple lawsuits totalling several million dollars brought by subcontractors and suppliers of major general contractors who became insolvent
- An operator of a hydroelectric facility in an application for a declaratory judgment recognizing the transfer of a dam and a water power lease
- Best Lawyers in Canada: Construction Law, 2009-2025; Corporate and Commercial Litigation, 2024-2025; Insolvency and Financial Restructuring, 2025
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2020-2024: recommended in Construction Law; Litigation - Corporate Commercial
- Construction Lawyers Society of America, 2019
- "Équipements, systèmes et méthodes de travail imposées par le donneur d'ouvrage : quoi faire en cas de problématique," Annual Convention, Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec, February 16, 2024.
- "L'obligation de collaboration en cas de différend et l'approche à adopter en cas d'abus de droit de son cocontractant," Annual Convention, Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec, February 17, 2023.
- "COVID-19 et sous-traitants : ce que vous devez savoir," Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC), May 15, 2020.
- "Éthique et intégrité : nécessité et avantage concurrentiel," 21st Annual Meeting, Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec (CEGQ), February 22, 2018.
- "Quelles sont les obligations des parties lorsque le donneur d'ouvrage désire réduire l'étendue des travaux suite à l'ouverture des soumissions : la cour d'appel a récemment examiné une telle situation dans l'affaire Cetil," contract claims conference, Laval University, Québec, February 4, 2014, and Montreal, February 19, 2014.
- "Ce que vous devez savoir quant aux pénalités pour retard en matière de construction," 15th Annual Meeting, Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec (CEGQ), February 2, 2012.
- "Les pénalités pour retard en matière de construction : principes applicables et motifs de contestation," 10e journée d'étude sur les réclamations sur contrats, Continuing Education Department, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Laval University, Québec, February 9, 2011.
- "L'arbitrage : rompre avec les vieilles habitudes pour rendre le processus pleinement efficace, rapide et moins coûteux," 13th Annual Meeting, Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec (CEGQ), February 11, 2010.
- "Le pire des règlements vaut-il mieux que le meilleur des jugements," 8e journée d'étude sur les réclamations sur contrats, Continuing Education Department, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Laval University, Québec, February 25, 2009.
- Canadian Bar Association (Executive of the Construction Section, Quebec)
- Canadian Maritime Law Association
- French
- English