Susan "Sue" Philpott

Susan Philpott understands how important pensions and benefits are to the well-being of workers and their families. She has dedicated her career to it.

Trade unions across Canada rely on Sue to help them expand workplace pension and benefits coverage, bargain new pensions and benefits arrangements, and navigate through employer insolvencies and restructuring. She also helps pension plan trustees meet their legal obligations to plan members by providing first-rate strategic, governance, and legal and statutory compliance advice.

Sue is a problem-solver by nature, often able to find quick and cost-effective solutions to complex disputes. When litigation is necessary, she effectively advocates her clients’ interests before the courts or specialized tribunals, including the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and its Tribunal, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and boards of arbitration.

Some of Sue’s high-profile cases include the the development of the National Hockey League players’ pension plan, the Nortel Networks Corporation and Target Canada insolvency proceedings, and the Air Canada insolvency and restructuring. Other pension lawyers consistently identify Sue as a leading practitioner in pension and employee benefits law in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and Best Lawyers.

Sue is a frequent speaker, teacher and writer on pension and benefits issues. She is also a lecturer for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

A former president of Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, Sue is the co-chair of the Queen’s Center for Law in the Contemporary Workplace Advisory Board and an active member of the Canadian Bar Association National Pension Executive, Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, and the Actuarial Standards Oversight Council.

A graduate of Queen’s University Faculty of Law, Sue was called to the Ontario bar in 1990 and to the British Columbia bar is 2013.